One of the sure signs of the impending present holiday season is the arrival of strange beers and packaging. I’m not talking about the release of all the Christmas/holiday style beers- that’s certainly great in- and of-itself. But no, I refer here more to interesting packaging options, which come to us from both the craft brew world and the macros. For example…

A sampling of the offerings at Wegmans–and they’re not really a beer store, per se–will reveal some pretty exciting deals, illustrated above. On the left, you have Budweiser’s repackaged ‘holiday’ offering- comes with a stein! Is it better than normal Bud? You’ll have to ask someone else.

Above that, Grolsch rolls out their special 1-liter bottle: just like the 16-oz swing-top, but bigger. Which makes homebrewers happy, even if they have to find someone to drink the contents of the bottle for them first.

Below the Budweiser, you have their special holiday repackaging of three classic Belgian brews. When I say ‘they”, I do refer to Anheuser-Busch, since they now distribute Hoegaarden, Leffe and Stella Artois for InBev. (They also distribute Grolsch, which is probably why all three are sharing shelf space with NYS craft-producer Saranac.) Nothing special about this, just a convenient way to sample some Belgian classics.

At the end of the far aisle, two more interesting seasonal presentations are evident. Commanding the top of the dispay is Otter Creek’s World Beer Tour- actually, a set of three 22-oz bombers packaged with an Otter Creek glass- and really, its a nice piece of beerware at that. It’s not too tough a call to imagine drinking their Anniversary IPA, Scottish Ale and English Ale from one, and in fact, I felt compelled to buy 2 so as to have a pair. Certainly the best holiday deal I’ve come across yet.

Below that, some lingering bottles of Sam Adam’s fall seasonal Imperial Pilsner, made with extreme amounts of Hallertau hops. And really, extreme is no understatement. I like hops as much as the next guy, but I found this offering a bit over-the-top. Still, I drank all four: Wasting beer is anathema to BOV.

Which leaves us with that mysterious package gracing the bottom of the same shelf: the Beers of America Collection. I felt I’d better give it a try last year, I didn’t know it was an annual event… but it is near impossible to find any information about this collection online. They appear to be brewed by this company, and can certainly be found in reviews at sites like Beer Advocate, but I still find the entire set to be a bit dodgy. Still, having gone through the beers last year, I can certainly say that they’re all perfectly competent, if unthrilling, examples of the styles they are meant to be. If memory serves me, I thought in particular that the Steam Beer wasn’t bad. Better than the beers, though, was the literature that came with. I held on to my copy, since it provided an excellent overview of the development of brewing styles in America, I felt. If you’re hoping to turn on someone to the world of American craft beers, you could certainly do worse than this introduction.

So, a quick round-up of some of the seasonal beer deals out there… I’m sure I’ll hit a proper beer store one day soon, and will dutifully report on the zany holiday offerings therein when I do. I know Consumer’s will be rocking their usual magnums of Anchor Christmas ale… I’ve sort of always wanted one… and surely, someone else out there wants to foist cool glassware upon me. Check in!