American Craft Beer Week Begins

May 11, 2009 By Jay Brooks

American Craft Beer Week begins today and runs through Sunday the 17th. Breweries around the country will be hosting special events throughout the week, many of which can be found on the ACBW Facebook page.

From the press release:

“Today, 97% of the more than 1,500 U.S. breweries are small and independent craft brewers. American Craft Beer Week, May 11-17, is a time to celebrate everything these breweries contribute to our country and culture, and to also celebrate the diversity of beer styles and brands available today,” stated Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association.
Small and independent craft brewers provide nearly 100,000 jobs, and in 2008 the total taxable barrels of beer produced by craft brewers was 8,596,971. Additionally, many craft brewers go to incredible lengths and great costs to lessen their impact on their surrounding environment and community. Representing 4.0 percent by volume and 6.3 percent in dollars of the overall beer market, consumer interest in the craft sector continues to grow, but not without challenges. According to the Brewers Association, the cost of operating a small brewery has increased over 39% November 2007 to November 2008.

And below is the mention that American Craft Beer Week received on the Stephen Colbert Show last year.

The Colbert Report

Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

American Craft Beer Week

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Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

Beer In Art #27: Mother’s Day Barmaid

May 10, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Since today is Mother’s Day, I thought I’d choose a work of art that featured at least a woman, though I can’t be sure she is a mother, though I think I’m safe in saying she has one, at least. Today’s work is an illustration presumably once used as part of an advertisement for a brewery. Its title is German Barmaid, which may have been merely descriptive since that’s the name written in pencil on the original lithograph.

Click on the image above for a larger, more detailed view.

The chromolithograph was done by Louis Prang & Co. from Boston around 1890. It’s part of a collection in the Boston Public Library, which thoughtfully they’ve put a number of their prints up on Flickr.

Some consider Prang to be the “Father of the Christmas Card,” such as this account from Suite 101 and this one from the Emotions Greeting Card Museum. He also co-founded the Dixon Ticonderoga Company, the ones that make the yellow pencils we all used in grade school.

If you want to learn more about the printer, Louis Prang, Wikipedia has a small summary. Also the Winterthur Library purports to have a number of Prang’s works but you have to travel to Delaware to see them. You can see some of his bird prints at The Art of the Print.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Annoyances Of St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Unless you’re living under a rock, you no doubt know that today is St. Patrick’s Day, a national day in Ireland and a drinking day here in the United States of Alcohol, where almost every holiday has been stripped of whatever meaning it originally had and has been turned into a marketing opportunity for Hallmark cards and every other company that can tie its products into the holiday. This is especially true for the big alcohol companies, who rarely miss an opportunity to turn ready-made social functions where alcohol may or may not have played a traditional role into events that are almost solely about alcohol. Yes, that’s right, I’m a curmudgeon. And not just ’cause I’m old now. I’ve always been a curmudgeon. When I was a kid it was precocious, as a young adult I was merely annoying, but now my curmudgeonly ways are finally hitting their groove. Old people are expected to be cranky, but I’ve long perfected the art so I’ve had a grand head start. Lucky me.

So back to today. I have nothing against alcohol and holidays pleasantly mixing. Most require a drink just to tolerate the relatives. Alcohol is best when it’s a shared experience. That’s not it at all. What bugs me about the way holidays are marketed is that idea that they’re all about fun, nothing but fun, and nothing but alcohol, troughs and troughs of it. Halloween used to be for kids, now it’s the number one keg sales weekend of the year. And St. Patrick’s Day has to be one of the worst. We took the Irish predisposition for enjoying a drink now and again, and turned it into green beer day with everyone expected to drink until they vomit and the street runs green with it. In Ireland, it was originally a religious holiday celebrated with family dinners, akin to our Thanksgiving, but even there it’s become a big tourist industry with American-style partying in Dublin. So I tend to stay in on most of the big drinking holidays, preferring to drink modestly all the other nights of the year and leave the holidays for the rest of society to binge like they’ve been told to do. I guess all that spending is good for the economy, so who am I to complain. Just keep me the hell away from it. Tomorrow it will all be over and things can get back to normal drinking again. So this week, I thought I’d tackle the things that annoy me most about St. Patrick’s Day, given my disdain for the way its celebrated in America. Anyway, here’s List #10:

Top 10 Annoyances Of St. Patrick’s Day

	Kelly Green Don’t get me wrong, green is a terrific color. It’s the color of hops. There are few sights more beautiful than a hopyard at harvest time. But Kelly green has to be one of the most garish and ugly expressions of green to ever get its own Pantone number. A little goes a long way and a lot, like the average St. Patrick’s Day party and my eyes start to hurt. And more curiously, blue was the color most associated with St. Patrick’s Day, until the “wearing of the green” took over, though originally it meant to wear a shamrock, before mutating into its present meaning of wearing all green.
	Leprechauns Am I the only one a little creeped out by these “little people” who hoard gold, hide at the end of rainbows, and then wonder why everybody’s after them? Miniature old men with a love of shoes is not exactly my idea of cute and cuddly. In some mythologies, they’re demons who appear only every thousand years. Lucky charms, indeed.
	What About All the Other Ethic Groups? I have absolutely nothing against the Irish or even Irish-Americans. Some of my best friends are Irish. I’d even let my daughter marry one … someday, not now; she’s only four. But all — alright, some — kidding aside, why did this one particular ethnicity get a major holiday and not the dozens of other immigrant groups who came to our shores as huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. Why isn’t Casmir Pulaski Day (it celebrates Polish-Americans) or St. George’s Day (the English) as big a holiday here. For that matter, virtually every hyphenated American has a day on which they celebrate their origins, why isn’t our general calendar rife with them? I know politics is essentially the answer to why it became a big holiday, but why haven’t we moved past such out-dated thinking? Either we celebrate all our diversity or none, anything else seems patently unfair.
	That Music … I’m sure this is just me, and I can’t even remember the name of the song. When I was stationed in New York City, during the days surrounding St. Patrick’s Day, the Army Band I played in was called on to play at least a gazillion neighborhood St. Patrick’s Day parades, often two, three or four in a single day. And almost the whole time we’d play one single piece of music, over and over again. It was so bad, for me at least, that I’ve blocked it out and can’t even remember the name of it, but you’d know it immediately upon hearing it as a St. Patrick’s Day song. It’s not Danny Boy, it’s not the Washer Woman, though it’s at least somewhat similar to that. If anybody thinks they know this annoying song, keep it to yourself. No, I’m kidding. I do want to know what it is. It’s driving me fairly mad, actually, that I can’t come up with the name and so far no amount of searching has yielded the answer.
	Parades After reading the last one, you already know how I feel about the parade music, but I’m no fan of St. Patrick’s Day parades, either. They’re not Irish at all, they’re an American invention. According to Wikipedia, “the world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston in 1761, organized by the Charitable Society. The first recorded parade was New York City’s celebration which began on 18 March 1762 when Irish soldiers in the English military marched through the city with their music.” I’m not sure what the distinction is there, but that’s what it says. Either way, it was not a step forward in my opinion. And I like parades. I marched in more parades than almost anybody I know, from high school marching band, the Army Band, and the Wyomissing Band, a community band I spent summers with from age fourteen until I joined the Army. But St. Patrick’s Day parades just bug me. There’s no diversity, just a steady stream of green, with people marching for no better reason than the accident of their birth into one group instead of another. Oh, and you’ll find more obnoxious drunks at the average St. Patrick’s Day parade than any other I can think of.
	Guinness & Other Dry Irish Stouts Guinness was a bridge beer for me, one of the ones that began my lifelong interest in better beer. So I have a special place for it in my heart. Unfortunately, Diageo doesn’t have the same reverence for it that I once did. There at least eleven different Guinness formulas being made around the world. But it’s hard to take any beer company seriously that takes an iconic brand and test markets Guinness Red and releases an “Extra Cold” version. Murphy’s, unfortunately, isn’t much better now that Heineken owns the Cork brewery. Beamish, also from Cork, was owned by Canadian Carling, but after the Scottish & Newcastle breakup, it will soon be owned by Heineken, too. But that aside, there are some fine Irish stouts being made here in the states. I’m lucky enough to live near one of the best brewers of Irish stouts; Denise Jones of Moylan’s. She makes terrific examples of the style, and has for years, both at Moylan’s and her previous gig at Third Street Aleworks.
	Irish Beer Beyond the stouts, there’s precious little diversity to celebrate in Irish Beer. Harp is no great shakes, at least in my opinion, and apart from a few red or amber ales, there’s not much more that Ireland is traditionally known for. It’s my understanding that there are a few small Irish craft breweries making some good beer, but they’re obviously not too widespread yet, plus I’ve not yet had the pleasure to try any of them.
	You’re NOT Irish They say that on St. Patrick’s Day, everybody is a little Irish. Hogwash, I say. The people who buy into this are not pretending to be Irish, they’re trying to get drunk and get laid, usually both. That’s the extent of most revelers “Irish-ness.” It’s frankly embarrassing to watch this ritual play out in bar after bar every March 17. I’ve got nothing against anyone who wants a one night stand, if that’s your thing, go for it. There’s not nearly enough love in the world, even the fake kind expressed in the drunken hook-up. But using a holiday as your excuse seems even more pathetic than the usual rationalizations.
	Green Beer How this disgusting practice began is anyone’s guess. What I find particularly ironic about this is that the reason green is associated with Ireland has to do with the natural beauty of the Emerald Isle. So to celebrate that by adding a chemical dye into the Chicago River along with kegs of beer seems unnatural at best. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to adulterate the beautiful range of beer color with a putrid green. I don’t know if it’s related at all, but the students at the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio have been celebrating Green Beer Day since 1952. They even have their own website for Green Beer Day, though primarily to sell tchotchkes.
	Bad Drunks I guess some people believe that acting Irish involves getting and/or being drunk. That Ireland is associated with drinking I won’t debate, certainly not among the writing class. But the way this plays out in bars, parade routes and blocked-off streets throughout America is some of the worst drunken examples of humanity that I’ve ever seen. All it does is provide ammunition for the New Drys to point at and use against responsible drinkers and try to further their agenda of a new prohibition. I’m a big fan of moderation and quite frankly St. Patrick’s Day is one of the most immoderate holidays of all. And I understand that all things in moderation includes moderation, too, meaning sometimes going crazy is not only okay, but downright necessary. But that should be an individual decision and made for personal reasons. It should not include just using a holiday as an excuse for binge drinking.

So enjoy yourself on St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s some more about the holiday, from Wikipedia, the History Channel and an interesting myth-busting article from Slate.

Also, if you have any ideas for future Top 10 lists you’d like to see, drop me a line.

Beware the Green Beer Marketing

March 14, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Every company, beer or otherwise, tries to figure how to tie their product into as many holidays as possible. Sales of certain goods will spike for just about every holiday, and nobody wants to be left out. Chocolate and flowers spike for Valentine’s Day; candy and costumes for Halloween; fireworks and picnic supplies for Independence Day; and on and on.

My favorite spoof of this idea isn’t even new, but is as relevant today as when it was first recorded in 1958. I’m talking about Stan Freberg’s Green Christmas, which spoofed the commercialization of Christmas during a time when most of us look back and long for that more simple, seemingly idyllic time. You can listen to it on YouTube, just ignore the video. It’s only about 7 minutes and well worth listening to. It’s as hilarious as it is poignant. Plus, you get to hear them sing “we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and please buy our beer!” You could also read the transcript on My Merry Christmas.

Beer companies, of course, also do this, and they’re no more or less shameless than anyone else. My favorite example of this counter-intuitive marketing was when I was once sent a German-style stein, complete with metal cap, from Dos Equis! They were trying to market a Mexican beer for Oktoberfest. Well, next week is the Irish holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. And as the saying goes, on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is a little Irish, and I imagine that extends to beer, as well.

So it’s no surprise that George Killian’s Irish Red would market themselves for St. Patrick’s Day, despite the fact they’re not even remotely Irish. They’re a Coors product. This year, they’ve set up a holiday website, Beware the Green Beer, encouraging people not make fools of themselves on March 17 by drinking green beer. And while I can’t fault their advice, the website features the following tagline. “St. Patrick’s Day calls for a better beer. Lift a glass of fine ruby red instead.” Again, the suggestion that drinking a “better beer” is sound, but I can’t agree with their conclusion that Killian’s is that better beer.

George Killian’s Irish Red. About as Irish as Dos Equis. And while I agree that people should most definitely avoid green beer in favor of better beer, having that message come from Coors via Killian’s is like being told to shun hamburgers in favor of Filet Mignon by McDonald’s.

Beer, A Week At A Time

January 20, 2009 By Jay Brooks

I love the growing trend of entire weeks devoted to celebrating local beer or at least beer in a specific place. This is a terrific trend that should be encouraged, and I say that not just because I’m involved with organizing SF Beer Week. With local beer scenes having their own unique personalities and dynamics, each has the potential of being an organic celebration that takes on as many forms as there are places willing to host one. And that means we’re moving away from the relative similarity of the beer festival to more imaginative, inventive and ultimately personal ways of presenting beer to the converted and unconverted alike. But I think the beer week concept, with its reliance on a diversity of events, has the greatest potential of introducing hordes of new people to craft beer who might otherwise not have attended a beer festival. With literally something for everyone, this seems like a great way to reach new people and introduce them to craft beer. The interest is definitely there, and these beer weeks provide an attractive venue.

As far as I can tell, there are now nearly a dozen “official” beer weeks and at least three more “unofficial” ones. And I also understand a Chicago Beer Week is being discussed. But there are, of course, 52 weeks in a year and so there’s plenty of room for more beer weeks and no reason we can’t fill up the year with beer celebrations. After all, every day is a good day for a beer.

Beer Weeks

SF Beer Week (February 6-15, 2009)
Philly Beer Week (March 6-15, 2009)
Charlotte Beer Week (April 17-25, 2008**)
CBC Week (unofficial*; April 19-25, 2009)
Seattle Beer Week (May 7-17, 2009)
American Craft Beer Week (May 12-18, 2008**)
Beerden Week, Japan (May 25-31, 2008**)
Indiana Beer Week (July 10-19, 2009)
Ohio Brew Week (July 14-19, 2008)
Portland Beer Week (unofficial*; July 23-26, 2009)
New York Craft Beer Week (September 12-21, 2008**)
GABF Week (unofficial*; September 21-27, 2009)
Baltimore Beer Week (October 9-18, 2009)
Syracuse Beer Week (November 2-8, 2008**)

If you know of a beer week that’s missing from this list, please drop me a line. Thanks.

There are also other types of beer weeks, more celebratory in nature, like holidays rather than a series of events. Here are the ones I’ve come across. Please drop me a line if you know of any others.

Weekly Beer Holidays

3rd Week of February: Community Pubs Week (UK; sponsored by CAMRA) [now retired]
Last Week of February: National Pubs Week (UK; sponsored by CAMRA)
2nd Week of April: National Cask Week (UK)
3rd Week of August: Ranger Beer Week (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2nd Week of December: Lager Beer Week
2nd Week of December: Organic Beer Week (UK)

Footnotes:

* The three “unofficial” weeks are during other beer events that last nearly a week. The main events spawn side events that rival the primary reason people go to these festivals or conferences. So in that sense, they become beer weeks all their own, even though they’re not organized as such. These are often more for the trade, that is people with some involvement in the beer industry. This also makes them bad weeks for a community beer week to take place, because too many brewers and media would be unable to attend, so I think it’s good to block them out for that reason, as well, at least in terms of planning other beer weeks.

** 2009 dates have not yet been announced.

Note: The top graphic was adapted from the New York Craft Beer Week logo. I hope they won’t mind.

Toasting the New Year 2009

January 1, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Here at the Brookston Beer Bulletin we’re pausing today to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year. 2008 was yet another interesting year and was rarely dull with plenty of drama. Nobody knows with any real certainty what 2009 will be like for the beer industry, but I’ll be here for my fifth straight year of ranting about it, er .. analyzing it, online. I hope you’ll join me on another year’s worth of adventure in the beer world.

nyd09-1
Taken a few minutes ago in front of the Christmas tree; Alice, Porter and a tasty beer. What better way to start the new year. Sometime tonight raise a glass of a tasty libation as we toast you a Happy New Year with one of my favorites:

Observe, when Mother Earth is dry,
She drinks the droppings of the sky,
And then the dewey cordial gives
To every thirsty plant that lives.

The vapors which at evening sweep
Are beverage to the swelling deep,
And when the rosy sun appears,
He drinks the misty ocean’s tears.

The moon, too, quaffs her paly stream
Of lustre from the solar beam;
Then hence with all your sober thinking!
Since Nature’s holy law is drinking,
Mine’s the law of Nature here,
And pledge the Universe in beer.

— Tom Moore, The Universal Toast

nyd09-2

This is one my favorite out-takes. I have plenty more of the kids mugging for the camera and making some pretty funny faces. And here’s one final toast.

Too much work, and no vacation,
Deserves at least a small libation.
So hail! my friends, and raise your glasses;
Work’s the curse of the drinking classes.

— Oscar Wilde

Welcome to 2009.

Here are more of my favorite toasts. Let me know if I’m missing one of your favorites.

Dave Barry on Beer At Christmas

December 25, 2008 By Jay Brooks

While searching for Christmas quotations, I happened upon this gem by Dave Barry. Although it wasn’t quite right for my Christmas post, I thought it was still funny enough to share.

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it “Christmas” and went to church; the Jews called it “Hanukkah” and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hanukkah!” or (to the atheists) “Look out for the wall!”

— Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”

‘Twas The Brewer’s Night Before Christmas

December 24, 2008 By Jay Brooks

It’s Christmas Eve again and time once more for the brewer’s parody of The Night Before Christmas, or A Visit From St. Nicholas. Enjoy! Happy Christmas.

‘Twas The Brewer’s Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,
Every creature was thirsty, including the mouse…
The steins were empty, and the bottles were too
The beer had been drunk with no time to brew.

My family was nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of Christmas Ale foamed in their heads.
Mama in her kerchief lamented the drought,
She craved a pilsner and I, a stout.
santa-head
When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the kitchen, I flew like a flash,
Opening the door with a loud bang and crash!

I threw on the switch and the lights, all aglow,
Gave a luster of mid-day to the brew-pot below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
But Gambrinus himself, the patron of beer.

With a look in his eye, so lively and quick,
He said, “You want beer? Well, here, take your pick.”
More rapid than eagles, his recipes came
As he whistled and shouted and called them by name.

“Now, Pilsener! Now, Porter! Now, Stout and Now Maerzen!
On, Bitter! On, Lager! On, Bock and On Weizen!”
“To the top of the bottles, the short and the tall,
Now brew away, brew away, and fill them all!”

As dried hops before a wild hurricane fly,
And then, without warning, settle down with a sigh,
So towards the brew-pot, the ingredients flew,
Malt extract, roasted barley and crystal malt, too.

And then in a twinkling, I heard it quite plain,
The cracking open of each barley grain.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Into the kitchen, he came with a bound.

He was dressed like a knight, from his head to his toes,
With an old family crest adorning his clothes.
A bundle of hops, he had flung on his back,
And the brewing began when he opened his pack.

His hops were so fragrant! His barley, how sweet!
The adjuncts included Munich malt and some wheat.
The malted barley was mashed in the tun,
Then boiled with hops in the brew-pot ’till done.

Excitement had me gnashing my teeth,
As the sweet smell encircled my head like a wreath.
Beer yeast was pitched, both lager and ale,
The wort quickly fermented, not once did it fail.

It was then krausened, or with sugar primed,
And just being bottled when midnight had chimed.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know, I’d be shortly in bed.

He spoke not a word but kept on with his work,
And capped all the bottles, then turned with a jerk.
And laying a finger alongside his nose,
He belched (quite a burp!) before he arose.

Clean-up was easy, with only a whistle,
And away the mess flew, like the down on a thistle.
And I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he left me the beer,
“Merry Christmas to all and a HOPPY New Year!”

santa-sleigh

Thanks to Steve Altimari from Valley Brewing, who sent me this parody of Clement C. Moore’s “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” first published in 1823. The original version is on Wikipedia along with much more information about the poem.

In addition to this one, there are also numerous other parodies of the famous poem. I especially got a chuckle out of the lawyer’s version. For a truly staggering collection of these check out the Canonical List of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Variations, with 849 different versions of The Night Before Christmas.

Joe Sixpack’s 50 World’s Best Christmas Beers

December 23, 2008 By Jay Brooks

Yesterday, over at Real Beer’s Holiday Blog, with Don Russell’s permission I posted his choices for the World’s 50 Best Christmas Beers, taken from his new book, Christmas Beer. It’s a fun list, with some fine beers on it. Just over half the beers on the list are from abroad. Most I agree with; only a couple I would not have put on the list and there are only a few I think are missing. I figured he wouldn’t mind if I posted them here as well. What do you think of the list? What would you have done differently in compiling such a list?

World’s 50 Best Christmas Beers, as Selected by Don Russell a.k.a. Joe Sixpack

Mad Elf Ale; Troegs Brewing, Pennsylvania
Avec les Bons Voeux; La Brasserie Dupont, Belgium
Samichlaus Bier; Schloss Eggenberg, Austria
Stille Nacht; Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers, Belgium
Our Special Ale; Anchor Brewing, California
Celebration Ale; Sierra Nevada Brewing, California
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale; The Old Brewery at Tadcaster, England
Winter Solstice; Anderson Valley Brewing, California
Old Jubilation; Avery Brewing, Colorado
Ringnes Julebokk; Ringnes Bryggeri, Norway
Delirium Noel; Brouwerij Huyghe, Belgium
Baladin Noel; Birrificio Le Baladin, Italy
Gouden Carolus Noel; Brouwerij Het Anker, Belgium
La Binchoise Reserve Speciale; Brasserie La Binchoise, Belgium
Corsendonk Christmas Ale; Brouwerij Corsedonk, Belgium
Mahr’s Christmas Bock; Brauerei Mahr, Germany
Affligem Noel; Brouwerij Affligem, Belgium
Hibernation Ale; Great Divide Brewing, Colorado
Santa’s Private Reserve Ale; Rogue Ales Brewery, Oregon
Smuttynose Winter Ale; Smuttynose Brewing, New Hampshire
Alpha Klaus; Three Floyds Brewing, Indiana
Winter-Traum; Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg, Germany
Scaldis Noel; Brasserie Dubuisson Freres, Belgium
Winter White Ale; Bell’s Brewery, Michigan
2° Below Ale; New Belgium Brewing, Colorado
La Dragonne; BFM Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, Switzerland
Ebenezer Ale; BridgePort Brewing, Oregon
La Choulette de Noel; Brasserie la Choulette, France
St. Nikolaus Bock Bier; Pennsylvania Brewing, Pennsylvania
St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel; Brasserie St. Feuillien, Belgium
Jenlain Noel; Brasserie Duyck, France
Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale; Kiuchi Brewery, Japan
Doggie Claws; Hair of the Dog Brewing, Oregon
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale; Brouwerij St. Bernardus, Belgium
Heavy Seas Winter Storm; Clipper City Brewery, Maryland
Goose Island Christmas Ale; Goose Island Beer, Illinois
Petrus Winterbeer; Brouwerij Bavik, Belgium
Longfellow Winter Ale; Shipyard Brewing, Maine
Kerst Pater; Brouwerij Van den Bossche, Belgium
Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig; Boston Beer, Massachusetts
Alaskan Winter Ale; Alaskan Brewing, Alaska
Geary’s Winter Ale; D.L. Geary Brewing, Maine
Snow Goose Winter Ale; Wild Goose Brewery, Maryland
Pere Noel; Brouwerij De Ranke, Belgium
Old Man Winter Ale; Southern Tier Brewing, New York
‘t Smisje Kerst; Brouwerij De Regenboog, Belgium
Young’s Winter Warmer; Wells & Young’s Brewing, England
Snow Cap; Pyramid Breweries, Washington
Nutcracker Ale; Boulevard Brewing, Missouri
Monchshof Weihnachtsbier; Kulmbacher Brauerei, Germany

Though I’m not sure where, I would have included Lagunitas’ Brown Shugga, perhaps craft beer’s happiest accident, He’Brew’s Jewbelation, Marin’s Hoppy Holidaze, and Port Brewing’s Santa’s Little Helper. As for what I’d displace to make room for these, well that’s obviously trickier. Though I must confess that I’m not a fan of Anderson Valley’s Winter Solstice. I find the vanilla flavors waaaay to overpowering so that would be the first to go.

Excerpted from Don Russell’s wonderful new book, Christmas Beer, the season’s most ideal stocking stuffer. Pick up a copy for every beer lover on your shopping list at Amazon or buy one directly from the author.

Santa Labels

December 20, 2008 By Jay Brooks

I’ve written recently about further efforts by neo-prohibitionist groups to take Santa Claus away from his heritage and out of the hands of adults entirely. As the patron saint of brewers, this effort is naturally misguided, but then so is virtually everything that these chuckleheads undertake. I came across this website from Japan today that collects a number of holiday beer labels from around the world, many of which feature Santa Claus prominently, and several of which I’d not seen before. This nicely illustrates how little issue the rest of the civilized world has with Santa Claus being associated with beer. Below is a sample of the labels.

This one’s from the Ukraine.

And this one’s from Poland.

The X-mas Gueuze is from Belgium.

And this last one’s also Polish.

Check out the rest of them.

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