Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2015, Side 50

DRINK
CHRISTMAS BEER OVERVIEW
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 201518
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Sveinn Birkir's Guide To Jóla Brew!
By Sveinn Birkir Björnsson – Photos by Art Bicnick
Encouraged by the hoopla around the annual Tuborg
Julebryg release, brewers all over have long since started
crafting special seasonal Christmas brews to boost their
sales. Traditionally, Christmas beers are slightly darker,
richer in taste (more malt, spices, caramel), and feature
higher ABV than your everyday offerings. Here is the cream
of the crop from this year’s Icelandic Christmas brews.
Einstök Doppebock 6.7%
This is a very pleasant beer in the German bock
tradition. Nice amber tones and tan head. It is
pretty smooth, caramelly, with a hint of malt.
Leaves a little alcohol aftertaste. This is defi-
nitely not one of the hoppy new-school beers,
so if you are into traditional lagers, this should
move your needle. Will pair well with smoked
Christmas ham.
Kaldi Chocolate Porter 6%
Seasonal chocolate porters are never more in-
season than around the holidays, I guess. Except
for Easter, maybe. Definitely Easter. That said, I
would drink this every season. Pours dark, dark
brown. Rich cocoa on the nose. Sweet malty
chocolate on the tongue, with a spicy finish. It
strikes a nice balance, but could do with a richer
body. Should pair well with a chocolate dessert.
Borg Pottaskefill
6.2%
The balance and the quality is there, but not a lot
of excitement. Smudgy brown, with a yellowish
head. Tastes of sweet bread and nuts, followed
with a hint of hops. This aims for a traditional
brown ale, but I would love this so much more if
it had a little more definition.
Gæðingur Jólabjór 4,7%
This is the Taylor Swift of Icelandic Christmas
beers, fun and sweet and inoffensive. Pours
golden brown with a small head of foam. Sweet,
with a faint spicy caramel on the tongue, bear-
ing a hint of orange on the nose. It tastes nice, but
lacks body, to the point that it is almost watery.
Boli Doppelbock 7,5%
The continued popularity of the Einstök Dop-
pelbock may be the singular reason this beer ex-
ists, but I am glad it does. It just slightly improves
on everything I love about the Einstök, with
slightly darker and deeper tones in both colour
and taste. There are very subtle differences, but
god is in the details. I would probably say this
is my favorite of the Icelandic Christmas beers,
right now.
Ölvisholt Jóli 10%
Ölvisholt has set out to create a challenging
Christmas brew, with a high ABV, lots of defini-
tion and caramelly and fruity tones that slightly
evoke an English Christmas cake. However, as is
often the case with strong barleywine beers, this
one needs time to age and develop properly. In a
few months’ time, this may very well be one of
the best of the lot. However, by then, Christmas
will be over. If you have time to wait, though …
Jólakaldi 5,4%
Pleasant and completely inoffensive. This is a la-
ger style beer, slightly darker than average, with a
touch of caramel taste. Unlike some of the beers
featured here, a complete novice might pick this
up and exclaim: “Mmmmm… beeeeeer!”—this
potential mass appeal is not necessarily the case
with many of the other beers in this review.
Borg Giljagaur 10%
Nice red amber tones, medium-sized yellow
head. Flowery and slightly hoppy aroma. Tastes
slightly fruity, with toffee and a little malt. I like
the balance and love the potential, but... and it’s a
big but. This beer needs time. It will be so much
smoother and more rounded in a few months’
time.
Ölvisholt Jólabjór 5%
Of the beers sampled here, this one scores the
highest on the “Christmassy” scale, by far. Gold-
en brown, and a medium-sized head; the smell is
infused with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. There
is a strong caramelly undertone, but the defining
characteristic is the cloves, with a hint of ginger.
I like this beer a lot, since it puts me in a celebra-
tory mood, but I am not sure I would drink much
of it off-season.
Jóla Gull 5,4%
Gull is the best-selling beer in Iceland. The
Christmas version takes the familiar German-
style beer and swaps out Germany for Belgium.
This is a Belgian pale ale, with slight citrus tones.
Despite the Jóla- add on, this is still definitely
beer developed for mass consumption, and thus
it is not experimental in any way. However, it is
absolutely not bad.
Víking Jólabjór 5%
This seems to be the regular old Víking, infused
with more sugar and malt. Very basic, very un-
adventurous. Amber tones,