After this post, the blog will be on hiatus. I'm hoping to get back to it for Chirstmas in July. If you want me to let you know when I return to beer, shoot me an email at johnlikesbeerblog@gmail.com and I'll personally drop you a link when the next post goes up. Thanks for reading and for understanding.

Here's hoping you had a Merry Christmas! The holiday was a whirlwind for Michelle and me--the roads to and from our holiday destination were fraught with peril (due entirely to Winter Storm Elliot). Yet, we made it there and back again all the same.

Now that things are finally settling down, we're posted up at home and dealing with all the lingering pre-Christmas to-dos that are left. On this break from them, I'm taking time, at last, to get out my Christmas '22 post: Great Lakes' Barrel Aged Christmas Ale.

If you said to me: "Hey, John. I'm getting tired of all the pumpkin beers!" I wouldn't blame you. I know I've been doing a ton of pumpkin posts lately. While I wouldn't say I agree with you, I definitely wouldn't fault you.


I still have plenty of pumpkin brews to get to over the next few weeks, but I figure now might be a good time to take a break from the gourdy goodness. Tonight, we have an ale that's decidedly Halloweeny, but not spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, or anything else that's graced most of this month's posts. No, tonight I'm going for something else. Tonight, I'm taking a look at Great Lakes' Nosferatu.

Would you believe me if I told you that this is a post I've wanted to make since the summer after I started this blog? That'd be summer 2015, mind you. Well, I hope you said yes, because it's a true statement.

During summer 2015 I accompanied my dad to the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, MI, where I was awed by the exhibit on the Edmund Fitzgerald. See, as often the ship pictured on the bottle of Great Lakes' porter named after the it, the story printed on the label never hit home. But in the museum, listening to the exhibit looping Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and looking at enlarged photos of the ship in its prime, everything clicked.

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the sinking of the ship. To get the full impact of this post, I recommend you hit the link directly above to hear the story of her sinking from ol' Gordon himself before reading onward, or maybe listen to it in the background as you read this. Today's post is about Great Lakes Brewing Company's Edmund Fitzgerald, the first porter I ever had.

And, just like that, we're into Christmas beer mode. For my initial post of the season, I figured I'd go with a beer with which it seems everyone I know is familiar. Every year, the day this ale releases, my newsfeed is flooded with posts about people breaking into their first 201X pint of it. They post pictures of themselves at bars with smiles on their faces. They share Instagram photos of the six pack of it they just bought. They even tag each other in statuses about it. Few people I know get into Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but everyone rants and raves about the ale at hand the moment it releases. I guess beer takes the Scrooge out of them.


Anyway, my friends in Ohio treat Great Lakes like my family in Michigan treats Bell's--that is, with respect. So much respect that they act like their favorite brewery can do no wrong. Let me lay this out here: both these breweries have fantastic beer. I've discussed good Bell's brews previously, and Great Lakes lays claim to some of my favorite drafts. But, is anyone perfect? If you love Great Lakes' trademarked Christmas Ale, you may want to sit down for this one.

I had work yesterday so I didn't roll into Athens until 9:30ish last night. I met my friend at his house (which is where I'm sleeping this week), dropped off my stuff, and convinced him to head to the bars with me. We didn't make to Jackie O's--our first stop--until about 10.