1. Vintage Brewing Bock's O-Chocolates
Style: Chocolate Doppelbock
Life is like a box of chocolates. Christmas Day and chocolate goes together like peanut butter and jelly. I might drink this one pretty early, like when the kids are opening presents early. Chocolate beer for dessert (breakfast) indeed. Thank you PfoxyJohn for this bottle of candy.
"This rich and decadent true lager is brewed with generous additions of chocolate malt and organic cocoa powder then aged on fresh-toasted cacao nibs and Mexican vanilla beans. Bock's O-Chocolates has a rich malty sweetness and a serious chocolate flavor with a thick chewy body."
2. Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
Style: Oatmeal Stout (with coffee addition)
A breakfast beer? Yes. Oatmeal, coffee, dark chocolates all sound appealing for Boxing Day breakfast. Thank you Candace for this long time wish list beer.
"An oatmeal stout with 25.0% oat-based ingredients and a nice touch of gourmet coffee. A beer that goes extremely well with breakfast! Good hints of coffee and smoke as well as dark chocolate and roasted malts. Ask any beer geek . . . a hearty, complex stout is the tastiest way to begin the day. This unique mix of an oat and coffee stout creates an intense, full-bodied beer that is surprisingly balanced and full of new taste adventures with every sip."
3. Alewerks Lover's Greed
Style: American Wild Ale
Sour and wild ales, especially barrel aged variants, are at the top of the beer pyramid. Complex flavors, usually tart and exhibiting characteristics from the barrels, are extremely appealing to my taste buds. This one was acquired in Virginia during work travels.
"You hold a piece of the second iteration of Lover's Greed American Wild Ale. This batch waited 36 months in French Oak red Wine barrels before it was deemed worthy of release. This beer has moved beyond an exercise in the forgotten virtue of patience; it is a demonstration of an inclination for torment due to fascination with an elegant ale."
4. Sierra Nevada Trip In The Woods Barrel-Aged Cocoa Coconut Narwhal
Style: Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (with toasted coconut and cocoa nibs)
I love coconut, and chocolate, and barrel-aged beers. This monster has it all. Seems like a very good nightcap on a cold December evening. Might better share this one with the better half...
"This very special version of our Narwhal Imperial Stout was brewed with toasted coconut and then left to mature in Kentucky Bourbon barrels for nearly a year. To the barrels, we added additional coconut and cocoa nibs to create a uniquely rich and decadent stout."
5. De Proef/New Glarus Abtsolution Dark Belgian Ale
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Belgium's De Proef Brouwerij and Wisconsin's New Glarus Brewing are two of the world's top breweries. This collaboration marries these stalwarts yielding a rich, dark Belgian classic with a Wisconsin twist. Abtsolution should pair nicely with a rich holiday meal. Thank you for another gem Mr. Pfister.
"We have created a beer based on the classic Belgian Abt style, with unique Wisconsin contributions including Santiam and Chinook hops. To further highlight the Dairy State we've added lactose for extra mouthfeel and richness. The result is a dark ale with fruity esters, a velvety smooth palate and balancing wood notes from our use of French and American oak along with spicy hop notes. This ale is designed to drink now, but we believe will evolve beautifully over the next 1-2 years. Enjoy Abtsolution with roasted meats, rich cheese and of course, friends. Cheers!"
6. Southern Tier Thick Mint
Style: Imperial Stout (with chocolate and mint)
Everyone loves Girl Scout cookies, especially Thin Mints. This beer is a take on those delicious cookies in stout form - an Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and mint. Another dessert ale for my Twelve Beers of Christmas; life is good.
"Inspired by the legendary cookie, Thick Mint joins our world-class rated Blackwater Series of dessert beers alongside Crème Brûlée & Choklat in 2017. This imperial stout is a mouthful of perfectly balanced mint & chocolate. Roasty malts coalesce with notes of Belgian dark chocolate, sweet mint & just a touch of sweet caramel. So decadently delicious, you’ll wish you’d bought another box… er, bottle."
7. Sierra Nevada Alpha Hop Society Barrel-Aged Cherry Vanilla Stout
Style: Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (with cherries and vanilla)
Another Imperial Stout, this one bourbon barrel aged with cherries and vanilla added. Just call me a fat elf. Yes this list is heavy on Imperial Stouts, dessert beers, because it is my list and these are the beers I enjoy during the holidays. Thank you Matt R for letting this go out of your cellar.
"An Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon barrels with cherries and vanilla added."
8. Yazoo Embrace the Funk Table Red
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Happy New Year to me! Brandon Jones, Wranger of Funk at Yazoo Brewing Company in Nashville, pilots the Embrace The Funk program, blending barrel aged beers with a wild and funky side. He is a genius. He is also humble and nice. Kudos to ETF and The Wrangler of Funk. I always thoroughly enjoy his concoctions. The Table Red is an uber rare small batch release that I picked up on one of my visits to The Music City in 2017.
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Happy New Year to me! Brandon Jones, Wranger of Funk at Yazoo Brewing Company in Nashville, pilots the Embrace The Funk program, blending barrel aged beers with a wild and funky side. He is a genius. He is also humble and nice. Kudos to ETF and The Wrangler of Funk. I always thoroughly enjoy his concoctions. The Table Red is an uber rare small batch release that I picked up on one of my visits to The Music City in 2017.
"A light bodied Table Red ale aged for 16 months in French Oak barrels with our house souring and brettanomyces cultures. This delicious ale pairs well with plein air dinners and conversations between good friends."
9. Yazoo Embrace The Funk Funk Fest '17
Style: Flanders Oud Bruin (with boysenberries, raspberries and cherries)
Another blended ale from Brandon and Embrace the Funk, this one has a lot to offer. Richness, complexity, tartness, fruits while employing Brettanomyces and souring bacterias should make this one an enjoyable addition to the Twelve Beers of Christmas.
"A blend of Brown and Dark sour ales aged in Rye Bourbon, Sherry and Port barrels with Boysenberries, Raspberries and Cherries."
10. Thomas Creek Driftwood Series Boys-en The Hood
Style: American Sour Ale (with boysenberries)
"Petite Sour Ale with Boysenberry" - another sour/wild ale. Tingle my taste buds, please my palate; the love for these tart temptations continues. Picked this one up at the brewery in Greenville, SC.
"Mixed Culture Sour ale fermented in rum barrels with boysenberry added to the barrels for secondary fermentation."
11. Hardywood Cuvée Peach
Style: Belgian-style Tripel (with peaches)
Peaches are my favorite fruit. (Cherries are my second favorite.) Thus the Twelve Beers of Christmas include beers with these fruit additions. Hardywood is a highly regarded brewery in Richmond, VA. A white wine barrel aged peach Tripel ale should be amazingly delicious. This peachy Tripel comes to me via recent Appalachian Trail Hiker (all of it!), Jim aka Gravity, who knows how much I love peaches, and beer.
"Hardywood Cuvée Peach is artfully blended by our barrel master from small batches of Peach Tripel aged in white wine barrels, at varying levels of maturation , from three months to more than a year. The resulting beer is beautifully complex with yeast-derived stone fruit esters that harmonize with juicy peach undertones. This sparkling refresher offers a pleasantly dry finish with the slightest hint of vanilla from the toasted French Oak barrels."
12. Idyll Hounds Capt'n Ferdinand
Style: Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (with vanilla)
Another Imperial stout, this one aged in sherry barrels with a vanilla bean addition. This should be quite the sipper, full of flavor, to be paired with rich desserts. Thank you Jason for this big boy.
The Twelve Beers of Christmas for 2017. Cheers to good friends, great beers, and enjoying family during the holiday season. I hope you enjoy your own Twelve Beers of Christmas and share with your family and friends.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays!
Twelve Beers of Christmas Past:
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2008
1. Anchor Our Special Ale (2008)
2. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
3. Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel
4. Great Lakes Christmas Ale
5. Bison Winter Warmer
6. Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock
7. Delirium Tremens
8. New Glarus Apple Ale
9. Corsendonk Pater (Abbey Brown Ale)
10. Corsendonk Agnus (Abbey Pale Ale)
11. Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout
12. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale (2008)
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2009
1. Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs Christmas Ale
2. Goose Island Christmas Ale
3. Tommyknocker St. Nicks Cocoa Porter
4. Avery Old Jubilation Ale
5. Rinkuškiai Missing Elf
6. Fort Collins Double Chocolate Stout
7. Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter
8. Rochefort Trappistes 6
9. Rogue Santas Private Reserve Ale
10. Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza
11. Cantillon Iris
12. Lurgashall Christmas Mead
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2010
1. Spaten Optimator
2. Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine
3. Ass Kisser Double IPA
4. Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA
5. Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout
6. Depot Street The Limited Maple Pecan Porter
7. AleSmith YuleSmith – Summer
8. a. Oskar Blues Gordon / b. Oskar Blues Gubna
9. Maredsous 10
10. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock
11. Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz & Ken Ale
12. Victory Old Horizontal
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2011
1. AleSmith Yulesmith – Winter
2. Brew Kettle White Rajah
3. Brooklyn Black Ops
4. Capital Eternal Flame
5. Dogfish Head Miles Davis' Bitches Brew
6. Founders Backwoods Bastard
7. Hoppin' Frog DORIS The Destroyer Double Imperial Stout
8. Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball Ale
9. Odell Mountain Standard '09
10. Olde Hickory Bourbon Barrel Aged Bardstown Ale
11. Ommegang Brasserie D'Achouffe Gnomegang
12. Three Floyds Dark Lord Imperial Stout
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2012
1. De Ranke Pere Noel
2. St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
3. Hopworks Organic Abominable Winter Ale
4. Lompoc C-Son's Greetings
5. Midnight Sun CoHoHo Imperial IPA
6. N'Ice Chouffe
7. Ninkasi Sleigh'r Dark Double Alt
8. Oakshire Ill-Tempered Gnome
9. Pelican Bad Santa
10. Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper
11. Samuel Adams Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout
12. The Bruery 5 Golden Rings
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2014
Twelve Beers of Christmas 2015
