Scary jack (and winter warmers)

Good riddance to pumpkin spice beers. Bring on the winter warmers!

Anchor Brewing's original winter release in 1975 —Our Special Ale— was renamed and reissued as Liberty Ale.

It was, and is, spiced with ... hops.

Winter warmers: big, malty, could be hoppy, could be spiced. Maybe not. In other words, they are celebrations of the season.

So, to those inevitable "not to style" comments from beer-style pooh-bahs: Bah, humbug!

[UPDATE 2008.11.02: a blog about winter beers at RealBeer.com.]