Here’s a beer I got from Craftshack just in time for the Christmas holiday: Lost Abbey Gnoel de Abbey. We once got Lost Abbey beers in Georgia and perhaps we still do; if so, I have not seen them for some time. I enjoyed each and every one of them I tried, though I had never seen this particular beer before. So of course, it went into my shopping cart. I can never pass on a Christmas Ale; a Christmas Ale from Lost Abbey is doubly irresistible.

Lost Abbey says on their website:

The Lost Abbey’s newest seasonal, Gnoel de Abbey is a winter warmer brewed to be lighter in body while maintaining nuanced notes of oak.

They also call this beer a Holiday Brown Ale there.

From the back bottle label:

Mischievous Merry Makers, it must be tough to be a gnome. We feel bad for them, we really do. Every December they get trotted out of the box and set on a shelf to remind us of a Christmas Cheer. It's amazing they can be so happy after spending almost a year in a box tucked away in the attic, but look at them!

We're convinced they are the ultimate party animals and the epitome of youthful exuberance trapped in a ridiculously impish body. It certainly doesn't seem like any of them have aged in over 400 years. Around our houses, everyone giggles and smiles when the Christmas gnomes come out, so we thought it was time to give them The Lost Abbey treatment. Hopefully you open this bottle and share the season’s greetings, from us to you.

Lost Abbey Gnoel de Abbey has an alcohol content of 8.5% by volume. I paid $9.74 for my fifth bottle from Craftshack, not bad since Total Wine commands $10.99 for it.

Lost Abbey Gnoel de Abbey pours to a dark brown color with a thick creamy tan head and a woody cookie malty nose. Taking a sip, the beer is up front with toasted oak notes, subtle cocoa, vanilla, coffee, hazelnuts, and warming alcohol and more woody notes in the finish.

Tasty indeed, Lost Abbey says this beer has “subtle nuances of oak”; I found it far woodier than that. As in, splinters in the tongue woody. Indeed, the wood prevails as the most dominant character in my bottle.

Wood I buy it again? You know I wood…..

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, Canned

(D)=Draft