Crown Valley Sleighbell Spiced Ale

ABV: 6.2%
Style: Spiced Ale

Reactions and Insights
Yikes, a lot going on here. It hits you with sourness, then come the herbs and spices. It took me a few minutes to warm up to it, but once I did, it was fun.

Would I drink a case of it? 
No, it’s too specialized.

OK, but would I drink a six-pack of it?
Probably not, but I wouldn’t be annoyed if someone brought one over to share.

Did it contribute to my holiday spirit?
Yes, because it’s very much a holiday beer and because of Christmas Angel. A little girl lives with her single mom. The mom works at a bakery and loves college football. The girl just wants her mom to find a husband but the mom thinks it’s realistic not to expect to ever find one. Meanwhile, a depressive (but attractive?-ish?) doctor with kind of gross floppy hair (UPDATE: Kevin Sorbo!) moves in to the abandoned house next door.

You’d think you could write what happens next, but you would forget to include the part about the aging chanteuse with throat cancer (spoiler alert: the angel!!) whom the doctor is secretly treating in his rundown house using a neck brace that emits an experimental blue light technology he invented. (The house also includes a pristine nursery for the baby the doctor always wanted.) An unethical freelance photographer looking for his big break threatens to ruin everything.

Aside from that, things pretty much go as expected.

There’s always so much to think about while watching Christmas movies:

• Acting quality
  • How it varies from actor to actor
  • How it varies for any given actor from scene to scene
  • How bad acting by one person can influence everyone in a scene, and vice versa
• The actors
  • How much they’re getting paid
  • What they’re like in person
  • I wish someone would help this girl be less annoying
• The script, and whether it is taking itself seriously
• AND SO MUCH MORE!

There is a scene at the end in which everyone comes in from the snow and the snow never melts from their clothes or hair, so it looks like they’re all walking around with dandruff.

Beth’s Grade
7

Objective Grade
8

Label Notes
Another classy one. 8/10