Today’s Advent selection takes us to Seattle, Washington, to a brewery with a maritime (and pirate) theme—the aptly named Maritime Pacific Brewing—and features its longstanding traditional holiday ale: Jolly Roger Christmas Ale. Jolly Roger is a behemoth of a beer, an English-style strong ale weighing in at 9.5% ABV which is perfectly suited to the dark and drizzly Seattle winters.

The most eagerly anticipated of all our seasonals, Jolly is a truly original holiday brew combining rich malt character with a blend of fresh Northwest Chinook and Cascade hops. Official insignia for this English Strong Ale style is a smiling skull-and-cross-bones, reminder to all to enjoy their Jolly, but with discretion. Join Maritime’s salute to the high seas renegade! “Yo-Ho-Ho!”

The Northwest Beer Guide got the scoop on this year’s batch, brewed with specialty malts from Washington’s Skagit Valley Malting Company, and Chinook, Cascade and Amarillo hops from the Yakima Valley. The beer was released in 16-ounce cans this year as well as on draft (previous years were in bottles).

Maritime Pacific Brewing is a family-owned brewed established in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 1990. In 1997, the brewery opened its Jolly Roger Taproom—named after the popular Christmas beer, and decked out in pirate flair, of course.

Find Maritime Pacific Brewing Jolly Roger Christmas Ale on:

• Untappd
• BeerAdvocate
• RateBeer
• Facebook

Image credit: Maritime Pacific’s Facebook page