12 Beers of Christmas

1) Houblon Chouffe

BELGIUM / 9% ABV

And now for something completely different: a Belgian beer with three different types of hops. No, that’s not a typo on the bottle;  what you have in your hands is the first IPA style beer made by a proper Belgian brewery. 

Brasserie d'AChouffe was founded in the late 1970s in Belgium's Valley of the Fairies. In true hipster beer brah fashion, brothers-in-law Pierre and Chris began brewing beer in one of their mother-in-law's garage way before it was cool to be doing so. Though they focus on proper Belgian ales, they also wanted to make a brew for the American masses, so they brewed a classic belgian dubbel  ale and hopped it up with Tomahawk, Saaz, and Amarillo hops to make a beer in a category all its own: hoppy, bitter yet clean, aromatic, and somehow gently creamy. You’d never guess this sneaky little gnome packs a punch at 9% abv. Skål!

2) Einbecker Winterbock

Germany / 7.5% ABV

Haling from one of the world’s oldest breweries, Einecker Winter-Bock is everything you crave on a cold winter’s night.  Historical documents show that this brauhous in Einbeck, Germany has been at it since 1378 and claim to be the originators of the “bock” style of beer. Bocks are stylistically dark lagers that are less hoppy and more malty. However, what you have in your hands right now is a Doppelboch, which quite literally translates to “double bock”. So, you can expect a more amped up, flavorful version and this Winter-Bock does not disappoint. 

Beautifully dark amber in color, this full bodied brew has a big malty flavor with a hint of sweetness. Creamy in texture and bursting with flavors of toasty molasses, caramel and chocolate, this will undoubtably excite your tastebuds. These bold notes also lends itself to be perfectly enjoyed with salty hard cheeses and even sweet treats like cheesecake!  And if you like traditions, you’ll enjoy being part of this one, since bocks have been the chosen bevy at many German Christmas celebrations for centuries! 

3) Harvey's Christmas Ale

ENGLAND / 7.5% ABV

Keeping their brewing traditions alive since 1790, Harvey’s brings us one of our favorite holiday brews. A decadent barleywine experience, this beer is, in a word, unctuous. Velvety fruitcake and spiced bread on the palate along with mulled wine and an underscoring of charred orange peel, dried plums, currant… this beer’s finish lasts almost as long as a Hallmark Christmas movie, mercifully without being nearly so saccharin sweet.

Aside from their beer though, we love what Harvey’s is up to: brewing with exclusively locally sourced grains et al from Sussex, solar panels on all their buildings, biodegradable packaging (save for the glass bottles, which is returnable to the brewery for reuse!), amongst other environmentally friendly decisions that are sure to keep Harvey’s safely off of Krampus’s naughty list.

4) Evil Twin Before, During and After Christmas IPA

BROOKLYN, NY / 8% ABV

A wonderfully fruity and hazy style IPA. It’s as bright as all the lights on the Christmas tree bringing citrus flavors including orange, tangerine,and a hint of grapefruit juiciness rather than pith. The mouthfeel on this beer is creamy and velvety as if you’re swallowing an icey cold gulp of a melted creamsicle pop. It finishes off very smooth and round on the palate.

5) East Rock Pilsner Project

NEW HAVEN, CT / 4.8%

Sometimes it feels good to stop and look around during the holidays, to take a sort of Peanuts-esque glimpse at the hustle and bustle and wonder what it all really means. More often than not, we are truly thankful for the simple things-- a warm fire, hot cocoa, and the company of good friends. Our friends the Wilsons over at East Rock Brewing in New Haven took it upon themselves to brew a beer with one hop, grown exclusively by their friends the Seitz family who happen to reside in the best German hop-growing region. The hop itself, Saphir, is strongly in the camp of German noble hops, which are more delicate and grassy in flavor than their American counterparts.The beer, although deceptively simple, uses these hops to full effect, creating a gentle tangerine bitterness that emphasizes the sheer malt simplicity: something else for which to be grateful in this busy holiday season. Beer that tastes like beer. Prost!

6) Kent Falls Ryeland

KENT, CT / 4.5% ABV

Today’s selection hails from Kent Falls Brewing. A multifaceted 50 acre farm nestled in the most northwesterly corner of Connecticut, Kent Falls is a farm brewery, focusing on a spirit of collaboration with local farms to achieve localised biodiversity, so from an ethos standpoint, we obviously love what they’re up to.

Kent Falls consistently delivers delightful, one-of-a-kind beers, and their Ryeland is no exception. Utilising the Altbier style (quite literally “old beer” in German) this ale is conditioned for two months before canning. The resulting brew showcases a nose of honey, candied malt, and dried vanilla cereal on the nose, with a creamy mouthfeel and a palate much lighter and more refreshing than the nose would lead one to believe: gentle malt earthiness, and a subtle roasty toastiness… Dare we say, an infinitely crushable brown ale. One single can houses approximately 4 square feet of Northeastern grown grain. Support local farms and drink your breakfast!

7) Wormtown Blizzard of '78

WORCESTER, MA / 6% ABV

Ah, the infamous blizzard of ‘78. If you didn't live through the worst snowstorm New England has ever seen, then you've certainly had to survive stories about it. “Two feet of snow in a day! Carter called a federal emergency, it took them a week to shovel out 95 and the Mass Pike! You kids have it easy with your snowstorms nowadays, back in my day we had real snowstorms that crippled the state” yadda yadda yadda…

The fine folks at Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA, having also lived through rantings of the worst snowstorm to hit New England, have crafted a brew that makes sitting through those seemingly endless tales of yore (and effectively every other holiday gathering this season) a bit more tolerable. This english-style brown ale is zhuzhed up with coffee beans to give juuussstt enough caffeine to keep you from nodding off during Uncle Frank’s diatribes on the best chains for your tires. With just a hint of cocoa and coffee notes, this English beer is velvety smooth, and will carry you from dinner to dessert with ease.

8) Watercolors Christmas Creamee

NORTH HAVEN, CT / 5.5% ABV

Gaze into your childhood past and imagine all of your favorite fruity desserts blended up and juiced into a fruited sour. If you like sweet this one is for you!!

Think banana Laffy Taffy and tangy oranges with a gingerbread crust. This is warm and sweet on the nose. Pair this with a dessert like pie or even start your morning off right and pair this beer with chocolate chip pancakes or a fruit topped Belgian waffle. It has just the right balance of fruit, sweetness, spice, and everything nice. Give it a turn upside down before drinking to make sure all the “creamee” goodness is well blended!

9) Mast Landing Gunner's Daughter

WESTBROOK, MAINE / 5.5% ABV

It’s been a Monday, You need the beer equivalent of a warm hug. Enter Mast Landing’s Gunner’s Daughter. Mast Landing has been churning out innovative beers in Westbrook, Maine since 2015, and Gunner’s Daughter is one of their most popular brews.

In an effort to create an unctuous peanut butter coffee stout that was cafeteria-friendly, Mast Landing has managed to create a sessionable stout that emulates these flavors without adding in any nuts; anaphylactics rejoice! Don't let the sweetness of the nose trick you. Though the aromas of this beer are rich with the weight of Almond Joy candy, the palate delivers roasted arabica richness swizzled with dark cocoa powder with a delightfully light finish and no hint of sweetness.

10) Troegs Mad Elf

Hershey, PA / 11% ABV

Brewed once a year by the Belgian inspired Troegs in Hershey, PA, Mad Elf does does a wonderful job of capturing the holiday spirit in liquid form. The inclusion of honey and cherries in this dark ale brings a fruity buoyancy and a mellifluous texture that will instantly put a grin on your face.

The week leading up to Christmas is always one filled with stress, so don't forget to make time for yourself. A peaceful evening with your loved ones accompanied by this beer, shared or solo, will help to make your season bright.

11) Oxbow Whole Leaf

NEWCASTLE, ME / 5.5% ABV

I don’t know if you know this, but Santa loves to summer in Maine and his first brewery stop is always Oxbow Brewing Co. in Newcastle. So, naturally we wanted to show off this cool farmhouse ale that is a hat tip to a style of beer that was traditionally made for farm workers (I’m talking since ancient times) to enjoy after a hard day in the fields. Historically these ales would use well water, leftover ingredients, wild yeasts and have a fast turn around time of a few weeks for quick consumption. Fast forward to modern times and we see longer production and better ingredients and notably Oxbow Brewing is using whole leaf (hence the name of the beer) European hops and has a 6 week production time.

Crisp and tart from the first sip, you can see how this would be refreshing after a long day. Perfectly funky with a barnyard twinge, we see how the wild yeasts used here embody a signature farmhouse ale flavor. Balanced with notes of grapefruit, lime and even a bit of pepper, this beer is easy to drink but makes you think hard.

Hazy in color and packed full of flavor, there is no doubt we know why Santa loves this beer. 

12) O.E.C. Dubbel

Oxford, CT / 7.4% ABV

Cast in the mold of the archetypical monastic Dubbel, OEC has put extensive research and design into this winter warmer. Dissatisfied with the norm (as usual) OEC has put their own decidedly non-monastic spin on this special beer. Brewed not only with the traditional array of malts but also with raisins, soaked in rum-barrel aged distilled beer. This addition accentuates the fruit and woody notes already present in the beer to new heights, creating a cohesive package of chewy amber and dark malts, roasted notes and a special kick from the innovative additions.