Spencer & Lynn

Beer Advent

2021

Once again, we had a blast putting together our annual Craft Beer Advent Calendar!!  We've thoughtfully chosen twenty-four of the best beers to enjoy in December 2021, and wrapped them up together as the best advent calendar ever:  one that surprises you with a new, limited, seasonal beer every day!  

We've represented many of the best cans and bottles coming from our amazing local craft beer scene, alongside some ancient, traditional brews from across the planet, and even included some new and unexpected flavors and styles as well.  With an array of IPAs, a smattering of sours, some crisp clean lagers, some way more obscure and nerdy lagers, plus all the roasty malty dark beers you could possibly want to keep you cozy throughout this holiday season... this year's selection is sure to delight any craft beer drinker, from novice to connoisseur.  

We thank you for joining us for our second annual Beer Advent Calendar, and invite you to sip along with these daily tasting notes that we’ve put together for each individual beer.  Once again for your convenience we saved the heaviest-hitters - those with alcohol contents over 7% - for the weekends.  We sincerely hope you enjoy these selected seasonal offerings as much as we really do too!!  

Cheers to you, cheers to craft beer, and cheers to the 2021 holidays!
Kim, James, Kelly, Jules, Jessica, Kathryn, Ashley, David & Pamela

Graft Red.Roe.Ruin. Nordic Mead

Newburgh, New York - 6.9%abv

Surprise!!  We were all very excited to include a MEAD in this year’s advent calendar!  

Mead, or “honey wine,” is an ancient beverage potentially dating back almost ten thousand years, but is currently having quite a moment rapidly gaining popularity in recent years.  Mead is gluten-free, made from fermenting honey and water, and can be made in a wide range of styles from still to sparkling, from sticky sweet to bone-dry, and can also include a virtually infinite number of possible secondary flavors and ingredients.  

Graft Cidery out of the Hudson Valley in New York is one of our favorite cider houses for many reasons. Not only do they source their apples and major ingredients locally, but their creativity in seasonal cannings is seriously unmatched.  Even more special perhaps, is the fact that they’re one of the very few brands with the guts to transparently label their raw ingredients and nutritional facts - because they never use artificial additives, stabilizers, chemicals, or sorbates.  We knew Graft’s ‘Red, Roe, Ruin’ from their one-off, never-repeated Book of Nomad series would be perfect for this time of year.  Made with Nordic Kveik yeast to highlight and complement the honey and berry flavors, and using cinnamon, yarrow, and rosemary as a nod to the traditional herbs, roots, and spices of Nordic cuisine - it’s the mulled wine of meads!  Tart, slightly sweet, herbal, floral, bitter, tangy… This one’s a beauty.  

Please enjoy, and welcome to the wonderful world of meads!!

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