Holiday Ale

This beer began as an attempt to brew something with a properly reddish hue for the holidays—but it serves just as well as an exploration of earthy rye and malty depth with a firm, spicy bitterness.

This rich amber ale, featuring layers of roasted orange spice mingling with hops, is a vamp on the English winter warmers that are stronger, darker, and toastier than pale ales or bitters.

Featuring hot stones in the mash, juniper, bog myrtle, and some smoke, this strong farmhouse ale may resemble what the commoners of eastern Norway brewed to celebrate Yule during the Viking Age.

From the Viking Age to the first Christmases until today, the ancient Yule customs demand the best food and beer you can provide—and it’s not all for the living. So, what did they brew and pour for the spirits and the dead?

This seasonal ale is a bright enough red to match your Santa hat, and it goes well with just about anything on your holiday table.

Now, here’s a different sort of winter warmer. The fruits and spices are up to you (every abuela has her own ponche recipe). Warm it up, mix with nog, stick a red-hot poker in it … or just enjoy in a snifter by the fireside. ¡Feliz Navidad!

This is Turkey’s Delight Cranberry Irish Red Ale. A holiday ale that is nice, bright red in color, is seasonably rich in malt flavor, and pairs perfectly with turkey in all of its various incarnations (including – and maybe especially – the leftovers).