The Brew Site
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
One of the goals of this Beer Advent Calendar is to offer up a variety of holiday beers from around the globe, and Japan is one of the countries that has been fairly under-represented in this regard, partially because Christmas in Japan is fairly different than here in the Western … Continue reading
We touched on Santa Claus very briefly in a roundabout way back on the 6th (St. Nicholas Day, with St. Nicholas being a northern European precursor/version of Santa), but the Beer Advent Calendar hasn’t yet featured a Santa-themed beer. Three Floyds Brewing from Munster, Indiana to the rescue with their … Continue reading
We’re now just over one-third of the way through the Beer Advent Calendar, which also means Christmas Day is a mere 16 days away! And according to Wikipedia, today’s Christmas-themed day is “Anna’s Day, [which] marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on … Continue reading
One of the staple Christmas carols hitting the airwaves and school programs this time of year is the ever-popular “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”—one which if you ignore the slightly sinister undertones (“Bring us a figgy pudding… / We won’t go until we get some / So bring it … Continue reading
Nothing says “Christmas” quite like gingerbread: gingerbread houses, gingerbread men, gingersnap cookies (one of my favorite Christmas cookies)—there’s something about the combination of ginger and molasses, rich and spicy, that pairs well with the season, evoking warm kitchens, hot chocolate (or eggnog), fresh-cut fir trees, hearty food, and a plate … Continue reading
For as important and influential as Germany is when it comes to beer, there doesn’t seem to be a strong tradition of Weihnachten (“Christmas”) beers—most of the ones I’ve seen are Oktoberfest-styled beers brewed special for the holidays, but there don’t seem to be many. Yet what Advent calendar would be … Continue reading