Salvation might go better with Easter considering its Christy themes of redemption and sacrifice, but for the more religious beer drinkers out there, Avery’s Salvation may be one of the only beers out there to acknowledge any sort of religion on its label.

British brewer Harvey and Son’s bold Christmas Ale is unique among your standard fare of holiday beers.

If anything Blue Point’s Winter Ale looks like the type of beer you would want to drink on Christmas.

Aside from its excellent brown ale Hobgoblin, English brewer Wychwood’s line up of beers is less than stellar. Knowing this, we came to the brewer’s Dickensian themed Christmas ale with quiet sense of trepidation.

After all of that spice, Weyerbacher’s Winter Ale is a welcome departure. The darkest of the bunch, this winter ale dispenses with the idea that a beer has to bombard the senses with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (it’s surprising no one has tried making a beer with myrrh) in order to get across the idea of holiday cheer.

Anchor has been brewing its special batch of Christmas Ale since 1975, but it mixes up the recipe every year. This year’s ale is oaky brown with a spicy bite that settles into a mellow fruitiness that’s akin to snaking on a spiced fruitcake.

How big a problem is alcoholism in America? Would limiting the serving sizes of beer and liquor make a difference in the habits of either the casual or excessive drinker? If it would, should the government then step in and legislate the issue?

Once upon a time, Oakland was a beer producing powerhouse. 100 years ago, the city of 49,000 turned out 35,000 gallons of beer every year. But this golden age came to a close in 1959 when the city’s oldest and largest brewery finally went out of business.