The Brew Site
For the final Cosmic Collaboration beer of the year, Ecliptic Brewing teamed up with Baerlic Brewing to release a “fresh” hop IPA—appropriately enough for winter, a Frozen Fresh Hop Double IPA. The fresh hops are frozen via Yakima Chief Hops’ Cryo method allowing “fresh” hop beers to be brewed anytime. … Continue reading
Tröegs Independent Brewing released its annual winter IPA, Blizzard of Hops, last month, part of its Hop Cycle IPA seasonal series. Not to be outdone for the year, the brewery this month released the imperial version of the beer—Double Blizzard. Details from the press release: Tröegs Independent Brewing announces the … Continue reading
Today’s Advent beer pick takes us to France, where outside of Paris the Brasserie de la Vallée de Chevreuse brews its line of Volcelest beers. The brewery offers two seasonals in addition to its core lineup of nine beers, one for spring and one for Christmas, of course—Volcelest Bière De … Continue reading
Happy Solstice! Today is the shortest day and longest night of the year, the official first day of winter, and to celebrate, today’s Advent beer is a straight classic: Scaldis Bush de Noël from Brasserie Dubuisson of Belgium. It’s also sometimes labeled as simply Scaldis Noël. This strong Belgian dark … Continue reading
On this day in 1946, the seminal Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life debuted, telling the story of George Bailey being saved by guardian angel Clarence on Christmas Eve. As a nod to the movie, today’s Advent beer pick is It’s A Wonderful Ale, from New Jersey’s Glasstown Brewing. It’s … Continue reading
I wanted to support Ukraine and include a Ukrainian Christmas beer on the Beer Advent Calendar this year, and after searching online I settled on one from the Lviv Brewery—Lviv Christmas, or Lvivske Rizdvyane in Ukrainian. Lviv Christmas is a 4.4% ABV dark lager brewed with Christmas spices; the (translated) … Continue reading
The final limited-run cider of 2022 from Portland Cider Company is out: Lemon Drop Cider. Inspired by lemon drop cocktail—or perhaps lemon drop candy—it’s crafted with Meyer lemons and elderflower petals. Press release: As the days grow colder and the nights grow longer, Portland Cider Company is pouring liquid sunshine … Continue reading
Hanukkah sameach! This evening is the first night of Hanukkah, and to commemorate the holiday, today’s calendar beer pick comes from Collision Bend Brewing of Cleveland, Ohio. Collision Bend brews an annual Hanukkah winter ale, 8 Crazy Nights, lightly spiced with a touch of apple cider. It’s 8.5% alcohol by … Continue reading
December 17 is the start of the ancient Roman midwinter festival Saturnalia, a celebration that may have influenced traditions associated with Christmas, so what better day to celebrate an original American Christmas beer that largely influenced craft beer holiday traditions: Anchor Christmas Ale. Christmas Ale is a standard here on … Continue reading
The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in the United States (in Maryland, more specifically) features an experimental brewery that brews more than just Guinness Stout. The latest release is one the company sent to me this week—Guinness Old Fashioned Inspired Ale. As the name states, this is a strong ale inspired … Continue reading