Starting in 2008, The Bruery began releasing annual Christmas beers inspired by the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” featuring a variety of strong styles and ingredients. I’ve always admired the ambition behind it, though you’d have had to really plan ahead to save a bottle each year for an eventual full set.

But not to worry! In the spirit of holiday mix packs (particularly those themed after the 12 Days like I reported about Clown Shoes as well, because I’m a sucker for these themes this time of year), The Bruery is offering its 12 Days Collection of all twelve beers in one convenient package. There’s a barrel-aged version, too.

12 years, 12 beers. This limited edition collection includes a 2019 version of all twelve of our original 12 Days of Christmas Series releases. From Partridge to Drummers, we’ve got you covered. We took the original recipes and created a fresh version for you to taste in this collectible box. Finish your collection, or try side by side with your original. Creating this box was no small feat, but conversely this release is extremely limited and available only once, every 12 years.

Each box contains one 375-ml bottle from each of our 12 Days of Christmas Series releases (12 total bottles):

PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE
BELGIAN-STYLE QUADRUPEL ALE – 11% ABV

Partridge in a Pear Tree is brewed in the style of a Belgian-style quadrupel ale, with dark Candi sugar, Munich and Vienna malts. Dark, fruity, and complex, with a rich malt backbone, this simple yet immensely complex ale is meant to be savored and shared.

2 TURTLE DOVES
BELGIAN-STYLE DARK ALE BREWED WITH CACAO NIBS, TOASTED PECANS, AND CANDI SUGAR – 11.9% ABV

This beer takes its inspiration from chocolate turtle candies. Brewed with cacao nibs, toasted pecans, Candi sugar and a lot of caramel malts, it’s somewhere between a Belgian-style dark ale and a smooth, chocolatey confection.

3 FRENCH HENS
75% BELGIAN-STYLE DARK ALE AND 25% ALE AGED IN FRENCH OAK BARRELS – 10% ABV

A portion of this ale was aged in French oak barrels to honor the subject of the third verse. Topped with a Belgian-style dark ale, the finished blend is a bold and spicy concoction that rises above the pecking order to establish its own unique place in the 12 Days of Christmas Series.

4 CALLING BIRDS
DARK ALE BREWED WITH SPICES – 11% ABV

We took inspiration from a traditional winter warmer, integrating gingerbread-like spices into this dark ale. Notes of licorice & banana bread mingle with hints of dark fruit, molasses and bitter chocolate for a perfect cold weather sipper!

5 GOLDEN RINGS
BELGIAN-STYLE GOLDEN ALE BREWED WITH PINEAPPLE JUICE AND SPICES – 11.7% ABV

5 Golden Rings is the only golden ale in our 12 Days of Christmas Series. We spiced up the natural pause in the classic song with cinnamon, allspice and ginger along with the delicious sweet and tangy flavor of golden pineapple.

6 GEESE-A-LAYING
BELGIAN-STYLE DARK ALE BREWED WITH CAPE GOOSEBERRIES – 11.7% ABV

6 Geese-A-Laying is a return to the more classic dark and toasty winter ale, following the appropriately blonde 5 Golden Rings. Brewed with cape gooseberries, this malty ale displays notes of plums, dark cherry and bright, citrus-like flavors from the namesake berries.

7 SWANS-A-SWIMMING
BELGIAN-STYLE QUADRUPEL ALE – 9.1% ABV

7 Swans-A-Swimming is our take on the Belgian quadrupel. This ale may not be as out-of-the-box as some of our past winter brews, but it’s just as rich and complex, with notes of raisin bread, dried apricots, burnt caramel and roasted pecans.

8 MAIDS-A-MILKING
IMPERIAL MILK STOUT – 11.3% ABV

8 Maids-a-Milking is brewed with milk sugar, which is the only type of sugar that is unfermentable by yeast. This gives the finished beer a creamy sweetness which perfectly complements the robust layers of milk chocolate and subtle spice accents from our house Belgian yeast.

9 LADIES DANCING
ALE WITH CACAO NIBS, VANILLA, COFFEE, AND LACTOSE – 11% ABV

Inspired by flavors and ingredients found in tiramisu, including ladyfingers, 9 Ladies Dancing mimics the Italian dessert by whipping together flavor combinations and layers of its own. This includes notes of vanilla, chocolate and coffee – clearly the leading ladies in this rich ale.

10 LORDS-A-LEAPING
DARK IMPERIAL WIT ALE BREWED WITH SPICES – 10.8% ABV

Wassail is known for warmth and spices. Our rendition goes leaps and bounds beyond a traditional winter warmer, drawing inspiration from the dark, spiced ales from Belgium and our love for experimental brewing in SoCal. This dark imperial wit ale features spices to complement the spiced notes imparted from the yeast and prance upon the rich, dark fruited character of the specialty malts.

11 PIPERS PIPING
SCOTCH-STYLE ALE BREWED WITH CANDI SUGAR AND CORIANDER – 11% ABV

Scotland is known for its bagpipes and its beers, and this Scotch-style ale adds Belgian Candi sugar to the mix, giving it deep notes of toffee and dried fruit accented by the spicy herbal aroma of coriander. The eleventh verse in our 12 Days of Christmas Series, 11 Pipers Piping is an extra smooth and malty, full-bodied jig of a beer.

12 DRUMMERS DRUMMING
80% BELGIAN-STYLE QUADRUPEL ALE & 20% OLD ALE AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS – 12% ABV

Twelve years in the making, 12 Drummers Drumming is the final release in our 12 Days of Christmas Series. A celebratory blend of our bourbon barrel-aged anniversary ale and a Belgian-style quadrupel ale. Boisterous notes of toffee, dark fruit, caramel and oak character bring this 12 year journey to an extraordinary close.

At $125 ($200 for the barrel-aged ones) it’s not cheap (about $10.42 per bottle), but it’s fun and quite a collection of some interesting high-end concept beers. It’s a perfect gift idea too, already in an attractive box you can slap a bow on.