One of last year’s best, and certainly most surprising Christmas beers was Ölvisholt’s Jólabjór. A crisp and flavorful smoked bock beer. Marked by the Icelandic mythical being Gyla, which is used to scare disobedient children into being well behavior this is a evidently grown up beer. As one of the brewery’s founders, Jon E Gunnlaugsson, explained to me when we last met – there are several similarities between Iceland and Sweden and this beer is made to fit the Swedish and Icelandic Christmas dishes. He also hinted that we would once again meet this popular beer, and true to his word, here it is. The beer is part of the Christmas beers which today will be released all over Sweden. Use Systembevakningsagenten to know where you can find your bottles of Christmas beers, in what quantities and all the information you might need to stock up on these seasonals.
My shopping list is probably to pick one or two of each, try them out over the next couple of days and then stock up on those that deserves to be on the Christmas table and those that are great winter warmers. But I recomend you all to try the following ones which are either new at Systembolaget or are beers with a certain twist to them:
11335, Abita Christmas Ale, USA, 355 ml, ABV 5.5% , 24.9 SEK
11178, Brewdog There is no Santa, Storbritannien, 330 ml, ABV 4.7% , 19.9 SEK
11012, Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale, USA, 355 ml, ABV 7.4% , 25.8 SEK
11354, Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper, Danmark, 375 ml, ABV 9.1% , 43.5 SEK
11326, Nøgne Ø Underlig jul, Norge, 500 ml, ABV 6.5% , 45.9 SEK
11542, S:t Eriks Barley Wine God Jul 2011, Sverige, 330 ml, ABV 8.5% , 21.9 SEK
11009, Sigtuna Vinterlager, Sverige, 330 ml, ABV 5.2% , 19.9 SEK
14440, Snowblind Strong Ale, Sverige, 330 ml, ABV 7.5% , 24.9 SEK
11013, The Shipyard Longfellow Winter Ale, USA, 650 ml, ABV 5.9% , 34.8 SEK
What about Ölvisholt’s beer then?
Ölvisholt Byrgghús Jólabjór
Appearance: A dark red and brown shiny beer with a small foam which dies down and leaves some remains around the glass edges. 
Aroma: A sweet smoky aroma with pleasant hints of fruits and some smoked ham. It is a shy aroma, but you can feel some depth and I wouldn’t call it boring or weak. despite that it is not dominated by Christmas spices there are some spicy notes to the aroma.
Flavor: Light to medium body, not to carbonated but rather kind of mild. Just like the aroma the flavors has the well balanced appearance of smoked salty ham and a gentle smokiness. The sweetness that often come with this kind of beers is missing which I believe is in favor for this beer. Instead the 6.5% alcohol gives the beer the amount of sweetness and flavor that I believe will fit perfectly with Christmas food which require a balanced beer which can stand both fat and all the different flavors.
Rating? – Good+. A very well balanced and enjoyable beer which is like most good Christmas beers, flavorful but not too aggressive with the flavors as you don’t wish to overpower what you are eating. But this beer is not only for the Christmas table but also a good sipper at cold winter nights.
