For this third of December we’re skipping over to Europe for our daily Advent beer pick. In Denmark, Ugly Duck Brewing was founded in 2012 as a spin-off of Indslev Brewery; according to Ugly Duck, “After six years of success brewing exclusive wheat beers, Indslev wanted a new laboratory for concocting bold, high-quality craft beers of all types. They built the lab and named it Ugly Duck – and we’ve been breaking rules and pushing limits ever since.” Ugly Duck has brewed all types of beers and has racked up a number of awards, so today I wanted to highlight its Hoppy Christmas IPA.

Christmas food demands tasty, powerful beers. IPA’s can cut through mostly everything, and this one is no exception. Orange peel is used for more punch. Dryhopped for even more punch. It’s been rumored Santa Claus gives this to his reindeer for more punch. Hoppy Christmas!

Ugly Duck brews this IPA with orange peel which in my book places this into the perhaps somewhat nebulous “winter IPA” category. Winter IPAs can be a fun change of pace from the malty, sometimes-spiced winter warmers and in recent years we’ve been seeing more examples of them brewed for the winter and the holidays.

At 5.9% ABV with 50 IBUs, Ugly Duck’s offering is nicely sessionable yet will still help you enjoy a delightfully Hoppy Christmas.

Find Ugly Duck Hoppy Christmas IPA on:

• Untappd
• RateBeer
• Facebook

Top photo credit: Ugly Duck’s Facebook page