Saint Arnold Sailing Santa

December 1st, 2011 by Scott in Other Beer Reviews

Ahoy sailors!

“We’re kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols.” – Clark Griswold

Okay, so maybe we aren’t going to go out into the country and cut down a Christmas tree; our artificial tree is already up and decorated. We will, however, embrace another wonderful Christmas tradition: holiday beers!

Saint Arnold, in addition to their traditional Christmas Ale, released a new beer for the winter called Sailing Santa. A limited release only sold in 1 pint, 6 oz. bottles, Sailing Santa is a blend of their Christmas Ale and Elissa IPA.

Poured into the glass, it’s a copper colored transparent beer with a smaller white head. The hoppy IPA is clearly present in the scent. Sweetness up front, but the citrus-tasting hops soon make an appearance. The hops are followed by a bit of spiciness normally found in holiday ales. Dry on the finish, this is a really easy beer to drink. I’d almost call it a light IPA.

So why call it Sailing Santa? Elissa IPA is named after the Tall Ship Elissa, a sailing ship moored in Galveston, TX (about an hour south of Houston). Blending it with Christmas Ale put Santa on the boat and Sailing Santa was born.

The only problem with Sailing Santa, and all of Saint Arnold’s beers, is that they can’t be found outside of Texas and Louisiana. While it’s great that Lindsay, Jackie and I can drink all the Saint Arnold we want (except for Pumpkinator and the Divine Reserve series, since those are hard to find), it means most people who read this won’t be able to find Sailing Santa.

More holiday beers will be coming down the line soon! If you missed the first two, be sure to read about why Lagunitas Sucks and a brief post for this year’s Abita Christmas Ale.