The Brew Site
Today’s beer is the venerable Harvey’s Christmas Ale from Lewes, England. Harvey & Son (the brewery) dates back to the late eighteenth century, and their Christmas Ale has been brewed seasonally for over a quarter of a century and started winning awards in 1992. It’s a dark Barleywine that is, … Continue reading
Today’s beer comes from Florida’s most talked-about brewery, Cigar City Brewing, and perfectly fits into their lineup of big, expressive, unusual beers: Sugar Plum Brown Ale. This is a brown ale brewed with generous amounts of spices to 5.5% alcohol by volume. Cigar City Brewing’s official celebration of Christmas. A … Continue reading
Today’s beer comes from the venerable Brasserie Duyck in France: Jenlain Bière De Noël. This is a Christmastime Bière de Garde style of beer, brewed darker than the Brewery’s flagship Ambrée, 6.8% alcohol by volume, and is rich, spicy, and flavorful—indeed I found hints of bubblegum in the flavor and … Continue reading
In the spirit of goodwill and trying new things for Christmas, today’s beer pick is Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale, subtitled “Brown Shugga’ Substitute.” Why do they suck? This sad holiday season we didn’t have the brewing capacity to make our favorite seasonal brew, the widely feard BrownShugga’ Ale. So this … Continue reading
The Christmas season is the traditional time (and setting) for the popular ballet The Nutcracker, and so today’s pick is, accordingly, Boulevard Brewing’s Nutcracker Ale: a rich, malty Winter Warmer that is 5.8% alcohol by volume. Boulevard describes it thusly: Nutcracker Ale is Boulevard’s holiday gift for real beer lovers. … Continue reading
This is the seventh year in a row that I’ve been doing the Beer Advent Calendar and I love to find others doing similar things—like the “real” beer calendars such as this one or this one, or other bloggers with the same ideas (Advent calendars, “12 beers of Christmas”, etc.). So … Continue reading
Welcome to the first day of the Beer Advent Calendar for 2011! This year’s Christmas season starts out with a bang as today’s selection is only the strongest lager in the world: Austria’s Samichlaus Bier, a 14% abv Doppelbock (Quadrupelbock?) brewed once a year on December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day, … Continue reading
…Tomorrow’s the first day of the Beer Advent Calendar!! I’m excited because it’s one of my favorite times of year to blog, thinking up the beers to reveal each day. Although (in true blog vs. day job fashion) I’m also (still/pertpetually) a bit behind on nailing down the beers for … Continue reading
It’s Christmas Eve and the final day of the Advent Beer Calendar! Today’s selection is Deschutes Brewery’s Jubelale, their annual Winter Warmer that is rich, malty, and spicy. In true holiday ale tradition, each year they tweak the recipe a bit and offer up a unique label commissioned by an … Continue reading
Today is my birthday, and as such the other tradition I’ve attached to this Advent Calendar (the first being the selection of Anchor Christmas Ale each year) is that I pick an entirely indulgent, not-necessarily-holiday beer for today’s selection—sort of a “vanity” pick for a big delicious beer that I … Continue reading