Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 24: Anchor Christmas Ale

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 24: Anchor Christmas Ale

We’ve made to the final day of the beer Advent calendar! And for this Christmas Eve I’ve picked a beer that has featured every single year since I started doing thing this, the American classic, Anchor Christmas Ale. In many ways, Anchor’s Our Special Ale is the template upon which … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 22: Atwater Lebkuchen Christmas Ale

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 22: Atwater Lebkuchen Christmas Ale

Today’s Advent beer pick comes to us from Detroit, Michigan, home of Atwater Brewery, which originally focused on brewing German-style lagers but now has a wide variety of ales in the lineup. The holiday beer is Lebkuchen Christmas Ale, which the brewery lists as a “winter bock.” The inspiration for … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 21: Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 21: Dieu du Ciel Solstice d’Hiver

Happy Solstice! To celebrate this first day of winter and the longest night of the year, I’ve selected a barleywine from Brasserie Dieu du Ciel in Canada: Solstice d’Hiver (which is French for “winter solstice,” of course). First brewed in 1998, this beer is 10.2% alcohol by volume and warming, … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 20: Trois Dames Winter Sour

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 20: Trois Dames Winter Sour

In all the years I’ve been doing this Advent beer calendar, I’ve never picked a beer from Switzerland, so for today I’ve done just that with Brasserie Trois Dames. Trois Dames offers up a Winter Sour for a nice change of pace from our regularly-scheduled winter warmers and IPAs. Here’s … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 19: Saint Arnold Christmas Ale

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 19: Saint Arnold Christmas Ale

Today’s Advent beer pick is a classic from the oldest craft brewery in Texas, Saint Arnold Brewing Company: Saint Arnold Christmas Ale. Saint Arnold brews this beer in the style of an English old ale, which is fitting as December 19 is also the day that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 18: Ridgeway Bad Elf

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 18: Ridgeway Bad Elf

On this day in 1966, the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! first aired on CBS in the United States. This, like A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch has gone on to be one of those beloved holiday TV classics, so today’s Advent pick honors a bad elf with … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 17: Deschutes Jubelale

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 17: Deschutes Jubelale

For today’s Advent beer pick I’ve selected an American classic from my hometown of Bend, Oregon: Deschutes Brewery Jubelale. This winter warmer was first released in 1988, the year the brewery opened, and has returned every year since. The first years, Jubelale was bottled in 750 milliliter champagne bottles before … Continue reading

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 15: Empyrean Winter Wisdom

Advent Beer Calendar 2018: Day 15: Empyrean Winter Wisdom

For today’s weekend Advent beer pick we travel to America’s heartland to Empyrean Brewing Company in Nebraska, a fixture in Lincoln since the 1990s. Empyrean brews a hazelnut brown ale for the winter season, an easy-drinking beer named Winter Wisdom. Wise up. Look deep within this brown ale to breathe … Continue reading