There comes a point in every festive season, and for me this happened yesterday, when you need to really sit back and take stock of what you eat and drink, and maybe make a few resolutions for the New Year.

Having spent a whole day following the 'detox plan' my wife conceived after a bit of Xmas excess, I am now thinking of nothing but decent food and drink, and in the spirit of quality over quantity my thoughts turn to how to celebrate New Year with the best beers I can find.

One of the real beauties of beer is that unlike many other drinks (wine, champagne, most spirits) the best it has to offer can be drunk without remortgaging your home (See? You can get the recession into any article these days - in fact it's hard to get published without mentioning it).



I've got a bottle of King & Barnes Millenium Ale that I really should have drunk already - as the name suggests it was intended to be opened nine years ago, but hopefully the development in the bottle will mean I get something incredible (Michael Jackson suggested it would be like 'maderized champagne'). Knocking around downstairs somewhere are a couple of bottles of Deus that always go down well this time of year - a beer made with the "méthode champenoise" that I have posted about before.

If you're feeling particularly festive you could try a bottle of Samichlaus - which means Santa Claus in Swiss-German - which is secondary fermented in the bottle for around a year and can reach strengths of up to 15% ABV, which isn't bad for a lager.

My favourite beers at this time of year though are barley wines, which are memorable for three things - the level of alcohol (typically 8-12%), their density, and their sweetness (especially the English ones - American 'Barley Wine-Style Ales' - catchy title over there - are more heavily hopped). This time of year I drink them quite a bit with desserts and cheese, and this year will no doubt be festively polishing off a bottle of J W Lees Harvest Ale with some stilton.

Do you have any particular drinks you always drink at this time of year or celebrate with? Any bottles hidden away that you'll be devouring over the next few days? Or are you just another victim of a detox plan?