This is a neat brewing idea from Portland’s (New Old) Lompoc Brewing:

Every year, Lompoc Brewing releases more than a half dozen Christmas beers around the first of December. This year, the brewers are excited to brew a beer in honor of Hanukkah as well.

Dubbed “Eight Malty Nights,” the Chocolate Rye beer will be brewed tomorrow, November 10. Rabbi Bradley Greenstein from the Congregation Neveh Shalom will be present to bless the mash and deliver a toast. The beer will be released on the first day of Hanukkah, Dec. 11.

To witness the blessing of the mash and take part in the toast, please be at Lompoc Brewing, 3901 A N Williams Ave, Portland on Tuesday, at 7:30 am.

(That’s today Tuesday at 7:30am; that means they are brewing—maybe done—even as you read this. So I’m a little late on the posting, but you get the idea.)

When I first read this, I had the impression that they would be releasing eight different beers, one for each night. (Can’t help but think of the Adam Sandler movie “Eight Crazy Nights” either.) That might be a bit much; what they’re doing is quite a bit more manageable. How many beers get blessed by rabbis?

The “Chocolate Rye” part of the beer sounds pretty interesting, too.