The holidays are a strange time of year. There’s no other time of year when celebrating lasts for more than a month. It just doesn’t work with other holidays. If you decided to start celebrating the Fourth of July a few weeks before by wearing nothing but American flag sweaters and running around with sparklers morning, noon, and night and then keep your house adorned with Bald Eagle decals and set off a majestic fireworks display every night for weeks afterward, people would think you’ve lost it. But “the holidays” (Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year’s, and even Festivus for the ‘Seinfeld’ fans among us) begin at the end of November and don’t end until January first.
This means that you have more than a month (or longer if you live by your own rules) to enjoy the magical elixir known as the Christmas ale. In the simplest terms, a Christmas ale is a seasonal beer that was crafted to be enjoyed during holiday meals with friends and family (or alone while you stream The Great British Baking Show: Holidays alone on Netflix).
While there’s no set definition of what exactly a Christmas ale is, you can bet that they’re darker in color than your classic lagers or pilsners. They’ll also be very malt-forward and likely contain seasonal spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg as well as vanilla, orange peel, and even cranberries. All in all, they taste like a warm holiday hug in a pint glass.
Since that’s exactly what we need during this chillier (and downright frigid in some parts of the country) time of year, below you’ll find twelve of our favorite examples of the style. If you still drink them through the New Year (and beyond), you still have time to enjoy each and every one of these beers.
Avery Brewing Old Jubilation Ale
This bold, 8.3 percent ABV English strong ale is exactly the type of beer we like to drink on days that require a little extra bundling up. This winter warmer doesn’t have any seasonal spices, but a blend of five different specialty malts gives it unique, seasonal flavors like caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla, and a gentle nutty, sweetness throughout to tie everything together nicely.
Hardywood Brewery Gingerbread Stout
There are few flavors more connected to the holidays than gingerbread. While you’re biting off a gingerbread man’s head or simply crafting an elaborate gingerbread house with all of the classic adornments, you’ll want to sip on this 9.2 percent ABV imperial milk stout that’s brewed with ginger and honey. The result is a rich, decadent brew with notes of vanilla, sweet honey, toffee, and warming ginger.
Delirium Noël Strong Ale
One of the most popular Christmas beers in the world, Belgian-made Delirium Noël Strong Ale is a 10 percent ABV strong ale. It’s known for its sweet, yeasty flavor with notes of dried cherries, raisins, nuts, and seasonal spices. It’s so flavorful and memorable, it’s the closest thing to a fruitcake in beer form you’re likely to find any time soon. We’d much rather get this in our stocking than a solid brick of dried fruits and spices.
Bell’s Brewing Christmas Ale
One of the most eagerly-awaited Christmas ale on the market, Michigan’s Bell’s has a different take on the seasonal brew. Instead of winter warmer or strange ale, its Christmas Ale is a 7.5 percent Scotch Ale. It’s malt-forward and filled with notes of sticky toffee pudding, butterscotch, raisin, rum balls, and seasonal spices guaranteed to warm you up on the coldest nights.
Victory Merry Monkey
The only thing better than a regular monkey (as long as you don’t mind poop being thrown at random times throughout the day) is a merry monkey. This 10 percent ABV Belgian-style ale was brewed with cranberry, orange peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The result is warming, spiced beer that’s the perfect for imbibing after a long, tedious day of hanging holiday lights on your house.
Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper
Many of us know Santa’s Little Helper as the Simpsons’ not-so-intelligent dog. But it’s also the name of a popular seasonal beer from California’s Port Brewing. This 10 percent ABV imperial stout is known for its flavors of freshly-brewed coffee, chocolate fudge, dried fruits, almond cookies, and just a hint of bitter, spicy hops presence at the very end. Hoppy, sweet, warming, and perfect.
Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale
There are no Christmas ales more beloved than Anchor Christmas Ale. Brewed since 1975 (with a slightly different recipe every year), this seven percent ABV winter warmer is loaded with hints of chocolate fudge, coffee beans, marzipan, dried fruits, and wintry spices. It’s sought-after every holiday season and pairs perfectly with a plate of frosted sugar cookies.
Prairie Artisan Ales Seasick Crocodile
If you’re not a fan of the classic holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! first released in 1966, you might not understand what a seasick crocodile has to do with Christmas. If you’ve seen it, you completely get it. This 5.4 percdnt ABV beer isn’t your usual seasonal offering. It’s a sour ale brewed with cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It’s a tart, spicy respite from the usual holiday brews.
Deschutes Brewery Jubelale
Oregon’s Deschutes makes nothing but high-quality beers regardless of the season. Its Jubelale is no different. Brewed with Pale, Crystal, Extra Special, and Carapils malts as well as roasted barley and Bravo, Cascade, Delta, Us Tettnang, and East Kent Goldings hops, this 6.7 percent winter ale is highlighted by flavors of chocolate, toffee, and seasonal spices that all work in unison with the myriad hops in the recipe.
Great Lakes Brewing Co. Christmas Ale
Another sought-after seasonal beer, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is a 7.5 percent ABV holiday beer brewed with honey, ginger, cinnamon, and other wintry spices. This results in an exceptional brew with notes of bready malts, gingerbread, cinnamon sugar, caramel, and chocolate fudge. It’s indulgent and warming on a cold, winter night.
Tröegs Independent Brewing Mad Elf
There might not be a more aptly named holiday beer than Tröegs Mad Elf. This 11 percent ABV holiday ale was brewed with honey and cherries (Bing, Lambert, Van, Royal Ann, and Montmorency). It’s known for its yeasty sweet flavor with hints of cinnamon, cloves, dried cherries, caramel, and brown sugar.
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
This is definitely not your grandma’s Christmas beer. It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s Belgian. This 10 percen ABV quadruple tastes like everything winter has to offer in a pint glass. It’s overflowing with flavors like fruity, sweet Belgian yeast, butterscotch, candied almonds, dried cherries, and sweet, warming hot cocoa.
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