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

Hoax Brewing Apple Pie Sleight of Hand

North Haven - 4.5% abv

For those of you joining us for the second year of advent calendars in a row, you’ll be delighted to find that there are NO REPEATS, BABY!! However, we knew we couldn’t go without including our talented friends over at Hoax Brewing, so this year we decided to choose an entirely different flavor profile in their rotating ‘Sleight of Hand’ sour series. It’s almost impossible to find a brewery who’s creativity matches Hoax’s, with their eccentric beers made with unconventional adjuncts such as toasted marshmallows, cotton candy, or locally foraged juniper and spruce tips. Yet the thing that sets them apart the most is how no matter how crazy they get, they’re able to create exceptionally *drinkable* brews and somehow achieve a delicate balance on the palate despite these avant-garde ingredients.

We had no idea what to expect upon first trying a sour Berliner Weiss style beer that tastes like an apple pie, but we were delighted, and hope you are too! Upon first sip you’re hit with a soft tart quality and a mouthwatering sensation of green apple and lemon. Then, you discover a lingering aftertaste of cinnamon spice and a flavor reminiscent of Apple-Jacks cereal. If you let the beer warm up closer to room temperature, the appetizing aroma of fresh baked apple pie gently wafts out of the glass. We don’t know what the boys at Hoax will think up next, but we know it’ll be well-composed and tasty.

pmenschDecember 7, 2021KimComment