The 8 Best Holiday Beers for a Hoppy Holiday
Hoppy Holidays! Tis’ that joyous time of year again. Stores are blasting Christmas music over the speakers while shoppers scurry through the aisles. Trees are going up, stockings are being hung, and neighbors are battling to be the most festive house on the block.
Along with the holiday season comes the winter chill that tiptoes closer and closer, leading folks to reach for their favorite winter flavors to keep them warm and cozy.
If you are a beer enthusiast, this is an especially exhilarating time of year. Seasonal holiday beers are finally making their way back to the shelves. Sometimes it feels like the holiday season isn’t quite long enough to try the fun holiday brews before they return to hibernation, waiting for the next holiday season.
For all the holiday beer lovers out there, get into the holiday spirit by trying some of these 8 Best Holiday Beers this year that are sure to get you into the holiday spirit with classic holiday spices and flavors.
What Are The Best Holiday Beers?
1. St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
The St. Bernardus Christmas Ale is a malty Belgian Style Dark Ale complemented by a crimson, reddish hue and bold flavors that are sure to sweeten your holiday festivities. A higher ABV is expected with this dark beer, which comes in at 10% ABV. Although it has a relatively high ABV, the alcohol flavor is well camouflaged in its malty, dark fruity flavor which is lightly sweetened by hints of brown sugar and holiday spices. It’s a great beer option if you require a little extra nudge to get through any stressful family holidays with your in-laws while simultaneously enjoying a delicious brew.
2. Anchor Christmas Ale
If you think you’ve tried this beer before during a previous holiday season, no you haven’t. Try it again. The 2022 Anchor Christmas Ale is a unique beer. It contains a super-secret recipe that changes every holiday season, dating back to 1975 when the first Christmas Ale made its debut.
They switch up the ingredients and spices every year so it’s never the same as the ones created prior. No annual Anchor Christmas Ale is the same and you are trying their Christmas beer for the first time, every holiday season.
2022’s Christmas Ale is dark brown with hints of deep ruby and has a 7.2% ABV. Flavors consist of warm peppery spices, and malty gingerbread sweetness, with a slightly hoppy bite.
Aside from not repeating holiday beer recipes, this company doesn’t do outfit repeats either. Anchor chooses a new hand-drawn tree to star on the vintage labels each year. This year’s vintage glass bottle label features a Blue Gum Eucalyptus tree in honor of the “Mother of civil rights in California,” Mary Ellen Pleasant, who had these trees planted in front of her home.
3. Samuel Adams Variety Winter Pack
Featuring 6 of their delicious winter-inspired beers, this variety pack includes different beers that are sure to satisfy various tastes. This six-pack consists of the Winter Lager, Holiday White Ale, Cold IPA, Old Fezziwig, Black Lager, and their famous Boston Lager. Each beer features different flavors ranging from rich malt flavors to zesty hops, all maintaining the holiday spirit differently. It’s an excellent option for holiday beer lovers who want to have various brews on hand. The Samuel Adams Winter Variety Pack would also make a great party gift for those who aren’t the best cooks but still want to contribute to gatherings in the name of holiday cheer.
4. Great Lakes Christmas Ale
Great Lakes is a brewery that was founded in 1988 by two brothers, Patrick, and Daniel Conway. When a brewery has been around for more than 30 years, you know it must be brewing some consistently fantastic craft beers. It takes a lot of effort to craft unique and delicious beers that keep customers returning for more. Since 1999, The Great Lakes Christmas Ale has been a 6-time medalist in the World Beer Championships.
This tasty ale contains the Christmas classic ingredients like fresh ginger, cinnamon, and sweet honey to create a smooth beer with slight Cascade and Mt. Hood hops. It has a slightly lower ABV compared to a handful of the other seasonal beers listed, with a still relatively high ABV of 7.5%.
5. Hardywood Gingerbread Stout
“Run, run, as fast as you can! You have a limited time to try this,” says the Gingerbread man. If you’re interested in trying one of their sets, Hardywood has a limited time to order them. The next order date is in December, and with limited sets available for order, you don’t want to miss it.
One of Hardywood’s greatest holiday beers is The Original Gingerbread Stout. This milk stout has a 9.2% ABV and welcomed the holiday season with its release in early November. It’s an Imperial Milk Stout, but don’t worry, lactose-intolerant friends, it is lactose-free. Everyone can enjoy this honey and white ginger incorporated milk stout, including you.
6. Prairie Christmas Bomb
Up next is Prairie’s Ch-ch-ch-ch-Christmas Bomb! Prairie Artisan Sales is a brewery based in Oklahoma that encourages holiday cheer with this heavy, yet tasty stout. It is a bomb of a beer with an ABV of 13%! This beer pours a dark, nearly black color. The flavor profile mostly consists of cinnamon, nutty, and piney flavors. It has a delightful hint of chocolate that pairs nicely with the subtle and bitter taste of coffee. The Christmas Bomb is a beer that beer enthusiasts will enjoy, either ice cold or at room temperature. Some prefer this beer on the warmer side to enhance and truly embrace all the warm Christmas spices and deeper flavors.
7. Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale
Fun fact about this beer, do you recall The Great Lakes Christmas Ale that was mentioned a few beers up the list? This Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale was created by the same Brew Master that crafted beer at Great Lakes Brewing Company in the early 90s. Tim Rastetter had a love for that Great Lakes Christmas Ale but thought he could enhance it by making a few small changes. As any true beer enthusiast would know, even the smallest changes can create a completely different flavor. Since the Great Lakes Christmas Ale was selling just fine, Great Lakes decided to keep its original recipe. Tim decided to mosey on over to Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, where he brewed up a recipe for this delicious Christmas Ale.
Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale was created with a substantial amount of toasted and caramel malts, and equivalent amounts of honey, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The brew pours a rusty brown color and contains an ABV of 8.3%.
8. Brooklyn Brewery’s Chocolate Stout
This Chocolate Stout is a classic enjoyed all over the world. It was first created in 1994 and is brewed with 5 different malts, creating a deep chocolatey flavor with indications of coffee and a 10% ABV. If you find this beer to be a bit too heavy to drink in one sitting, you can stash it away in a dark room and it will still be equally delicious even years later, maybe even with some new flavors from aging.