The Brew Site
Beer by monks—and you don’t even have to travel to Belgium! Today’s Advent beer comes to us from the first Trappist brewery in America, Spencer Brewery in Massachusetts: Trappist Holiday Ale. This Belgian-styled strong dark ale is 9% alcohol by volume, and the brewery says, “Mahogany in color, wholesome in … Continue reading
Cider! In recent years I’ve been featuring cider on the Beer Advent Calendar since cider is a natural fit into the beer world, even as it straddles the line between beer and wine. This year I set out to include it again and discovered BlackBird Cider Works of New York, … Continue reading
This fall, Crux Fermentation Project reintroduced its Crux Stout into retail packaging, in the 16-ounce can format. Crux Stout is the brewery’s original American stout, which was released in bottles when Crux starting packaging, but for whatever reason the bottled format didn’t sell well with consumers (likely because it was … Continue reading
When it comes to beer in Denmark, most of us are familiar with the big names—Carlsberg, Tuborg, Mikkeller—so naturally for today’s Advent beer I’ve selected one from none of those. Instead, we visit Hancock Bryggerierne in Skive, for its holiday lager, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas is brewed with Saaz hops … Continue reading
England is the source of the Advent beer pick for today, and we’re hearkening back to one of the original winter warmers from the iconic Samuel Smith’s brewery—Winter Welcome Ale. Winter Welcome Ale is a strong (by English ale standards) brew with 6% ABV and is a classic of the … Continue reading
Boston’s Harpoon Brewery has a new twist on an old classic for the month of December: Imperial Harpoon IPA, a doubled-up version of its flagship IPA that brings some big beer to the end of the year. Here are some details from the press email that I received: More than … Continue reading
For today’s Advent beer pick let’s drop in to St. Louis, Missouri, to visit Perennial Artisan Ales, and scare up a bottle of its Belgian-inspired bière de Noël, a strong dark ale with 10% alcohol by volume, Fête de Noël. It’s a “Christmas party” of a brew that just begs … Continue reading
Asheville, North Carolina is a beer destination, with a rich and thriving craft brewing culture that can trace its roots to its first brewery, Highland Brewing Company, which opened in 1994. Each year the brewery offers up a limited winter seasonal, which is today’s Advent beer pick: Cold Mountain. Cold … Continue reading
Today’s Advent beer is a first for the calendar: the first time a brewery from Estonia has been featured—in fact, the first time the country has ever made an appearance on this site! The brewery is Lehe Pruulikoda, which brews Sinner Santa, a spiced imperial stout. The beer is 10% … Continue reading
A surprise package arrived yesterday from Widmer Brothers Brewing, containing two cans of the brewery’s IPA ‘Til I Die—the official craft beer of the Portland Timbers. The Timbers are playing for the MLS Cup today (December 11) against the New York City FC, so Widmer sent the beers to enjoy … Continue reading