The Brew Site
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… Jack frost nipping at your nose…” Today is Roast Chestnuts Day and that opening lyric to “The Christmas Song” is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of chestnuts. Of course it’s Jack Frost that comes next, the chill winter air nipping at your … Continue reading
It’s a Midwest Christmas kind of day for the Advent calendar as we travel to Oklahoma to visit Prairie Artisan Ales, a brewery that in a scant four years has become one of the most coveted in the country. One of their year-round house beers is Bomb!, an “imperial stout … Continue reading
Today’s Advent calendar pick comes from Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon, known for their organic beers and their commitment to environmentally-sound, green practices. Each year they release Abominable Winter Ale, a hoppy imperial red, and the last several years they have taken to aging Abominable in bourbon barrels to … Continue reading
Today’s Advent beer pick comes from Missoula, Montana, and Big Sky Brewing which celebrated its 21st anniversary this year: Biere De Noël. Perhaps when you think of Big Sky the beer that comes to mind is their flagship Moose Drool (an amazingly solid brown ale, of which there are not … Continue reading
December 10 is National Lager Day in the U.S., so to celebrate I selected the best and best-known Christmas lager in the world for today’s Advent calendar pick: Samichlaus Classic from Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg in Austria. Brewed only once a year on the 6th of December, this strong beer is probably … Continue reading
Today is Christmas Card Day, honoring Sir Henry Cole who introduced the world’s first commercial Christmas card in 1843. Christmas cards are perhaps a fading tradition these days, which is a shame because it’s always fun and a bit like opening a present when you receive one in the mail. … Continue reading
For today’s Advent pick we travel to Victor, Idaho, to visit Grand Teton Brewing nestled up against the base of Teton Pass in the Teton mountain range. For the holiday season Grand Teton brews Coming Home, which features a different style, recipe, and label each year. This year’s edition is a … Continue reading
For today’s Advent beer calendar selection we travel to Bamberg, Germany, to visit the award-winning Mahr’s Bräu. While Bamberg might best be known Rauchbier (smoked beer) in the world, Mahr’s focuses on classic German styles; recently they collaborated with Sierra Nevada Brewing to brew this year’s version of Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest. So … Continue reading
On this day in 1964, the iconic television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer aired for the first time. It was a staple of TV holiday specials for Gen-Xers and let’s be honest, in retrospect has a bit of a delightfully dark and creepy side to it. In honor of the release of … Continue reading
Today is an interesting beer- and Christmas-related day: not only is December 5 Repeal Day, the day the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified thus officially ending Prohibition in the U.S., but in Austria and similar regions in Europe it is also Krampus Night (or Krampusnacht). Krampus is a demonic … Continue reading