Holiday Beers

Brewers plan for hoppy holidays Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, December 8, 2006

With colder weather comes stronger and spicier beer, as brewers prepare to roll out holiday ales and winter warmers.

City Beer owner Craig Wathen, who sells a wide range of seasonal brews at his San Francisco store, says that in winter two styles of beer temporarily populate store shelves and bar taps: winter warmers and holiday ales. He says that both have higher alcohol content than brews produced for hot weather, but winter warmers are the darker and heartier of the two. Holiday ales are not usually quite as potent, but often contain added spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The spices can be added to the brew kettle if the whole batch will be flavored, or directly into the barrel if the brewer wants to spice a subset of beer.

"I think a holiday beer is more geared toward food and sharing it in a social circumstance. It's a little bit more creative. It's considered by most breweries to be their showcase beer of the year," says Wathen.

Click here to read the rest of my story on what local brewers are doing for holiday beers. I talked to every commercial brewer in San Francisco, but unfortunately two of them were cut out for space reasons. But that's why blogs are good- supplemental material. So here they are:

The Beach Chalet at the end of Golden Gate Park will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this December with an aptly named Ten Year Anniversary Ale according to head brewer Aron Deorsey. He said it should come in at around 10 percent ABV and describes it as a “Belgian-style strong pale ale with a medium body, deceptive alcohol warmth and subtle hop character.”

Deorsey will also release an as-yet-unnamed, unfiltered dark Belgian ale in the second week in December. That one will have raisin and plum flavors as by-products of the Belgian yeast used. Then closer to Christmas, he’ll make a spiced version of this same ale. He’ll brew a spice tea that includes fresh coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and add it directly to a keg of the dark Belgian ale. It will be served directly from the keg.

San Francisco Brewing Company’s founder and brewmaster Allan Paul says he’ll serve his Christmas Cheer Ale in the North Beach brewery/restaurant again this year. He describes it as “an un-spiced but interesting dark ale along the lines of a porter beer, utilizing a variety of roasted malts and hops to give it a nice complex spiciness, but without the spice.”

Then for St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th) he’ll release their St. Stephen’s Bock, which is a rich, amber lager beer according to Paul. He calls it, “a rich, malty full-bodied brew without the bitterness of predominant hops.”