The Brew Site
Today’s beer pick comes from Terminal Gravity Brewing in the remote, tiny Oregon town of Enterprise: their Festivale, a strong ale brewed to 8.3% alcohol by volume. Terminal Gravity’s Festivale is in the style of British strong or “old” ales. We brewed it to be fairly dry so that it … Continue reading
Today’s beer selection comes from the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio: their Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale. Cincinnati has a rich German heritage which is reflected in the Moerlein beers, and Christkindl is no exception: the name literally means “Christmas” in German (as does “Weihnacht”). This is a malty … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick comes from the base of the Teton Mountains in eastern Idaho: Grand Teton Brewing’s Coming Home Holiday Ale 2011. This is the second vintage in Grand Teton’s annual Holiday Ale program—featuring a different cellar-able beer each year—and this 2011 edition is brewed in the style of a … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick is a Belgian Christmas classic: Scaldis Noël, also known as Bush de Noël in its native country, from Brasserie Dubuisson in western Belgium. Admittedly, “classic” might be a bit of a misnomer, as even though Dubuisson was founded in 1769, Scaldis Noël was introduced only two decades ago, … Continue reading
Today’s beer is another Christmas ale from France: Page 24 Bière de Noël from Brasserie Saint-Germain in the northern region of the country. Like Jenlain’s beer, this one is brewed “in the great tradition of the North”—which led me to dig around a bit and discover that the French tradition of … Continue reading
Today’s selection is the annual Yuletide ale from the McMenamins breweries of Oregon and Washington: Kris Kringle. This Winter Warmer makes its appearance every year from roughly Thanksgiving through Christmas, and this year for only the second time ever McMenamins has made it available in bottles—last year it was an … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick comes to us from Texas’ oldest craft brewery, Saint Arnold Brewing in Houston: the malty and rich Saint Arnold Christmas Ale. Saint Arnold brews this beer in the style of an Old Ale to 7% abv; it was first brewed in 1995 and has racked up a number … Continue reading
Today’s pick comes from Germany, but don’t let the long name in the title intimidate you: Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu Weihnachtsbier is simply the Christmas Beer (literally, “Weihnachtsbier” means “Christmas Beer” in German) from the Monastery Brewery in the German town of Alpirsbach. This Christmas Beer is a golden, easy-to-drink Festbier that comes … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick has appeared on the Beer Advent Calendar every year since I started: Anchor Christmas Ale (also known as Our Special Ale). This is the beer that established the modern Christmas beer tradition in American craft brewing: first introduced in 1975, this is a dark, spiced ale with … Continue reading
Today’s beer pick comes from Brasserie des Géants in Wallonia, the French speaking half of Belgium: Noël des Géants, or literally “Christmas of the Giants.” The brewery adopts its “Giants” name from the medieval castle in the town of Irchonwelz in which it is housed, drawn from the feature of the large … Continue reading