For today’s Advent pick we travel to Victor, Idaho, to visit Grand Teton Brewing nestled up against the base of Teton Pass in the Teton mountain range. For the holiday season Grand Teton brews Coming Home, which features a different style, recipe, and label each year. This year’s edition is a big 10% warmer:

Our intent for our annual Holiday Ale series is to release a special beer for enjoyment with special friends on a special occasion during the holiday. This year’s version is an American-Style Rye Wine brewed with Southern Idaho 2-row pale malted barley combined with German rye and specialty malts. This produces a mahogany to dark ruby red color, generous malt body and peppery spiciness.

The spicy rye is complemented by about five pounds of bold American hops per barrel. Chinook and Galena hops developed and grown in Idaho, along with Idaho-grown Bravos give this strong ale a decidedly American flavor.

Piney floral hops are evident when this beer is enjoyed fresh. Cellaring will enable these flavors to mellow, allowing the malt to shine with additional notes of raisin and fig.

Barleywine and Cave-Aged Gouda are a classic beer-cheese pairing. If a sweet dessert is what you crave, try pairing with a warmed pecan pie served a la mode.

The branding on this beer resonates with me, and makes me thing of the song Home for the Holidays—perhaps it will make you think of the movie of the same name, or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, or similar. For me it’s more the nostalgic look back at the idea of a classic white Christmas spent with the family.

Heading home this Christmas? Pick up a bottle of this to take with you!

Find Grant Teton Coming Home on:

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