Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Santa's Wishlist: Christmas Beers

Just in case you are tired of bringing boring wine to Christmas parties, we put together a list of some (mostly regional, but all available at your Indiana liquor store) beer options that will knock their socks off. These are not in any particular order. Most of them have reviews that will popping up in the next few weeks.

Three Floyd's Brewery brewed up Alpha Klaus. It is a dark Christmas porter with tons of chocolaty flavor and some pretty intense hops at the end. This is a great beer that is sure to impress any causal beer drinker who can stomach the dark stuff, and if you are in Indiana it is pretty easy to get your hands on. (full review to come later)

Hoppin Frog brewed up Frosted Frog Christmas Ale. This is a pretty intense dark brown ale. It has been beefed up with cinnamon  brown sugar and some great gingerbread flavor. It is very very sweet, and my wife fell in love with it. The sweetness makes it easy for anyone who is not into the craft beer scene to have a glass of holiday cheer. (full review to come later)

Anchor Brewing brewed up Our Special Ale (Anchor Christmas Ale 2012). This one is going to be different from all the rest. It pours out dark, but the taste is surprisingly light. It has nice malty flavors but a pretty strong dried cherry flavor helps cancel them out. This is a very well balanced brew. If your guests don't like the heavy stuff this is the one to go with.

Bells Brewery brewed up Bell's Christmas Ale. This Christmas ale is a pretty easy going brew for another dark beer. It has nice sweetness up front followed by a tasty round of holiday fruit flavors. The beer is heavy, but the sweetness mixed with the fruit flavors does a good job to round it all out.

New Belgium brewed 2 Degrees Below. This has always been one of my favorite winter beers even though it is a hoppier winter beer. There is going to be some serious bitterness mixed in with flavors of liquorice and other holiday spices. The beer is dry but well balanced, a seasonal favorite for the holidays.

Santa and our friends in the craft brewing industry have not forgotten our friends celebrating Hunakkah.

He'Brew brewed up Sweet 16 Anniversary Ale. I liked Origin, but this one is even better. This is a malty beer that has some nice seasonal fruit flavors. It also has a nice oak flavor that some of the other beers are missing. This helps balance the whole beer out. All this is to try and cover up the huge abv. Beware a few of these will get you celebrating.

Whatever you decide to share, or just to have on your own, enjoy the holiday season! What are you drinking this time of year that isn't on our list? You know we're always willing to try something new.

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