Don’t you just love the holidays? I know I do. Thanksgiving (in America), Christmas, New Years. Bright colorful lights, cheery music, succulent food, and best of all-beer! Many breweries make a special holiday brew, and some even brew two! One of them is Einstök Ölgerd of Ehf, Akureyri, Iceland, and I managed to snag a six-pack of each of them recently.

I was on a beer hunt, you see, on Black Friday of 2020. I went early, and I wore a mask. I was after the 2020 release of Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve, but never did find it. The staff were peddling Goose Island Bourbon Country Brand Stout, Prairie Christmas Bomb!, and various other goodies. I spied something else, though: Einstök Icelandic Winter Ale. What joy! What glee! I had enjoyed other Einstök beers don’t you know, but had always looked enviously upon those that found their winter doppelbock. Doppelbocks are, after all, my very favorite style of beer, and I got a six-pack of that as well as the newer (I think) Winter Ale. See? I told you they had two. They describe their winter ale as Ale brewed with spruce tips and Icelandic smoked barley.

Einstök further says on the can label:

In Iceland, winter is not something we fear. It is something we embrace. We celebrate this with our super limited-edition Winter Ale, brewed with smoked Icelandic barley and hand-picked spruce tips. It is the perfect ale to inspire you to face the elements. Because winter is coming. And it tastes delicious.

Einstök lists the following as “key ingredients”:

Smoked Icelandic barley, pale ale malt, crystal malt, chocolate malt, Bavarian hops, Icelandic spruce tips.

Einstök Icelandic Winter Ale has an alcohol content of 8% by volume. I paid $11.99 for my six-pack, a very good deal I think for such a special beer. My cans are stamped 30.07.20 BF 30/SEP/2021-just the same as their Doppelbock that I bought. The Viking on the can is wearing a Christmas cap, which remains me of another beer, Slaapmutske Kersmutske Christmas Nightcap from the Netherlands.

Einstök Icelandic Winter Ale pours to a hazy brownish red color with a very thick head of foam and a nose of soft chocolate and piney spruce. Taking a sip, the beer is medium malty and smooth chocolaty, there are hints of smoke and bright piney spruce as well. The beer finishes warm with alcohol, gently sweet and with more of the spruce notes poking through at the last.

This is excellent, a wonderful balance of subtle smoke, chocolate, and spruce. How to style it? I think it's not smoky enough to be called a rauchbier. You could call it a spiced ale with the spruce, but I think it more of a strong ale. However you peg it, I will be looking for more next year because, of course, winter will be coming again.