Cabernale: beer with a touch of the grape is made for the holidays

Every year at harvest time, Pasadena's Craftsman Brewing waits for a shipment of cabernet sauvignon grapes from Paso Robles to make its Cabernale -- ale with added grapes. It sounds gimmicky, but we tried the festively purplish brew at Lucky Baldwin's last night, and it's much more refined than you might think. There's a slight grape flavor combined with a malty ale without much bitterness at all. A hefty 8% alcohol sneaks up on you because the beer isn't at all strong-tasting. It sneaks up on you even faster when you finish up with a half-glass of Alesmith Yulesmith holiday ale, an Imperial Red Ale with an even higher 9.5% alcohol, which is also a fine winter beer. Lucky Baldwin's is featuring a dozen or two holiday ales all month long, and Cabernale is also on tap at Father's Office and a few other places around town. Alas, Craftsman still hasn't started selling bottles of beer, as this would be the perfect beer to take to a holiday celebration.