The Brew Site
Today is my birthday, conveniently situated right before Christmas, and as is my tradition on the Advent beer calendar each year, on this day I select a “birthday” beer for myself rather than a traditional Christmastime one. Or in today’s case, a cider—specifically, a barrel aged apple wine from 2 … Continue reading
Happy Hanukkah! Hanukkah begins today at sunset, and each year I like to feature a Hanukkah themed beer on the Advent calendar if possible to commemorate the start of the holiday. Unfortunately there are not many Hanukkah beers available but one brewery in Portland, Oregon, Leikam Brewing, does in fact … Continue reading
Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year! To celebrate I’ve picked an appropriate beer from the North Cotswold Brewery in English, its seasonal Winter Solstice. As befitting an English ale, Winter Solstice is 4.5% alcohol by volume, and the brewery describes it as, … Continue reading
Portland’s Ecliptic Brewing released its 2020 beer calendar this week, though there was no nifty graphic to accompany it. (Enjoy a picture of the label of the new Meridian Vanilla Stout instead.) The brewery is adding another beer to its year-round lineup and has a full slate of releases scheduled, … Continue reading
Happy National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! Yep, it’s a thing and to celebrate the woolen festivities, I’ve selected Redneck Christmas Stout from Georgia’s Jekyll Brewing Company for the Advent beer of the day. Not that there’s anything particularly sweater-themed about this peppermint imperial stout, but because the label reminds me … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again, when breweries are rolling out their release calendars for the new year. The first one I’ve received is from Urban South Brewery of New Orleans (the press release issued three days ago). Urban South is relatively new, opened in 2016, and offers a fairly … Continue reading
On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published, telling the Christmas ghost story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s visit by the spirits of Christmas. Riffing on the “carol” portion of the title, today’s Advent pick reminds me of Christmas carols: Fa La La La La Winter Ale from … Continue reading
Today’s Advent beer calendar selection takes us around the world to Australia, to the 4 Pines Brewing Company located in Brookvale, New South Wales (not far from Sydney). Christmas down under takes place during the summer so a lighter, warm weather-friendly style is appropriate, and thus 4 Pines offers up … Continue reading
December 17 is the beginning of the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, which likely influenced early European Christmas traditions. Though there’s no particular pagan theme in mind, today’s Advent beer pick is Boulevard Brewing’s classic Nutcracker Ale, a hearty Midwestern winter warmer. Boulevard was founded in 1989 and celebrated its … Continue reading
Located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, Fremont Brewing Company was established in 2009 and has experienced explosive growth over the past decade. Fremont currently has three locations (two breweries and a taproom) and brews some of the Pacific Northwest’s most coveted beers. Each winter the brewery releases its … Continue reading