I AM ONE OF those grouches who complain that holiday hoopla starts too early in the season. I make an exception, of course, for drinking holiday beers.

Once the clocks have been turned back to standard time and the fridge has been cleared of any lingering Oktoberfest brews, I am in a holiday-beer mood. Last week, I sampled, along with six other tasters, 22 of this season's crop of bottled holiday beers.

I pause here for a note on nomenclature. There was an era when the strong brews that appeared at this time of year were called "Christmas beers." That is so over, for a couple of reasons.

First, not every household in the world celebrates Christmas with the fervor of the residents of Hampden's 34th Street. Some celebrate Hanukkah, some the winter solstice, some Kwanzaa. In addition to the cultural rub, there is the matter of marketing. In the middle of February, it is hard to sell a beer that is still calling itself "Christmas."

So the majority of the beers sampled last week did not use the C-word on their labels. Instead they took the seasonal tact, referring to themselves as "winter" brews.

Moreover, with a couple of notable exceptions, there were remarkably few Santa sightings on the labels. One exception was Rogue's holiday brew from the Newport, Ore., brewery. It had an image of Santa raising his arm in what looked to me like a "power to the people" salute.

Since I was surrounded by professional beer tasters, I tried to put my sentimental attachments to Santa and Christmas aside and rate the brews by what was inside, not outside, the bottles.

The panel of sippers consisted of Volker Stewart, proprietor of the Brewer's Art restaurant and brewery on North Charles Street; Hugh Sisson, head of Clipper City Brewing; Mary Zajac and Tim Hillman of the Wine Source, the Hampden liquor store that organized the tasting; Kevin Gardner, Zajac's husband; and Dave Butcher of Vina Mediterranean, a wine-distributing firm. We met at Clipper City Brewing and judged the bottled brews on aroma, body, taste and finish. We voted for our top five overall favorites, then picked our favorite Belgian-style holiday beer.

We liked Pyramid Seasonal Snow Cap ($7.50 a six-pack), a chocolate colored brew from Kalama, Wash., that used the East Kent Goldings hops to deliver a delicious ale with a zingy, bitter finish. Panel member Stewart described it as having "terrific mouth feel." I noted it made my tongue smile.

We also liked Clipper City Reserve Winter Pale Ale ($7.50 a six-pack), a full-flavored brew that happily married generous helpings of malt with Centennial, Cascade and Fuggles hops.

In addition, we gave high marks to Snow Goose Winter Ale ($7 a six-pack), a dark ale with pleasant toasted nutty flavors, a beer as simple yet pleasing as its label of a goose wearing sunglasses; Old Jubilation ($8 a six-pack) a dark, hoppy and faintly sweet brew from Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colo.; Allagash Grand Cru ($9 a six-pack), an aromatic, fruity holiday brew from Portland, Maine; and the Gouden Carolus Noel ($8 for 25-ounce bottle), a remarkable big Belgian beer with vanilla and spice notes, one that you could drink in small glasses in lieu of brandy after Christmas dinner.

Other holiday beers that got favorable mentions from some but not all panel members were Delerium Noel from Belgium, Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome from England and Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout from New York.

Picking your favorite holiday beers is a subjective enterprise. This year, two traditional headliners of holiday beers, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and this year's version of Anchor Steam's Special Ale did not catch the fancy of the tasting panel. This could be considered heresy in some sipping circles.

But another pleasing aspect about tasting holiday beers is that it is a democratic process. Not only can you do it yourself, you can also have some fun making the selections. Area pubs, including Racer's in Parkville and Max's on Broadway in Fells Point, conduct holiday beer tastings for customers, complete with scoring sheets.

In what could be the highlight of the season for some sippers, the Brewer's Art will play host Dec. 12-15 to Mid Atlantic brewers. Brewers from Brewer's Alley, Claypipe, Oliver's, Clipper City, Dogfish Head, DeGroens, DuClaw, Ellicott Mills, Fordham, Heavyweight, Johannson's Lancaster, Old Dominion, Victory and Red Brick Station will tap kegs of their holiday brews, serving samples to the first 110 enthusiasts who have plunked down $40 for a ticket. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the Brewer's Art.

Finally on a somber note, one of the best holiday beers I have ever tasted was Fuel, an imperial stout made by Mark S. "Abe" Abernathy, who was head brewer at Capitol City Brewing Co. restaurant at Harborplace. Last December, at the age of 32, he was found dead in the water alongside the sailboat he lived on in a Fells Point marina. This season the brewery will be serving the holiday brew that Mr. Abernathy created.

So as area holiday beer enthusiasts share a glass with friends, many will toast the memory of a good man who has gone before us.