Santa’s Holiday Sixer

Beer lovers on your list will enjoy our Guest Contributor’s top picks for the Holiday Season.

Ho, ho, ho! Have we all been good little Fallsers this year? Beer lovers on your list will enjoy our Guest Editor’s top picks for the Holiday Season.

Santa is thrilled to be writing for East Falls Local — not many people know this, but Mrs. Claus is a huge Grace Kelly fan. She’s also one heck of a brewer! Why, the elves love her North Pole lager so much, that’s all she ever makes this time of year (really helps their productivity).

After we empty our sleigh Christmas Eve, we fill it back up with the best beers of the season for a big party at the workshop where we all celebrate a job well done. Any of these brews are sure to spice up your holiday shindig — and a custom six-pack would make a great gift for beer nerds on your list.

Gift of the Magi
Golden Ale
12% ABV
The Lost Abbey Brewery
San Marcos, CA
Santa loves gifts! This beer celebrates the spirit of giving represented by the Three Kings. This dense, almost viscose golden ale is flavored with frankincense and myrrh: a fragrant boozy brew. Also, a little funky thanks to brettanomyces yeast. Reindeers go crazy for this, Rudolph says it reminds him of “really good cud.”Merry Maker
Gingerbread Stout
9% ABV
Samuel Adams
Jamaica Plain, MA

Liquid gingerbread! No matter how many plates of Christmas cookies Santa clears, he still craves the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. This creamy, malty stout’s like a spicy milkshake going down—but at 9% abv, it’ll likely kick you when you try to stand up. Naughty!

Adoration
Belgian Strong Ale
10% ABV
Brewery Ommegang
Cooperstown, NY

On the other side of the sleigh, Santa enjoys a nice fruity ale. Clean flavors of orange peel, coriander, and something called “grains of paradise” balanced with a medium hop. Very drinkable, with a seasonal palate that’s a bright contrast to warmer, nuttier holiday brews.

He’Brew Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass the Beer
Winter Warmer
8% ABV
Shmaltz Brewery
Clifton Park NY

Are you surprised to learn Santa toasts the Holidays with a Hanukkah brew? Santa rejoices in ALL faiths this time of year! Especially ones creative enough to turn a story about 8 crazy nights, into a miraculously flavorful beer with NO spices added. The trick is their special blend of 8 different malts and hops, toasted for extra nuttiness and sweet, smooth balance. Almost zero hop bite—this beer gets along with any menu, for any occasion. L’Chaim!

Cascade Cranberry
American Sour Ale
6.6% ABV
Cascade Brewing
Portland, OR

This made Santa’s droll little mouth draw up in a bow! You’ll pucker up too for this NW-style sour wheat ale, flavored with cranberries, orange peel, and cinnamon with notes of wild strawberries and red grapes. The elves say it tastes like drinking cherry sour patch kids.

Aecht Schlenkerla
Rauchbier Marzen
Smoked beer
5.4% ABV
Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla
Bamberg, Germany

Mmm… chimneys, amiright? Rauch bier literally means “smoked beer” in German, which is a style of beer made with smoked grains that produces a unique, campfire-scented beer with strong, savory notes of bacon, ham, and BBQ.  Schlenkerla’s Marzen is malty and oaky: chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Merry Christmas!

PS Oh no, did I forget how to speak English again?

Drunk Santa from Sigrún Hreins on Vimeo.

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