The Beer Wench Goes...Wine Tasting?!?

North Fork Wine Map

While I’ve spent my fair share of time drinking my way from Long Beach to Montauk (as well as a painfully long summer season working as a server in East Hampton) I had never actually been to any of the vineyards on Long Island. Sure, I’ve tried their wines and know a smidge about a few of them, but no one ever said, “Hey, let’s go wine tasting on the North Fork!” and actually followed through. It always seemed to be some sort of grown-up, romanticized, couple-y thing—like bed and breakfasts, picnicking, or, hell, row boats in Central Park, something that requires a floral frock or, at the very least, a hat—wine tasting didn’t really seem like a Wenchly activity. So when my friend Nicci brought up the notion of exploring the North Fork Wine Trail this past Sunday, I thought what the hell, donned a frock, and jumped on board.

It may help you to know that Saturday night I had been downing Dogfish Punkin at Ale Wife in honor of my girlfriend Amy’s 30th. But Wench, you say, a few beers would’ve been A-OK. True, a few would have been and I did enjoy a moderate amount however, Punkin is 7%abv and ok, ok I’ll admit I was supplementing it with Barrier’s Black Saison. All right, fine, she turned 30 and there were whiskey shots. And maybe a bourbon nightcap to follow my beer cupcake from Prohibition Bakery. I don’t know about you but after waking up feeling the repercussions of my stupidity the last thing I wanted to do was drink wine. Thank Dionysius that the drive out east was long enough for me to eat a bagel from NYC Bagel Co. and return to a more human state.

The lawn at Macari Vineyards was dotted with wrought iron tables full of people enjoying assorted wines, cheeses, olives and each other. We headed for the tasting room and bellied up to the bar. After perusing the menu of tasting flights, we opted for the “Vintage” experience. I was an instant fan of the Gruner with its crisp acidity and brightness. There is only one word to describe their Chardonnay: BUTTER. I felt like I had just swallowed a glass of palate coating melted butter. I thoroughly enjoyed the following reds, especially their Dos Aguas blend. We asked our Bro of a bartender (wine tasting host? what exactly are their titles?) where the name came from—he had to go ask someone else. Turns out it was named for the two rivers that flow in the area, go figure.

While I enjoyed the wines at Macari, our experience was pretty lack luster. After doing a little research on my own I found some things worth noting:
-The wine team is led by a CHICK! Kelly Urbanik is her name and she’s worked at both Beringer and Louis Jadot. Bad Ass.
-Macari is all about natural farming and bio-diversity. They compost and apparently raise Spanish goats and Texas Long Horns (sadly I didn’t see any)

Next up: Bedell Cellars. I know a little more about this particular vineyard as my old roommate used to intern with them before he moved to France. Bedell was also the location of Nicci’s sister’s wedding a year ago, so I had seen photos of its epic beauty. The experience couldn’t have been more different from the one we had at Macari—for starters, the tasting room is outside on a gorgeous deck and, oh, our bartender Nicole actually knew what the hell she was talking about. Let’s start with the fact that the vineyard is sustainably farmed, which means that everything they grow and everything they do is to enhance the land over time—they’re very green, people! Also their labels are designed by various artists which leads to them being quite eye catching. Sure, they’ve won all sorts of accolades and points from Wine Spectator but the real cherry on top? Their wine was served at Obama’s Inaugural Luncheon. Bam.

My favorites included their extremely limited 2010 Musee ( a velvety well spiced red blend), their Blanc de Blanc (a honey yet minerally bubbly), and their Gewurztraminer (citrusy, minerally, and delightful).

Our final winery was definitely a little different. Set back off the road, the tasting barn at Croteaux serves only Rose. That, my friends, is all they make. The back yard is shaded by huge weeping willows and looks out into the vineyard—it’s like being transported to another freaking world.

Instead of doing tastings at the bar and talking you through the wine, Croteaux brings you the entire flight and a laminated key so you can do your own thing. We cozied up to a picnic table to enjoy our wine and their featured cheese and baguette. Croteaux is the youngest vineyard out of all three (it was planted in 2003) but the atmosphere and staff made it feel comfortable and homey. My favorite here was their Cuvee Sparkle: light, dry, and crisply effervescent.

What better way to end our classy day than with dinner by the water in Greenport? Since the brewery was already closed for the day, we made our way to the foremost in fine waterfront dining: Crabby Jerry’s.

Our lobster rolls and fried seafood platter pared effortlessly with the Bronx Pale Ale and the sounds of the cover band echoing from the neighboring deck bar. Nothing but class.

Pre-gaming For Pumpkin Season With The Beer Wench

Well kids, summer has come and gone in a haze of light lagers and hefeweizens. And, while I’ll miss the beach and backyard BBQs, I couldn’t be more excited for the malty goodness of fall. You all know my affinity for all things bourbon barrel aged and roasted brown ales—porters and stouts, I simply can’t wait! But there is one thing in particular that makes the advent of fall seem oh-so-exciting—and I am not talking about something that requires waiting in line at Starbucks for an hour.

Move over Pumpkin Spice Latte, this Wench is holding out for pumpkin beer!!

This fall I plan on trying as many luscious gourd infused brews as possible. As I begin my seasonal tasting quest, let’s take a minute for one of my personal favorites: Dogfish Punkin.

Punkin is a medium bodied brown ale brewed with pumpkin meat and brown sugar, which strikes a nice harmony of seasonal flavors and malt. I find it extremely quaffable and love that it tastes like beer, not pie, and it pairs effortlessly with all fall fare. Dogfish entered Punkin in the Punkin Chunkin home brew competition in 1994 (and won) six months before they even opened their brewery! They’ve been making Punkin seasonally ever since. This is one to stock up on because stores stop stocking around Thanksgiving.

The Beer Wench Goes To Belgium Comes To Cooperstown

I’ve been intrigued by Ommegang’s Belgium Comes To Cooperstown festival for years and, thanks to my awesome friend AJ at Ommegang, this year this Wench got to experience this ridiculous hullabaloo. What, you ask, is BCTC? Well my dears, for starters it’s an annual summer celebration of the best in Belgian and Belgian-style brews. There’s food, music, fireworks, bonfires, and beer. Lots of beer. There are also about 2,500 beer lovers and friends in tents. That’s right—tents. Everyone sets up camp and embarks on a three-day beer fest with one of the most scenic backdrops I’ve ever encountered. For those of you who haven’t made the trek to Cooperstown- do it! Just be prepared to sit in traffic for a lifetime and then drive through winding country roads surrounded by nothingness on the way. Book a B&B; they have real bathrooms—unlike the port-a-potties from BCTC.

Gotta say I was pretty psyched to be stuck in traffic behind the Allagash van near Yankee Stadium. My girlfriends had to keep me from Chinese Fire-Drilling my way out of our VW and into their beer supply.

Once you arrive at BCTC you have to pick your campsite and set up your homestead. Now, I may have been a camp counselor for years but we had cabins people! This Wench hasn’t been near a tent since one miserable family camp outing involving a gravel campsite and a lack of air mattress—roughly thirteen years ago. So when my lady friends asked me to help set up the tent (in the rain, I may add) I must admit I was useless. Lucky for us Amiee had lived in a tent for a while and had that sucker up in ten minutes, long enough for me to make friends with our neighbors in tent village who conveniently happened to be the staff of Keegan Ales. Our new Keegan friends also had kegs of beer, which they were nice enough to share during the downpour.

After the rain, there was this:

Friday night at BCTC is primarily industry night. Us gals took our drinks and meandered through tent city, stopping to sample Ommegang’s Game of Thrones Blond Ale, a random Kriek, and lord knows what else (sorry guys this weekend is a little hazy). On our way we found AJ from Ommegang, Tommy from Sunswick, Dan from Crescent&Vine and The Strand (whose tent I may have thrown open, demanding that he get out of his sleeping bag, severely freaking out his little brother) and a myriad of other familiar faces. AJ took us to the Duvel/Ommegang campsite and, once refueled with Ommegang Witte we set off to enjoy the bonfire and the electric glow of the ferris wheel.

There is no sleeping in at BCTC. There is also no privacy, think you’re having an inappropriate what-we-say-in-the-tent-stays-in-the-tent conversation? Yeah, everyone around you heard that. After getting up at 8am, we made ourselves as presentable as possible and enjoyed a morning mimosa at our portable picnic table before making our way to the brewery tour.

Ommegang Brewery began in 1997 to create Belgian style ales. The name was taken from the name of a Belgian parade and literally translates “to walk about”. Oddly enough, that’s exactly what we spent our weekend doing!


Following the tour, AJ brought us to the industry only happy hour. Under a swanky white tent we tasted every imaginable variety of Ommegang and Duvel while we sampled tasty snacks. Local cheese, mussels cooked in ale, fresh shucked oysters—was this a wedding or a beer festival? We ended our happy hour running into Shawn from Bronx Brewery and toasting with the un-released Game of Thrones dark ale. It was malty, coffee, chocolate high-octane goodness and a really good decision that we only had a sample of the stuff.

On to the tasting tent!! Every brewery had their own table with their kegs and they were more than delighted to share until the well ran dry. We made the rounds: Port Jeff, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, Singlecut (yeah Astoria!), Keegan, Allagash, Bronx—and so many, many more. Sadly we hit the Allagash table too late to try the Curieux Saison, this Wench is hoping for a sample in the near future! Shawn at Bronx Brewery had saved us samples of some ridiculously remarkable limited edition brews: Gin Barrel Aged Bronx Pale Ale and (my favorite) Bourbon Barrel Aged Bronx Pale Ale.

The Gin Barrel Aged beer was almost indescribable—every note of juniper, smooth oak, fresh hops, mint, pine, caramel—it shouldn’t taste good but oh man, it sure does.

The Bourbon Barrel Aged became my favorite at the festival—you all know my affinity for things aged in bourbon barrels (ahem, Allagash Curieux). I need to get my hands on a bottle or five of this!

Post-tasting, still standing, we entered the Hop-Chef competition tent to sample delicious food all made with delicious beer. Wish I could tell you more about that but I was subsequently whisked away by Jimmy from Jimmy’s 43 to do a beer radio show. Jimmy and I chatted with various brewers as well as Pat from Smuttynose (their new pilsner is delectable) and Tommy from Sunswick. My ladies found me and we went on to enjoy tastes of Radiant Pig Junior IPA, a new brewery that I am particularly excited about.

Not going to lie, the haze began right around here. A few things I do remember kids:

-I cannot hula hoop and pour Duvel simultaneously, despite my trying. I can pour a mean Duvel but let’s face it; I’ve never been much of a hula hooper.

-I hate port-a-potties. I hate them more after they’ve been used all day for a beer festival and some people never learned to handle their booze.

-The Astoria contingent will always find each other—and throw the best tent parties.

The next morning we awoke to break down camp. Once again the lack of an air mattress had bit me in the ass, and sides, and back…sigh. Lesson learned: when camping bring an air mattress!! We stumbled down to the Ommegang Café, in hopes that Belgian waffles smothered in beer-cheese and fried eggs may revive us.

Beer Wench Takes a Fast Break

Back in the fall I was enjoying a lovely 2-4-$10 Tuesday at Bistro 33 when the rest of my friends decided to drag me to go see the movie that was supposed to “define our generation.” In preparation, I suggested we have some beer, an idea which somehow became we should get some beer and so my friend directed our cab driver to the corner of Ditmars and 29th Street, instructed him to wait at the curb, and we all ran into Fast Break 24. In my Hibiscus Gin Fizz fueled haze I remember thinking damn what an amazing selection before being rushed out with my Dogfish Head Seasonal six packs.
For those of you who don’t know, girls in NYC carry giant handbags out of necessity, like an urban survival kit—one never knows when they may need extra shoes, an entire library, an umbrella, assorted snacks or two six packs of ice cold beer. Sure I had the big bag, but turns out all four of us had bottle openers on our key chains. After the first fifteen minutes of the movie I was thanking the beer gods that these delinquents had convinced me to smuggle those beers and then I looked up at the screen and came face to face with a douchey ex fling from college (ironically he’s not just a douche in real life, he also plays one on the big screen). Blame it on the gin, the Dogfish Head in my hand, or the sudden shock but I blurted out “I took his—“ and then my friend punched me in the arm, and shut me up.

I strolled back into Fast Break 24 the other day and was still in awe of this little corner deli’s beer selection. An abundance of Abita (Purple Haze, Amber, Turbo Dog) on shelves below Lagunitas (CENSORED, IPA, Pils), and above a collection of Sierra Nevada (Pale, Torpedo, Stout, and Glissade). These alone made me pretty happy, but then I noticed the shelf of Anchor Steam six packs and almost couldn’t contain my excitement! Anchor Liberty, Porter, Bock, and could it be?! Anchor Old Foghorn Barleywine! Hell yeah! A bar patron of mine who has been sober for a bit now waxes all too poetically about Old Foghorn with it’s sweet and hoppy taste and 8.5%abv.


Sure Fast Break has the usual suspects of assorted Budweiser, Modelo, Corona, Yuengling, Amstel, Stella but on either side of those are six packs of Brooklyn—they even have some Brooklyn Chocolate lefts!—Rogue, Smuttynose, Troegs, and Full Sail. My bodega has a decent selection but this place has more beer options than they do flavors of Vitamin Water and Gatorade! According to the cashier the owner personally selects the beers according to his taste, and his taste is good.

In addition to six packs, an entire fridge is dedicated to larger bottles. Schneider Weiss and Aventinus Doppelbock—a rich dark wheat beer with hints of banana, honey, and cloves that is as delicious as it is deadly at 8.2% abv. Bluepoint’s awesome Rasta Rye and several others were starting to make me thirsty when I noticed up and to the right a selection of 750mil bottles.

For you fruit lovers out there they have bottles of Dogfish Head Fort and Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic—both rich in fizzy raspberry flavor—and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, a quadruppel with dark cherry lambic. For those of you who want to cellar a bottle or two, go grab one of Dogfish Head’s Chateau Jiahu. Jiahu is a part of the ancient ale series and is brewed using sake yeast, orange blossom honey, grapes, brown rice syrup and a recipe taken by analyzing ancient pottery found in China. After laying eyes on the Jiahu I thought I had discovered all the wonders Fast Break 24 had to offer. I swept my eyes over the coolers, lest I miss something important, and a bright orange package caught my eye.

I knelt down to examine the absurdity of Mike’s Hard Mango Punch and came face to label with a magnum bottle of Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, vintage 2009 with a $20 price tag. Hell Yeah! So what if my fridge is rapidly turning into a beer cooler, I am the Beer Wench after all.
A big shout out goes to the Ryan and the Astoria Home Brewers for their recent appearance on NY1—yay beer!

East Coast vs West Coast with the Wench

Walking into Sunswick this past Thursday night I found myself surrounded by what felt like every beer rep. and every thirsty beer geek in Astoria (ok so it was a bar full of beer geeks, I mean when you get right down to it the reps are just geeks with access to breweries and license to sell). It was loud, rowdy, and about to get extremely raucous—Sunswick was hosting the kickoff of the East Coast Vs West Coast Brewery throw down and if you missed the party my friends, I am truly sorry for you.

My motley crew and I commandeered the front couch and went about the all-important process of deciding which flight of beer to get first—all west coast? All one brewery? Light or dark perhaps? Juan hadn’t come around with the beer lists yet so, inspired by my buddy Pat from Smuttynose’s description of their new brews I opted for one whole flight from New Hampshire. Yay East Coast! Mike Long Hair went for an assortment of East Coast beer and Josh had me pick him out a pint, he wanted some hops and nothing dark, when I brought him the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ from Lagunitas he was thrilled.

Let’s break down the highlights from the East Coast, shall we? My favorite Smuttynose offering was hands down their Baltic Porter. Rich espresso flavor, slight dark fruit finish, smooth mouthfeel, and a robust 9%abv. Wouldn’t have minded a whole pint of the stuff, but I had three more mini-beers on my flight already. Also of note from the boys in New Hampshire is their Wheat Wine Ale—dude I shit you not it is 12%abv. This ale is actually a new breed of beer, they were unable to release it sooner due to legal issues with the name. Turns out the Tax and Trade Bureau thought that the use of the word “wine” on the label would lead consumers to think the beer was wine—sigh, do they really think the general public is that dumb? This is the first wheat ale brewed in the barleywine style and it tastes complex, slightly hoppy, mildly fruity with a boozy kick. These two beers alone were enough to get me feeling a little happy and it’s no wonder, their abv’s are right on up there with Belgian beers!

Also keeping it real for the East Coast, Pennsylvania’s Victory brought several badass brews to the table (not to mention a hilarious rep, I wish I remembered our witty repartee, but at least I got an awesome t-shirt). Of note from Victory: the Storm King Stout and Yakima Glory Black IPA. Both beers are strong in character and appearance, dark, malty, roasty, and hoppy and both right around 9%abv. A hoppy stout, you say? Why yes it sure was! Not as hoppy as the Yakima Glory, but still quite a floral, yet weighty stout.

Jumping across the country, my next flight showcased some yummy stuff from our friends at Lagunitas. You all know my love for the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ wheat ale, with it’s herbal, piney aroma and slight juniper taste— I’m getting thirsty thinking about the stuff—but I found a new love in their Cappuccino Stout (9.2%). No surprise here, it’s made with tons of coffee and roasted barley and man does it taste like espresso. Even looking at the beer in the glass is reminiscent of a perfect espresso shot, dark brown with a creamy white crema, and it is delicious. Oh West Coast you are making a good argument for yourself!

Seriously the noise level was deafening between the patrons, battling East Coast/ West Coast music, and rowdy beer reps defending their chosen brews, but it all seemed to silence the moment I tried my favorite offering of the evening: Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Porter (10%). Oh. My. God. One little sip and I was hooked, it slid down my throat, coating it like the best truffle in all of creation. Smooth, rich, bold vanilla, coffee, and dark chocolate flavors exploded in my mouth enveloped my senses—this my friends is a damn good beer. One by one my friends reacted in a similar manor—one sip resulted in closed eyes and sighs of “oh yeah, that’s amazing.” Ballast Point also offered up their Barmy Ale (10.7%). Barmy tastes like fruity Riesling and it’s made with lots of fruit and caramelized honey. Girlfriend doesn’t like beer? Give her one of these, she’ll love it. Give her two and you may have to carry her home, but that’s another story.

Have you perhaps been paying attention to the numbers I’ve been laying out for you? A typical beer is somewhere around 5%abv guys, now go back and check out the ones I just listed before I finish my beer tale. Good. Right about now is where I will apologize for getting drunkenly inspired to go on a pub-crawl instead of waiting for the foamy verdict. In my high-octane brew fuelled haze it seemed more fun to trek out in the snow than stay squished like a sardine at Sunswick, plus I had already tried everything on tap at Sunswick and the Mad Donkey was only a few blocks away. Sure I called Sunswick on Friday to find out who won but the brunch bartender immediately asked if I had left my credit card when I said I had a question about Thursday night and then laughed and told me, sorry he had no idea who won. Hey, I may have left part of my memory and a bit of my liver, but at least I didn’t leave my credit card ☺.

Want to check out the East West Brewery Battle for yourself? It may have left Astoria but Pony Bar on 44th and 10th is hosting it this Wednesday! Check out beermenus.com/events for the complete tour listing

Beer Wench Treks to Best Yet

Happy New Year Beer Lovers! First things first—a giant thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Best of 2010 Poll! I know I’ve been a little quiet as of late but I promise to do my best to make it up to you now that the holiday season has come to a close and most of the snow has been plowed. I have big plans for this year folks, starting with registering for Cicerone (see also: Beer Geek) classes and getting ready for my February trip to Dogfishhead.
Bring it on 2011 the Wench is ready for you!
Another big thank you goes out to DiWine for hosting the WLA Writer’s party! I had never been to DiWine before but after that spiffy shindig I will certainly go again and do a full write up. Food was delicious, ambiance was sexy and laid back, beer list was do-able and that open bar sure as hell didn’t hurt. Thank you DiWine and thank you WLA!!




I’ve been toying with the idea of having a beer tasting party for some time now, so when I finally got a day off I decided to make the trip to check out Best Yet Market to see if they can give EuroMarket a run for their money and help me stock up for some festivities.

Best Yet is set back in a shopping plaza on 20th ave and 37th St. with a liquor store and a Bank of America (is it just me or are all Bank of Americas in Astoria the most inconveniently located banks ever?!). Walking in through the automatic doors I was immediately greeted by the sight of a straight up grocery store, this place is as big as a suburban Stop & Shop! I did a loop through the whole store, checking out the sushi counter, butcher, and produce area before arriving in beer section.











Walking past the refrigerated section I was mildly disappointed, sure there were oddities like Red Stripe Light and Heineken Dark that piqued my curiosity and a few six-packs from Californian breweries that aren’t too prevalent in NY, but the abundance of Natural Ice made my heart sink a little—I walked all the way down here for this?!


Then my friends, I hit the room temperature shelves. Mixed packs of Flying Dog, Smuttynose, Bluepoint and Abita all for around $17! Six packs of Lagunitas Pils, IPA, and CENSORED right next to a variety of Oskar Blues cans. Skull Splitter Scotch Ale in four packs! 22oz bottles offering all the sideshow goodness of Coney Island: Albino Python, Sword Swallower, and Coney Island Lager were all lined up above a smorgasbord of Samuel Smith beers. Big bottles of Stone, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, Wailing Wench and Hitachino White all there for the taking at under $10!

The Belgian selection was reasonable, the highlights being the $5 bottle of Orval, the $13.99 4 pack of Duvel and the Trappist Sampler gift pack of five bottles for $34.99. Right next to the Belgians was a line of Belgian style ales: Allagash Dubbel and White, almost all of the Ommegang line, and a bottle bearing a mustachioed grain marked “Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project, Jack D’Or” saison ale. I grabbed a bottle of the Allagash Dubbel and a bottle of the “Pretty Things” and began my hike home.

While my new beer acquisitions chilled in my fridge (which at present is only used as a beer cooler, sigh must remember to buy food too) I grabbed my laptop with the intent of delving into this “Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project.” Turns out these are some beer loving folks in Massachusetts who refer to themselves as a “gypsy brewery”. Without a permanent brewery to call home base, they collectively brew their innovative brews in small batches at their homes or at whichever brewery will let them in. My mustachioed friend on the label of the Jack D’Or is the “ soul of beer, nature’s magician” and he adorns the label of their flagship beer, a Saison Ale. They have a useful beer locator on their website and several stores and bars in NY are mentioned for carrying their beers, Best Yet Market, however, isn’t on that list. I’ve got to say that I appreciate what these crazy kids are doing, this shit takes balls. Jack D’Or Saison was very spicy and peppery to me, with some sour notes that seemed more lambic than saison to me, but unlike lambic the sourness didn’t finish clean. I was left with puckered lips and a fuzz coated tongue. Rarely do I come across a brew I can’t drink so I asked Joe to try it too, fully expecting him to at least finish the bottle. Sadly, neither one of us cared for Jack D’Or, but at least we tried something new.

Winter Beer Picks

The signs are all there—candy cane striped booths in Union Square, ice skating dates in Bryant Park, rumors abounding about a sledding hill in Queens, and the steadily growing sound of sleigh bells—all of a sudden December is upon us. Sure there’s no snow yet but there are plenty of twinkly lights to help us pretend. From here on in it’s party season my sweets and here are some awesome brews to add to your holiday enjoyment. Pop the top and sip with friends or wrap them up and give as gifts—who says you have to bring wine as a hostess gift?

Let’s start with the beers made especially for this time of year, the ones that aren’t available past January but the tastes of which I lust for year round.

My quintessential Christmas brew comes from Belgium in a sleigh pulled by eight pink elephants. Delirium Noel and I began our love affair four years ago, one taste of the spiced warm ale and I was hooked. Hints of plum, brown sugar, orange zest, cardamom, and glorious booze run through Noel, and it should taste boozy, after all it is 10%abv. The art on the bottle is fun and lively and if you can score some of the signature glasses with the Santa hat clad pink elephants you’ll be all set for gift giving or party hosting.

Every year Anchor Steam releases a new Christmas Ale with new label art. This year brings us the 36th Christmas Ale and if past brews are any indicator, it will be delightful. Can I tell you anything else about the flavor of the beer? Nope, sorry. Anchor Steam’s website even says the ingredients and ABV is top secret, the only way to find out anything about this ale is to drink one for yourself. You could even cellar a few Christmas Ales to compare to later incarnations. Want Christmas Ale glassware too? Check out Anchor Steam’s website, where they also have posters with all 36 Christmas Ale labels ever made!

One beer in the world is made only once a year in a brewery in Switzerland on St. Nicholas Eve (December 6), it is then stored in caves under the Alps for an entire year until it is ready for celebratory consumption. Switzerland celebrates Santa Claus apart from Christmas itself and that thinking gave the world a fabulous gift—Samichlaus Lager. Samichlaus is Swiss for Santa Claus but after one of these bad boys Saint Nick definitely won’t be steering his sleigh. These brews tip the scales at above 14%abv and are dark, malty and warming. Juan at Sunswick has been holding a keg of Samiclaus for the past few years and rumor has it they will be serving it this year, alongside this year’s batch.

Let’s move on, shall we, to the beers that aren’t just for the holidays but fit right in at any winter party. I’ve noticed a theme in my choice of holiday favorites, yes most of them are dark and chocolaty here, ‘tis the season for decadence!

Brooklyn Brewery’s take on an Imperial Stout rocks my world. There, I said it. It’s 10%abv so it’s sure to rock yours too but the taste, yummmm. It’s a deep dark chocolate truffle of a beer with malt and espresso notes achieved through the use three mashes and specially roasted malts. It’s only available October-March so get it while the getting’s good and pick up a few extra bottles to age, it makes a great addition to your beer cellar. I enjoy this beer with desert or strong cheeses or, hell, just by itself. Careful though, one too many could result in an abundance of yuletide cheer and an urge to carol obnoxiously.

On a somewhat lighter note, Dogfishhead’s Theobroma, which translates into “food of the gods”, is a more nuanced and subtle way to get your chocolate fix. The recipe is based on the chemical analysis of pottery fragments of a vessel that once contained the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink found in Honduras. Theobroma is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto seeds. Every sip of this beer reveals new flavors to me and, while I could drink it all by myself, I really enjoy sharing a bottle to see my friend’s reactions to it. Joe and I have had a bottle chilling in our fridge for a few months now, waiting for the perfect time to savor it (although writing this column is making it hard for me not to jump the gun and drink it myself. Must have willpower!).

If you love ooey gooey dark chocolate brownies this next beer is for you. Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence is a Belgian Dark Ale that was first created to celebrate the brewery’s tenth year. It’s champagne corked bottle makes a lovely gift and even comes as part of their sampler pack, complete with an Ommegang glass. I gave this to my cousin and her husband a few years ago and they haven’t stopped talking about it since. It’s silky, decadent and at only 7%abv you can indulge in more than one glass before things start getting hazy.

Nothing says celebration quite like champagne except, wait for it, champagne beer!! Krait Prestige is my favorite champagne lager, with an abundance of festive bubbles and zesty drinkablity it just may become yours too. Krait is double fermented and bottle conditioned, a tradition typically used in the making of Trappist Ales, in Belgium’s Rodenbach brewery. This beer uses a unique blend of barley malt, imported maize, hops, and rice as well as champagne yeast. My old boss gave me a bottle of this a few years back and Joe and I used it to toast our first Valentine’s Day together. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice Brut champagne or prosecco at a party but Krait is more than able to fill in and leave your guests satiated.

While these are my personal favorites, there are many, many more holiday brews out there for the savoring. Experiment with a few and see what you like! Several breweries do gift worthy sample packs and even have glassware and other fun things available for the beer lover in your life. Make sure you have the gift-packs gift-wrapped before you bring them home though, or else the beer may not make it to its holiday destination.