Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
If the ingredient list on this winter beer doesn’t make you want to cozy up under a blanket and watch the snow, well then, I cannot help you. I understand why this beer from de Garde is limited but I wish I could just pick one up.
To DTLA we go for our second holiday beer…
Angel City adds in a pair of off the beaten path items to this new winter IPA.
Let’s start the holiday season with a classic of winter ales…
I love that each year a new artist is selected by Deschutes to design their seasonal and I love that they call it a “festive” winter ale. This is a must have for me every year.
Eastern Oregon is where the next holiday ale hails from…
This Wintertime Ale from Crux Fermentation Project has “an alluring spice character from Belgian yeast and suggestions of seasonal dark fruit, Snow Cave is a nuanced sipper you can cozy up with around the fire pit.”
The suggestions this month are appropriately Christmas themed and come from close to home and from far away.
~LIGHT
Deschutes / Jubelale 6.70% ABV
“A dark, malty celebration ale with layered flavors and beautifully balanced hopping. Jubelale pours deep garnet in color, medium bodied, with notes of chicory, earth, spice and fruit. To beer lovers, it’s like Yule fire and family.”
~MEDIUM
Karl Strauss / Nine Bonfires Blazing 7.50% ABV
“It’s golden hour. Time to reflect on the day, dust the sand off your blankets, and surround yourself with good friends. The night hasn’t turned dark yet, so why should your beer? Introducing 9 Bonfires Blazing, the 9th installment in our “Twelve Days” holiday series. Just like sweater weather in San Diego, this winter warmer is quite the oxymoron. Brewed with coffee, vanilla beans, and rolled oats (but without roasted barley!), it is blonde in color but has all the aromas and flavors of a bold, American stout. Pop open a beach chair and join us – ’tis the season for sharing stories and stouts around the fire.”
~BIG
St. Bernardus / Christmas Ale 10.0% ABV
“St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is the youngest descendant in the illustrious family of delicious Abbey Ales by Brewery St. Bernardus. This specialty beer is characterized by its deep dark colour, with a creamy, thick head and a full, almost velvety taste with a fruity nose. It’s a seasonal ale, brewed annually for the holiday season. The long winter nights are perfect moments to savour this ale with or without friends and to enjoy its unique, complex taste and after-taste.”
All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)
….and a Happy New Year!!! (filled with great beers and greater times)
Today we go to Kentucky via Oregon and the Hopworks barrel-aged Christmas ale.
Christmas time in the sun, the perfect time to crack open a big barleywine or barrel-aged bomb. Maybe in January. In the meantime, here is what is coming this month.
~ e-visits to three breweries from anywhere on the planet, no Mars because that is apparently a Bud planet.
~ special featured reviews of Christmas beers, of course
~ 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 Strange Weather from Joe Hill.
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.
Here are two events to get your December started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) December 3rd – 1st Anniversary for Gunwhale Ales in Costa Mesa.
2) December 6th – TRVE Brewing + Burial Tap Takeover at Eagle Rock Brewery
Less than two weeks til Christmas. Not to stress you out about the shopping and gift wrapping still to be done. To calm you down, here is the next winter beer, from Three Taverns: Feest Noel.
“This Belgian-style quadrupel uses dark roasted malts, imported Belgian dark candy sugar, and spiced accents of cardamom, allspice and cloves.”
I hope that you survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday and any other days of the week in this holiday season and are ready to sample all the Christmas beers out there. Here is what is on tap for December on the blog.
~ e-visits to three breweries that brew beers with figs
~ special reviews of holiday beers plus a special Anchor Holiday Ale review
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Holiday Beer Daily started last month and continues up to Christmas.
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 106 is all about the holiday ales
Here are two events to get your December started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) December 5th – Smog City + Vagabond Cheese pairing
2) December 17th – Beachwood 9th Anniversary