The Christmas season is a very special one for beer lovers. Brewers around the world are eager to provide a bright spot in the dark winter months by uncorking some of their best creations. No matter how you celebrate the holidays, it’s hard to deny the appeal of curling up in front of a fire with a special winter brew.

The most traditional style for Christmas beer is the Belgian Strong Ale, often of the dark variety. These ales can vary in malt and hop characteristics, but all generally share a spiciness that warms our hearts with Christmas memories and a higher alcohol content that warms our bodies from the winter chill. While the Belgians may have defined the Christmas beer standard, U.S. brewers have added their own interpretations with Brown Ales, Amber Ales, IPAs, and even Imperial Stouts that are just as legitimate and delicious. Below are the top five Christmas beers that you have a good chance of finding in America.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale
This medium-bodied copper colored beer with its cinnamon and ginger spice flavors is an excellent American interpretation of Christmas beer. The spices are a nice complement to the malty sweetness, and the whole thing is balanced by a subtle hop bitterness on the finish. It’s highly drinkable despite a higher ABV at 7.5%. Serve in a lager glass or tumbler at just below cellar temperature for the perfect post-Christmas-dinner drink.

Santa’s Private Reserve, Rogue Brewing
Rogue takes a different approach with this Amber Ale that’s so hoppy you might mistake it for a red IPA. It does not include any seasonal spices, but instead relies upon the special blend of hops (including one they call Rudolph Hops) to give it a unique kick. The hops also add a nice hint of pine needles and spruce branches. Very drinkable at 6% ABV. Serve it as a nice complement to Christmas dinner; this beer pairs well with strong flavored meats, like the slight gaminess of venison – but don’t tell Santa.

Avery Old Jubilation Ale
Avery also eschews the traditional seasonal spices in favor of hazelnut, chocolate, and toffee notes. It’s a relatively sweet beer with a blend of five different malt flavors, but with appropriate hops to provide just the right balance. This English Strong Ale would be well served slightly warmed in an English pint or Trappist glass, and is not to be trifled with at a warming 8% ABV. If you can wait, this beer will be even better after a year or two in the cellar.

Celebration Ale, Sierra Nevada
This beer is the quintessential Christmas IPA. Being an IPA first and foremost, the hop flavors are bold and pleasing; but that is only where the flavor begins. As the beer warms, there is a background spiciness that becomes more prominent. The smooth, creamy mouth-feel is reminiscent of a nitrogen tap. A piny and fruity finish rounds out the experience. Serve in a standard pint or tulip glass.

Santa’s Little Helper, Port Brewing
We round out the pack with another unique Christmas interpretation: this time, an Imperial Stout. Santa’s Little Helper has all of the roasty, smoky, chocolaty malt flavor you would expect from this style, but then adds a hint of cinnamon and licorice spiciness for some holiday cheer. This beer has quite a bit of sweetness, but quite a bit of hoppiness to balance it out – perhaps more than one might expect from an Imperial Stout. The hops provide a piny Christmas tree finish which just rounds out the experience. Enjoy in a snifter by the fire.

It’s 80 degrees outside, sunny with occasional strong cool breezes.  You’re standing in a line (depending on how early you arrived determines how far back you are) on Saturday afternoon with the smell of hops wafting through the air; you’re patiently waiting for the entrance way to open to satiate the thirst you have built up for this day.

Every year the Michigan Brewer’s Guild presents a summer festival of nearly all of Michigan’s microbreweries.  The summer festival has been held every year for the past 12 years. And a few weeks ago, I went to enjoy the brews myself with the intent to share with you some of the fine brews Michigan has to offer in microbrews.

This year’s festival occurred on July 24-25.  Though the primary event took place on Saturday during the first several years, they have since expanded to Friday evenings to accommodate the masses of micro-brewed-beer lovers in the greater Michigan area.

This year there were 51 different breweries, which presented about 60 various styles of brew totaling over 300 unique beers to sample.  Among the breweries there were New Holland Brewing Co.—one of our all time favorites here at Beer Baron, Dark Horse Brewing Co., Arcadia, Founders, Kuhnhenn—a new favorite, Dragon Mead, Dark Horse, and, among many others, Short’s Brewing Co.

We would like to share with you a couple of our favorites and what these fine brews taste like, at least on our pallets.  We made our selections after having researched the possibilities of what each brewery might be offering and their ratings on RateBeer.com.  Not all of the beers available are even on RateBeer.com yet and, mind you, these were not the only beers we tasted; there were many more that made the list of “definitely try again” than what I will share with you today, but I leave you to discover the rest on your own next festival. (more…)

Excitement abounds! Sapporo welcomes us to the future with the world’s first Space Beer. It seems that as part of a crop growing project on the International Space Station, the scientists grew a nice batch of barley. Sapporo was then given the privilege of brewing a 100 liter batch of beer out of it, using 100% barley in the brew to ensure the maximum space taste. So how will zero gravity and cosmic radiation affect the flavor? Unfortunately, only 30 couples in Japan selected by lottery will find out – this beer isn’t publicly for sale (yet). [BBNews via Gizmodo]

As the holiday season rolls around, everyone is looking for that perfect gift for the beer lover in their life. My friends, I am here to tell you that no beer lover will be unhappy with the gift of beer. But running down to the corner market and picking up a 12 pack just doesn’t seem very special, does it? What about a 12 pack delivered to the door from some far off microbrewery every month? Now we’re talking. I bring you: the beer of the month club. There are three big players in the beer of the month club game, and you can’t go wrong with any of them. They each offer to send three bottles of four different microbrews (12 bottles total) as often as you’d like.

Leading the pack, we have Amazing Club’s Beer of the Month Club. Amazing Club is the most competitively priced of the three, and is the only one that offers a specific “beer of the season” option (four shipments spaced every three months). Having received a subscription to the club as a gift last year, I can personally vouch for the quality of their selections.

Next we have the Great Clubs Beer of the Month Club. While they don’t have a “beer of the season” option, they do allow you to space the shipments in one, two, or three month increments. They currently have a $25 off promotion for the 12 month subscription, but even with this it is more expensive than the Amazing Clubs version.

Finally there is the Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club. This club is distinctive in that it focuses only on beer – that is, they don’t also do fruit of the month, underwear of the month, or what have you of the month. They also offer different kinds of beer clubs: domestic, domestic/international, international, and the “collectors series” which features 750ml bottles of limited release beers. All these options have a price, as this is the most expensive of the three clubs.

Whichever you choose, you can’t go wrong with a beer of the month club this holiday season. [AmazingClubs, GreatClubs, Microbrew OTMC]

Want that fresh draught taste at home, but not interested in doing an expensive kitchen or bar renovation to install one? Fear not, the Haier Brewmaster has you covered. Just add a half, quarter, or mini barrel keg of your favorite brew, and the BrewMaster will give you that perfect draught pour every time. Sporting built in refrigeration for just the right frosty temperature, an internal CO2 tank to keep things flowing, and it’s even mounted on casters so you can roll it right next to the Lay-Z-Boy. Buy it nowfor about $450. [Haier via CNet]

Do you remember, a few years back, when there was a big todo about wine containing a substance that helped keep you healthy? If not, let me refresh your memory: the substance is called resveratrol, and it’s a natural component of grapes. Researchers found that it was a key reason behind the French paradox, that is, the fact that the French eat delicious and fatty foods all the time yet have hardly any heart disease. Well, of course since beer isn’t made from grapes, beer doesn’t have any resveratrol in it. Until now! Researchers at Rice University are working to create a beer containing this compound, which is not only good for your heart, but also prevents cancer and aging. They’re achieving this magic trick by using a special genetically engineered yeast that creates resveratrol during the fermentation process. Soon we may have to go looking for our beer in the health food aisle. [ComputerWorld]

Here at Beer Baron, our priority is not to get the cheapest beer, but rather to get the best beer. That said, getting the best beer for cheap can’t hurt. To this end, the newcomer GetDrinksCheap.com is a great resource – if they cover your area. Currently available only for Ann Arbor, MI, this site catalogs all of the beers available for sale in the stores in the area, as well as their prices. This not only enables you to find the best deal on a particular beer, but also find where particular beers are available. For example, just getting back from a trip to Lousiana, I’ve acquired a taste for Abita Turbodog (B)(63). I’ve never seen it in stores around here, but GetDrinksCheap.com tells me I can find it at the Whole Foods down the street. Who knew?

I’ll admit it, except for a few special situations, I’ve never had a big problem holding onto my beer. That said, these beerslinger accessories are less about necessity and more about being awesome. First, we have the basic Beer Holster, because having a beer strapped to your belt is almost and fun as a six shooter, plus you’re more likely to actually use it. It works with both cans and bottles, and you can get it custom engraved for that special brew lover in your life.

If we want to get more serious, the next step is the Beer Belt, which gives you quick access to six beers, Batman-style. It also works with cans and bottles, but is made of nylon instead of leather: less cowboy but more clean-able.

And for the pinnacle in beer-readiness we cannot overlook the Beerdolier, which actually looks most comfortable to me, and also more like Rambo, which can’t hurt. Cans only for this one which might be a little limiting, but it’s the only one that’s insulated, which is a big plus if you’re not planning to drink all six of those bad boys at once. [via Uncrate]

This is not a review because I have never tasted this beer, but the beer brewed by the Trappist Monks from Westvleteren, Belgium has captured my imagination anyway. This beer, sold only from the gates of the Monestary by appointment, is so sought after that people wait in lines of cars sixteen hours long for an opportunity to buy it. The monks, who have gone out of their way to not expand their brewing lest it interfere with their religious practices, do not advertise and don’t even label their beer bottles. Their flagship beer, Westvleteren 12 (95)(100), is regarded as one of the best beers in the world by professional tasters. If you’re ever in Westvleteren, Belgium, it seems like it would be worth a stop. [WSJ via Fark]

One of the great problems facing beer drinkers throughout history is warm beer. Maybe your favorite beer is not found in the cooler at the store, and yet you can’t wait to drink a frosty one when you get home. Finally, technology has come to the rescue.

Kent Hodgson is a 22-year-old student from New Zealand, and he not only understands this problem but has come up with a solution. The device, which he calls the “Huski”, is basically a pen sized tube that instantly converts the gaseous CO2 from a tiny canister into solid CO2, or dry ice. This has a cooling capacity four times that of regular ice, all without diluting the beer in any way. The net result is going from a warm beer to a cold one in about four seconds.

Not for sale yet, but he’s planning to market the device for around $50. Sign me up. [NZHerald via Gizmodo]