Ever since Anchor Brewing Co. resurrected the concept of the American holiday beer in 1975, a growing number of breweries have bottled up their holiday best for the Christmas season.

But it all started when Ballantine Burton Ale was brewed by P. Ballantine & Sons of Newark, N.J., beginning in the 1920s as a special Christmas gift for friends of the brewery. The beer was an astonishing (for the time) 10-11 percent ABV and could spend up to 20 years maturing in oak barrels before bottling. To this day it remains one of the holy grails of beer aficionados, and 12-ounce bottles from the 1940s can fetch upwards of $500 at auction.

Eventually, the Christmas beer faded into obscurity, becoming a relic that was more an idea than a practice, like caroling and yule logs. But in 1975, Fritz Maytag, (of the appliance Maytags) owner of Anchor Brewing Co., began brewing a holiday beer released during the early winter months, and the quaint practice of the handcrafted holiday beer was revived.

Anchor's 32nd batch of its Christmas seasonal dubbed Our Special Ale is a unique beer that plays heavily on the use of spices and sweet malts to build its flavor profile. Each vintage is slightly different, but it tends to be a malt-heavy beer with ample spice components capable of being aged for at least a few years, provided its stored in a cool dark place.

These days, the American craft beer scene has blossomed and now most brewers offer a seasonal holiday beer or a special winter-only release. A few notables available in the bay area:

Avery Brewing Company out of Boulder, Colo., brews Old Jubilation, a mahogany-colored strong ale that has hints of hazelnuts, mocha and toffee. There are no spices in this brew, though you will find spices aplenty in many winter seasonal beers, often under the style name of winter warmer.

Another Colorado brewery that pays homage to the holidays is Great Divide Brewing Co. of Denver. Hibernation Ale is a strong American ale with a dark hue and a more pronounced hop bitterness than traditional holiday beers. That bitterness is balanced by a cocoa-laden malt flavor that is most pronounced in the finish.

Samuel Adams gets into the holiday spirit with a festive holiday sampler. While several of the beers in the sampler are available year round or in other samplers, one beer is inspired solely by the Christmas beer tradition. Samuel Adams' Old Fezziwig is a toasty, chocolate-accented beer with a kiss of cinnamon. It lacks some of the bite of the previous brews, but is a pleasant winter sipper.

Shipyard Brewing Company of Portland, Maine, takes a different approach with its winter ale. Longfellow Winter Ale is a cross between a porter and Scottish ale and it is the perfect brew to enjoy while overlooking the water on a crisp winter day, perhaps while reflecting on the words to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Sound of the Sea.

- Joseph J.M. Redner is a Tampa resident and world beer traveler.