Today’s Advent beer pick takes us to Japan and the Vertere Brewery, a small brewery 90 minutes west of Tokyo which offers up two flavors of Christmas beer: a Cranberry Pie Sour, and today’s selection, Barley Wine with ginger and cinnamon. There’s even more going on, starting with kveik yeast, and also incorporating vanilla, wood chips, and nutmeg. The description says:

Uses cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and ginger. The flavor of complex spices and the richness of malt, which is twice as much as usual. A thick body with a firm sweetness.

Christmas Barley Wine is 11% alcohol by volume with 12 IBUs, and if ever there’s a strong ale resembling Christmas sugar cookies, this has got to qualify. Leave a glass of this out for Santa with a plate of cookies instead of milk and you’ll be sure to get everything on your wish list this year!

Find Vertere Christmas Beer 2023 Barley Wine on:

• Untappd
• Facebook

Image credit: Vertere’s Facebook page.