Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
We have our first collaborative winter seasonal that brings a little snow to Los Angeles. Melvin Brewing to Frogtown Brewery.
It is described thusly, “Brewed with hints of honey, lemon, and a touch of spice. It’s a cozy twist on a classic hot toddy crisp smooth and perfect for fireside sipping.”
It is probably too early but if Sierra Nevada can release their holiday IPA closer to summer than Christmas well, then I have a little extra latitude when it comes to predicting 2026 in November.
Prediction # 1 – worsening politics will lead to a temporary drinking bump.
To say it has been a turbulent 2025 is an understatement. And I expect more of the same for the Grand Dame USA next year. It is pretty grim which may lead some to party like it’s 1999 but then when it inevitably gets even worse and the rise and fall becomes more obvious sales will head back downward.
Prediction # 2 – more closures ahead
I try not to be the boy who called wolf especially when things are good now compared to 25 years ago but I fear that more closings are coming as tariffs and a reeling economy shrink profit margins even more.
Prediction # 3 – a new beer trend will emerge
I will not predict what the style or sub-style will be but it has been a hot minute since the last real craft beer trend and though it may be a short-lived brut IPA experience, it could also be a longer term niche that shows ups.
We stay in Oregon for our second holiday seasonal but we switch over to cider and a rockin’ around the Christmas tree from 2 Towns Ciderhouse.
“Sled Zeppelin, a 6.9% ABV limited-edition cider. This seasonal headliner blends Pacific Northwest apples, Oregon cranberries, and a dash of cinnamon for a cider that takes your taste buds on a Stairway to Heaven.”
Time to unveil the best beers that I drank this month…..and it runs the style gamut.
#4 is the Trader Joe’s and Hardywood Joe Joe’s Chocolate Vanilla Creme Stout. The beer equivalent of TJ’s Oreo simulacrum. Yes, it is sweet and yes a 12oz serving would be better but it did nail that cookie experience.
#3 is a Kilkenny brewed Irish stout from Sullivan’s, Black Marble Stout. Had the creamy pour and the roast notes that you would get from any of the Irish troika of Guinness, Beamish or Murphys.
#2 Cellarmaker had a lovely anniversary pale ale for their 12th orbit around the sun. It struck the correct balance of hops and malts.
# 1 is a Los Angeles collaboration between Ogopogo and El Segundo Brewing, what they call a small IPA Li’l Thunderbird. Bright and punch with hops but at a much more sessionable 5.5%.
Santa is bringing comfort and joy from McMinnville, Oregon with this first beer in the BSP seasonal beer advent calendar from Golden Valley Brewery.
“Our infamous Tannen Bomb has been aging a full year in whiskey barrels, adding complexity and contributing bold aromas of vanilla, toasted oak, and tobacco leaf.
The Tannen Bomb is brewed specially to bring warmth and cheer to the wet winter clime of the great Northwest, Tannen Bomb features rich notes of toffee, caramel, and fruit, balanced by a generous dose of locally grown hops.”
Our last stop of November is in Poughkeepsie, New York and Zeus Brewing Co. which was brewery of the year in the smallest size category.
Let’s sample a few of their brews….
Second Wind – “A Golden Saison brewed with Pilsner, Wheat, and Honey Malts, a blend of French and Czech Noble Hops, and fermented extra dry with a clean, expressive French Strain of yeast. Bright and effervescent, offering subtle Citrus and Pepper-y Esters as a result of Free-Rise Fermentation.”
Urban Oasis: Lime Gose – “A classic German Sour Ale brewed with Lime and a touch of Sea Salt.”
Redwood – “A West Coast Double IPA brewed with a blend of 2-Row Barley and a handful of lightly kilned malts. This batch is dry-hopped with the classic Simcoe, and complimented by a new experimental hop from the team at West Coast Hop Breeding in Oregon, making for a Citrus & Pine forward beer with a dry and complex malt profile.”
Sleep No More – “A Coffee Stout Collab with our good friends at Area Coffee in Kingston, NY. Brewed with Chocolate, Caramel, and Biscuit Malts and Twice Infused with Area’s Fairchild Espresso, sourced from Chiapas, Mexico & the Guji Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia.”
I am not advocating for just drinking today but considering airport lines worse and food insecurity even worser this month makes extra drinking a little more understandable.
But how about starting tomorrow, and through to Christmas if you have a little extra cash in the pocket or in a credit line, buying a beer for your beertenders or for the person in line behind you. Not to sound all woo-woo, but this country could use a little kindness since there ain’t any coming from Washington D.C.
Give kindness and thanks and beer this day.
You can’t tell it is Christmas in Los Angeles by the weather (too hot) or by stores (too early) but you can tell when Arts District Brewing hosts their annual Schwarz-Mas.
They gather a bunch of local breweries for a just the right size festival for Schwarzbier and other dark lager variants. It is a great day out and you can Christmas shop after (or before).
Have you been inside an Irish themed pub and gone, this is better than the real thing in Dublin or Galway? Well then have I got a speakeasy (and a bridge) to sell to you.
“For the first time in more than four decades, the historic Bevo Bottling Plant’s hospitality room will reopen—though this time as the Bevo Fox Den, a Prohibition-themed speakeasy.”
Oh, I am sure it will be decked out but it will be all studio set and no heart and I bet your beers will reflect, in price, the decor costs.
Needed? – does Budweiser have to be in another bar? there are lots of breweries that would thrill the people of St. Louis far more.
Inglewood will be getting a party when Three Weavers Brewing celebrates its 11th Anniversary on December 6th so mark that paper or digital calendar now.
Think of it as a way to get in the holiday spirit.