It’s a wintry time of the year, and that means the Holiday Collection from Sam Adams! I look forward to this collection of six beers every year. Wintry, festive holiday brews!

Only, this year I’m unhappy.

The Holiday Collection comes, as I mentioned, with six different winter beer styles. In years past, the six have been:

• Boston Lager
• Winter Lager
• Cream Stout
• Holiday Porter
• Old Fezziwig’s Ale
• Cranberry Lambic

There’s been some variation over the years. I think the Cranberry Lambic is fairly new, like within the past two or three years.

The Cranberry Lambic is fantastic. I love the Holiday Porter. (I love porters in general; one of my favorite beers is Highland’s Oatmeal Porter, only that’s impossible to get north of the Potomac.) And Old Fezziwig …

What was I thinking?

A few days ago, I stopped at the liquor store, needing beer. Obvious reasons; I was out.

I wasn’t pleased with the selection. Did they have Guinness? No. Well, they did, but it was in cans. I want bottles, dammit! Bottles!

So, Guinness was out.

Okay, what about Sam Adams?

They had a variety pack! A summer variety pack!

I love the Winter Variety Pack they do every year. So I bought it.

And then I realized.

I don’t like the Sam Adams summer brews.

They’re too lightweight. The Sam Adams Pale Ale isn’t terrible. And I was pleasantly surprised by the Hefeweizen. None of these are, technically, dark enough for me, but they were drinkable. And then …

Strangely enough, Guinness is now cheaper than Sam Adams.

Saturday afternoon I had to go out to the grocery store–nothing puts a crimp in the rest of the day like a lack of breakfast cereal. (For those keeping score at home, I generally prefer Peanut Butter Cap’N Crunch or Cookie Crisp.) So, I drove to Eldersburg and went to the store.

While I was out, I decided I’d stop at a liquor store. Why? The off-chance I might find Beamish, that’s why. Not that I was itching for Beamish, because I wasn’t, but it would be interesting to see. And Eldersburg struck me as being someplace where I might find Beamish. Certainly not the corner liquor store by the house where I’d have no chance.

Alas, no Beamish …

If I don’t have Guinness in the refrigerator, I probably have something by Sam Adams. Maybe the Boston Lager. Maybe the Boston Ale, which I prefer to the Lager. More often that not, it’s the Cream Stout, though I’ve been known to have one of their seasonal varieties around. The Summer Ale isn’t far around the corner. The other day, wanting something different, I picked up a six-pack of their latest Brewmaster’s Collection, two bottles each of three different brews.

Two of the bottles were Boston Ale. Pretty much standard. I like the Boston Ale, it has a slightly bitter tang to it.

Two bottles were of a new addition to the Sam Adams line-up, Black Lager. The label …