It’s the Most Wonderful Time for Beers

After the onslaught of pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests, I’m ready to fully embrace that whole comfort-and-joy theme while discussing the winter seasonals. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year, with a sleigh full of ultra-tasty holiday-themed releases and magnificent once-a-year offerings. They’ll warm up the long, cold nights, spice up festive gatherings and make swell mix-a-six (or more) gifts. Ho-ho-ho — let’s go drinking!

The Locals: Revery, Foolproof’s potent Russian imperial stout (10.7% ABV), is available in four-packs of 12-ounce cans for the first time. Bucket’s holiday beer, Fireside Harvest Ale, made with molasses, vanilla, ginger and cinnamon (they say it’s inspired by Indian pudding), should arrive near the end of the month. Crooked Current’s Extortion Egg Nog Milk Stout will make its annual debut on Thanksgiving Eve. And prepare to share Newport Storm’s Annual Release ’15, a chocolate-and-bacon-flavored big beer (11%,) which will make its mark as a liquid appetizer and/or dessert treat.

Santa’s Little Helpers: Here are eight exemplary reinbeers with an overt holiday hook; there are many more worthy offerings, but there’s only so much room at the Motif inn. Put these in your sleigh: Rogue’s Santa’s Private Reserve, a hearty amber ale (5.3%); Southern Tier Krampus, an imperial Helles Lager (9%) named for St. Nick’s storied horned beast who punishes naughty children ’round Yuletide; three world-class beauties from Belgium: Scaldis Noël and Delirium Noël (strong dark ales, 12% and 10%, respectively) and St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, a spicy, chocolatey quadrupel (10%); the 41st edition of Anchor Christmas Ale (5.5%) — each year’s release features a new recipe and a unique tree on the label — 2015 is the Deodar Cedar, aka the California Christmas Tree; Two Roads’ Holiday Ale (7%), a Biere de Noel — French for “Christmas beer” — is a malty, Belgiany delight (and won a silver medal at the 19th Annual Great International Beer & Cider Competition); and Heavy Seas’ Yule Tide (9%), a Doppelbock aged in Jamaican rum barrels. (Hmm, what’s in the pipe that Santa is holding on the label?)

‘Tis the Seasonals: The variety and ultra-high-quality of these must-try beers presents a serious challenge to your brew budget. Kick off the season with Mayflower’s Thanksgiving Ale (6.7%), an English strong ale straight outta Plymouth, Massachusetts, then get a taste of these passing-through brews: Lagunitas’ Brown Shugga’ (9.9%), a strong ale made with cane sugar and the brewery’s mandatory deluge of hops; Sixpoint’s Global Warmer (7%), a well-balanced amber/red ale; 21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat (7.9%), a “winter spiced ale”; Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (14.2%) arrives on Black Friday, November 27, and is thick, rich and complex, with layers of caramel, molasses, vanilla, chocolate and a warming burn; Founders Backwoods Bastard (11.6%), a bourbon-barrel aged ale whose booziness demands slow sipping; Widmer Brothers’ Brrr (7.2%), a reddish winter warmer with caramel and chocolate malts; Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal (10.2%), a Russian imperial stout with waves of flavor as formidable as the whale on its label; Samuel Adams’ Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout (9%), stuffed with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and ginger — skip the baked goods and go for this dessert-in-a-glass; and Baxter Brewing’s Phantom Punch Winter Stout (6.8%), a sweet delight made with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs — the name refers to the blow that secured Muhammad Ali’s victory over Sonny Liston at a 1965 fight in Lewiston, Maine, where Baxter is brewed. I saved Sierra Nevada’s beloved Celebration Ale for last. The fresh hop IPA (6.8%) has been brewed since 1981, and is a much-anticipated annual treat from the pioneering California brewery. It bursts with citrus and pine notes and delivers blissful bitterness. I rarely drink two consecutive bottles of the same beer, but I gladly break that “rule” when it’s Celebration time.

Cheers to this awesome array of end-of-the-year beers!

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