We’ve made it—Christmas Eve and the final day of the Beer Advent Calendar! Today we celebrate the holiday with a perennial favorite and a beer that shows up on the calendar every year: Christmas Ale from Anchor Brewing. This is a beer I look forward to every season, not only for the tradition but also for the new (secret) recipe (it changes every year) and unique tree label.

Back in 1975, Anchor released the first holiday beer in America since Prohibition. Year after year, Anchor creates a new, secret recipe with a unique hand drawn label for their Christmas Ale, but the intent with each brew remains the same: joy for the changing seasons and celebration of the newness of life. With a heavily guarded, confidential recipe, Christmas Ale is sold only from early November to mid-January. The 2020 Anchor Christmas Ale is a one-of-a-kind, featuring the highest ABV at 7% and darkest appearance of any vintage. Yet, this year’s release is easy-drinking and approachable for everyone at a holiday gathering or virtual event.

Each year a new symbolic hand-drawn tree is chosen for the Christmas Ale label. This year’s label features The Three Graces; three iconic towering sequoias from the Mariposa Grove in California’s Yosemite National Park. This is only the second time in its 46-year history that multiple trees are shown together on the label, a fitting statement to symbolize togetherness and hope in a year when so much time has been spent apart. The Three Graces represent radiance, joy, and flowering – characteristics that we can all hold near during this unprecedented time.

2020 has been quite a year, so let’s raise a glass to Christmas this year and to toast the coming year which is bound to be better (right?)! Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Find Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale on:

• Anchor’s Beer Finder
• Untappd
• BeerAdvocate
• RateBeer
• Facebook

Image credits: Top & middle image, Anchor’s Facebook page; bottle, website