If you live in Oregon, you've almost certainly been to one of McMenamins' awesome historic-property-turned-pub locations, but did you know that they also bottle a select few of their beers? Me either! It has become a Christmas tradition over the past few years to stop at the Rock Creek tavern after cutting down a tree at one of the nearby farms. This year I noticed a sign advertising bottles of Kris Kringle for sale, asked our server about them, and BOOM! My Oregon brewery count is now up to 58 different breweries. Yowza! Anyway, let's talk about the beer. Here's the description from the McMenamins web page: ...sounds about right. I like this beer because it leans towards the hoppier side of the "winter warmer" category, though "massive hop assault" is a bit of an exaggeration. To me, Kris Kringle taste a bit like a holiday-spiced pale ale -- a simple malt base, not too heavy, and a faint smattering of hops and seasonal spices. Quite delicious -- probably my favorite McMenamins brew, both on-tap and in the bottle. Merry Christmas!