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Who doesn’t want to see beer under the Christmas tree? Or the Christmas tree in the beer? Drake’s Brewing Co. has you covered for both with their Tree Beer IPA.
“We don’t stuff an entire Christmas tree into the brew kettle anymore, but Tree Beer’s legendary creation story endures with each delicious sip. Tree Beer IPA is a harmonious blend of fresh spruce tips, juniper berries, Chinook, and Idaho #7 hops.”
Time to fill a non-frosted glass with something seasonally appropriate, perhaps a Cold IPA?
Start a new ritual with this Cold IPA from Hopworks Urban Brewery.
This is where the Christmas rubber meets the holiday road. This month we dive into seasonals every day until Christmas plus Christmas beer reviews. Get your tinsel out.
~ e-visits to (3) breweries that made the Craft Beer & Brewing Best Of List
~ special featured reviews of beers with a touch of the Christmas.
~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ A Book & A Beer reads Foundation by Isacc Asimov
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to My Dad Wrote a Porno
~ Great Beer names and Best Beers of the Month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Next up for the start of a new month is Washington State’s Fremont Brewing and their Imperial Winter Ale…
“This is a tasty Winter Ale to snuggle up to, released for the winter months when snow blankets the terrain of the mind and the body craves warmth and, let’s be honest, it’s dark and wet most of the time so your beer better be damn good. Winter Ale is dark like the weather with roast chocolate and warm malt flavors balanced by noble hop aroma and subtle hoppy spice.”
Time to add the seasonal flavor flair. The Great Divide Yeti has us covered with peppermint bark in their imperial stout.
Santa is off to Germany for his next pint from Landskron…
“The elegant festival beer for special enjoyment in winter. A beer with a balanced aroma, in which the malt notes are harmoniously paired with floral hop scents. It promises a pleasure with a full, round body, in which a fine hop bitterness is perfectly integrated and which ends with a full malt body.”
In a Brewing label world that likes to steal intellectual property, it is good to see a brewery be clever and respectful while also using the word tripel as a pun. Great Lakes Brewing Co. not only goes Belgian instead of IPA but graces the label with the havoc causing Bumpuss pack of canines.
As we get near the end of another holiday beer season, time to break out a new IPA style, the WHIPA! Here is how Schlafly describes this hoppy offering, “blend malt, wheat, and oats with pounds of Idaho 7, Strata, and Sabro hops for a beer that results in a winter white out you can pour in a glass. After a hefty double dry-hopping process, this limited release IPA embraces the haze and packs a massive wave of juicy hop flavor.”
Wherever you land in the pastry stout debate, you have to admit that a candy cane is a quintessential Christmas flavor which makes it perfect for inclusion on the list of ingredients for any holiday beer. DuClaw has whipped up an imperial stout to balance out the mint.
As the winter beers continue in our distanced year, we get a little sour but also wise with Winter Sage from Cascade Brewing with grocer Market of Choice. The beer is described as a “sour wheat ale aged in oak barrels for up to 10 months, then infused with fresh, locally grown sage, white tea, lemon peel, coriander and Oregon coast sea salt.”