So, I'm sick. I don't know exactly what I have--it's not a cold, it's not the flu, it's not a sinus infection. Yet, somehow, it's squarely in the middle of all of those, brining with it their worst signs and symptoms.


Whatever it is, I've been battling it since last Tuesday (this was originally planned to be a Friday night post, but we just blew right on by that, huh?). I'm still not super well, but I'd like to think I'm on the mend. That means that while I'm still coughy, sneezy, and groggy, I can taste and smell just fine.

Considering that, I think it's finally time for me to break into the next Christmas beer I've had slated to talk about. With illness no longer holding me back, here it is: Tröegs' Mad Elf.

It's finally December! Last night I stayed up a little late to hang the last of our Christmas lights and this morning I woke up early to change the my car's oil while the sun shone. Now, it's cloudy and cold. I think I'm pretty well due for a beer.


Today's beer is the second of the blog's Christmas season: Citra Noel, the Christmas ale from Columbus Brewing Company. I've never had Columbus Brewing Company (CBC from here on out), but I'm excited to see how this drinks.

Michelle and I were excellent consumers today. We were out from 9ish until 4- or 5ish. Now that we're home (I'm the proud owner of a PS4, since the PS5 is supposedly on the horizon), we've since busied ourselves with decorating for Christmas. We set up our tree (Chrissy Treegan, a Colorado Spruce and sister to last year's Chris Pine), and Michelle swapped out our fall decorations for Christmas ones while I hung our lights outside.


After that, we trimmed Chrissy to Nat King Cole's gentle crooning (I have a 1967 pressing of The Christmas Song on vinyl and, boy, is it a treat). Now that I've showered the sap off me for the second time, it's officially the Christmas season here on the blog. So, let's christen it with tonight's beer: Braxton's Jubilee.

Yesterday, I pushed passed the 50k mark in the draft of my manuscript, thereby completed NaNoWriMo. Meaning that today is the first day this month where I didn't set an alarm to wake up and start writing. So, I guess I ought to celebrate somehow, huh?


Since the blog's Christmas season starts on Friday, let's end the maple season on a (hopefully) high note. Again, we're dipping into Avery's Barrel Aged Series with Double Barreled Maple Stout. Let's see how this holds up.