Merry Christmas in July! I'll start this post by saying that today's beer isn't the beer I'd intended to do up for Xmas in July '24. When I found myself at a nearby bottleshop in February looking for a beer among their straggling holiday ales, hoping to find the one today, I inadvertently snagged something that'd I'd reviewed before. Honestly, considering I've been doing this whole blog thing for nearly a decade, I'm surprised incidents like that don't happen more frequently.

I didn't realize my mistake until last weekend. In July. Do you know how many of last year's holiday beers are still kicking around on store shelves this deep into the summer? I headed out to another nearby bottleshop with little hopes of finding anything worth drinking for today.

Despite my forlorn outlook, luck was on my side! They had a cart full of four-packs of Toppling Goliath's Holidotz clearanced out for $8/pop. Having had and liking one or two of the brewery's beers before, I saw this as a sign and grabbed a pack. Let's see how this special holiday lager's drinking!

Toppling Goliath's HQ'd in Decorah, IA. They've been in the business since 2009 and have made some incredibly acclaimed beers (I've yet to even see a bottle of KBBS). Odds are you've seen them around, since their distro footprint spans more than thirty states.

Holidotz (it's an Untappd link since the beer's not on Toppling Goliath's website) is a beer brewed once a year, just in time for the holidays. It takes the brewery's unfiltered Dorothy's New World Lager (which I've not had) and sees the addition of apples, cinnamon, and cranberries. The resulting beer clocks in at 4.7% ABV.

The nose here is bursting with cranberry, coupled with rich, cinnamony applesauce. When I dig a little deeper, the bouquet opens up and presents a lime aroma, which I can't attribute to any of the beer's adjuncts. There're also some biscuits and good, grounding hops. On the whole, Holidotz features an inviting and invigorating nose. Purrl gives it eight whiffs.

Moving over to the lager's flavor profile, I find this to be less agreeable. The cranberry's the first to hit here, providing a pleasant bitterness that contrasts nicely its successors of apple and cinnamon (a stellar and seasonally appropriate flavor combination). But then, just before the finish, the cranberry returns and here its bitterness is unwelcome. It gives the whole beer a cough syrup flavor that takes me out of the pleasure of the drinking experience. Luckily, the apple is the flavor that lingers longest, meaning the finish itself is fine. But, man, I can't overlook that unpleasant second coming of the cranberry.

Mouthfeel? Well, Holidotz drinks like a lager, so no complaints here. It's frothy, full, and quaffable.

During Christmas of 2018, I was sick. I opened presents with Michelle's family that morning but was confined to bed the rest of the day. While she went to her grandparents' with my in-laws, I laid in bed with Little Pip, watching Anne with an E (a great Christmassy series, by the way). It was a lonely Christmas. Sure, the day had all the standard trappings of cheer and goodwill, but I spent it cold and confined. This is the memory coming to my mind as I drink my Holidotz. I don't mean this to say the beer will make you sick--it's not that bad. But, although it's a Christmas beer, it lacks the warmth that I want from the style; that festiveness is absent.

Of the three Toppling Goliath beers I've had, Holidotz ranks the lowest. I can appreciate what the brewery was attempting with the lager, but, man, do they just miss the mark. My can's getting a 6.0/10. Still, I can't be bummed because it's July twenty-fifth and we're only five months out from Christmas proper.