The Brew Site
Today is the big day: the winter solstice and the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar heralding the so-called Mayan Apocalypse! I went back and forth on selecting a beer for today: something solstice-y like Anderson Valley’s Winter Solstice or apocalyptic like Elysian Brewing’s Doom Golden Treacle Pale, brewed … Continue reading
When I think of Christmastime beers, I tend to conceptualize Winter Warmers, or dark spiced ales, or (as in the case of my own homebrewed version) strong/Old Ales styled after holiday fruitcakes. Rarely if ever has a beer inspired by a mulled drink crossed my mind—beer used as the base in … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick is a beer which I featured way back during the first year of the Beer Advent Calendar, the Doppelbock Christmas Bier from North Carolina’s oldest craft brewery, Weeping Radish. Strongly influenced by German brewing traditions, Weeping Radish brews all of their beers under the guidelines of the … Continue reading
In all the years I’ve been doing this Beer Advent Calendar, I’ve always wanted to work in a beer from Mexico—but never have, largely due to the dearth of breweries in Mexico producing holiday beers. And in fact, the one I always had in mind to include is today’s pick, … Continue reading
If I were to ask what your concept of a “classical” or “traditional” Christmas were to be, what would come to mind? For myself, it’s probably the idea of Christmas in New England, with snow falling outside, candles in the windows of the Colonial style homes, roaring fires in huge … Continue reading
When you think of “beer” and “St. Louis, Missouri” the first thing that comes to mind probably doesn’t have much to do with Christmas or (necessarily) craft beer. But St. Louis has been becoming more and more known in recent years as a craft beer destination, thanks to a number … Continue reading
From Winter Warmers to spiced specialties to IPAs to strong Belgian ales, Christmas beers are offered up in a variety of styles to celebrate the holidays, and sometimes nothing is more comforting that a big, old-school, malty, warming barleywine: the perfect Christmas Eve tipple by the fire, after the meal … Continue reading
The Belgian brewers have a strong tradition of brewing up special Christmas beers (bières de Noël), often special stronger ales than the brewery’s usual lineup, and many are spiced to evoke the tastes and aromas of the holidays. (Of course, American brewers have long adopted this same tradition with their … Continue reading
I don’t believe the Beer Advent Calendar has featured a beer from Utah in the past seven years since I started this, so I figured it was high time to rectify that. With Utah’s infamous “3.2” laws it may seem counter-intuitive to find the typically higher-strength winter beers there—but they do exist. … Continue reading
Today is a special date: 12/12/12, the last such “triple date” notation that can be claimed for this century, so it’s only fitting to pick a special beer brewed just for this day: Stone Brewing’s 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale. And I didn’t select this beer just because of the Vertical … Continue reading