Ultimate 6er | Secret Santa Gifts for Hard-To-Buy-For Family Members

It’s December 24 and after a month of delaying, you’re still trying to figure who the heck who it is you pulled from the Secret Santa bag for your family party. Jeremy? Did someone have a kid and you didn’t notice? Is he a long last cousin that’s been living Potter-style under the stairs all these years? Whose aunt is Aunt Kathy cause you’re pretty sure she isn’t yours.

My family party this year is at a record low of 29 people this year, but with a family that big there’s no way you can know enough about everyone to get them a perfect gift. In an effort to make sure that poor Jeremy doesn’t end up with the re-gifted candle for Christmas, below I’m giving you six beers for the family party members you don’t know well.

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12 Beers of Christmas Day 11 | Prairie Christmas BOMB!

Prairie Artisan Ales  – Christmas Bomb!

ABV: 11%

Merry Christmas everybody! Hope everyone gets exactly what they want this year!

I’ve already doted on Prairie Artisan Ales and, more namely, Prairie Bomb! on several occasions. When I caught word that Prairie was building a new bomb, a bigger and more powerful bomb, a Christmas Bomb!, I was of the utmost stoked. Billed as the O.G. Bomb! with “Christmas spices” added or “brewed with spices”, Prairie does well to not over-bill this as a completely different beer. It is, essentially, Bomb! with Christmas spices added or Bomb! “brewed with spices.” And that; that is why I love it so much!

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‘Twas The Night Before Christmas | Craft Beer Edition

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

many critters were stirring, including a mouse.

The stockings were stuffed with craft beer … Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 9 | Victory Winter Cheers Winter Wheat Ale

ABV: 6.7%

When Mrs. Claus hangs her flour-splotched apron after a night of baking scrumptious goodies, a bottle of Winter Cheers is her perfect pat-on-the-back. A little known fact, her jolly old man makes Downingtown, Pennsylvania his last stop on Christmas morning to bring her a snow-cold stash fresh from the Victory Brewing Company every year to enjoy together. Always having admired this hard-working First Lady of the North, I decided to follow suit. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 8 | Revolution Brewing Fistmas Ale

Like many others on this site, I love ginger. Love it, love it, love it. Obviously then, gingerbread cookies are my favorite of all the Christmas-cookie options. Adding insult to injury, or the opposite in my case, there are now quite a few beers out there I can coin as liquid gingerbread. Or something very deliciously close to that. We already have a beer for this year’s 12 Beers of Christmas that is perfect for gingerbread lovers, a stout that is fuller than the typical one you would place in the “Christmas Ale” section at the store. Therefore, let’s have another example of ginger doing the right things: Revolution Brewing Fistmas Ale. Yes, our waltz with gingerbread can be sated once more! Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 7| Fat Head’s Holly Jolly Christmas Ale

When kids think of Christmas, they generally think of a jovial fat man and the presents he bribes in return for good behavior. Although it wasn’t for good behavior, I was rewarded a 6-pack of Fat Head’s Holly Jolly Christmas Ale from my older brother because my Indianapolis Colts stomped on his Cincinnati Bengals earlier this season. Read More

PorchDrinking Playlist | A Very Sufjan Christmas

With two “box-set” holiday albums (i.e. multi-CD conglomerates) overflowing with merry melodies, this playlist is inspired by indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens and his unashamed Christmas proclivities. From renditioning the classics, … Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 3 | Samuel Adams Merry Maker

ABV: 9% | IBU: 25

I have a confession: I’m a bit of a grinch. The winter holiday season doesn’t excite me very much, and that feeling generally extends to holiday beers. Regardless … Read More

PorchDrinking Playlist | Christmas Decorating Inspiration

Yeah, we get that it’s a bit early for a full Christmas playlist, but we also get that you probably need a bit of inspiration for your holiday decorating. So here’s something to play while you set up the tree and try desperately not to fall off the roof of your house. We’ve included a variety of tracks from Sufjan Stevens, Run DMC and Bruce Springsteen. Ideally you’ll be the cool folks playing the amazing Christmas playlist for the rest of the month. Read More

Yazoo Brewing – Yazoo Pale Ale

ABV: 5.8%
IBU:55

Oh boy. You know that beer that you just always buy? The one that you see at the store as you promise yourself you’ll try something new, but then you still go back and buy the same trustworthy beer yet again?  Well, that is how I operate with the one and only Yazoo Pale Ale.

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Ultimate 6er | Christmas Movies

The holiday movie onslaught has begun. Here are my six favorite Christmas Movies, and a thoughtful beer to accompany each of them. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 10: Goose Island 2013 Sixth Day

ABV: 8.3%

IBU: 55

‘Tis the season to sample the myriad Christmas concoctions that are offered throughout the cold months every year. At this time of year, I’m always on the lookout for something I’ve never tried before. Goose Island, always innovating and experimenting, provided that opportunity with this year’s version of their “Sixth Day” Christmas Ale. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 3 | Schlafly Special Release Christmas Ale

ABV: 8%

IBU: 30

The first of the many great American winter holidays has come to a close. Leftovers are still heaped in the fridge, you are justifying eating pie … Read More

12 Days of Christmas | Day 2 West 6th – Christmas Ale

9.0% ABV

Egg nog and chocolate, the essentials of Christmas. The egg nog all rich and boozy, smelling of nutmeg and bourbon, often hangs up in my mustache waiting for retrieval from my bottom lip. And as I sip the egg nog various dishes filled with assorted chocolates garnish the rooms, tempting me to sin again with each pass. Like Romeo, give me my sin again. Conversation stays non-confrontational and smiles stay affixed to faces, as we enjoy each other’s company or at least wish to not upset the jovial vibe that has been created by loved ones and the proper proportions of alcohol. Hey, I thought this was a beer blog not “The Night Before Christmas”…right you are. I digress from my Rockwellian fantasy, now on to the important stuff – beer. Where does beer fit in to this holiday utopia? Read More

Roundtable Discussion | Best Holiday Gifts

This time of year it’s all about the gift giving. So I thought, “Hey! Why not use my turn as editor to get gift ideas for my friends and family?” And then I planned to post the results to ease your gift buying pains as well.

There are a couple good gift ideas below. Are these the best holiday gifts? Probably not. But you’ll want to read this anyway, even if it is just to see what Marie did when a friend asked for money. I don’t think she quite expected what she got…

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Story Time With Hank | Back Room Dealing

“Here it is, kid. As promised, see?” He leveraged one foot into the air with tremendous effort and, twisting his whole body to generate the requisite torque, THUMPed it against the side of the stoic, wooden chest.

The chest did not deign to respond. It sat on the cold concrete, amidst the dank and the dust and the chittering bugs, and pretended we weren’t there.

Its black varnish shone with a malignant inner warmth separate from the light cast by the single exposed bulb dangling at the end of a long cord from the ceiling overhead, spinning slightly in a draft I couldn’t feel.

The chest had no clasp or keyhole that I could see, no adornment at all save for a plain, silver orb, like a globe bisected neatly from North to South pole, that bulged tumor-like from its front. Read More

PorchDrinking Playlist: Happy Chrismukkah!

Merry Christmas from the folks at Porch Drinking! As promised, here is the BEST Christmas playlist you’re likely to encounter, featuring a variety of standards you’re likely familiar with as … Read More

Celebrity Christmas Wish Lists

My buddy Santa hooked me up with a look at some of the letters he received from celebrities this year. Let’s see what was on their celebrity Christmas wish lists this year!

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12 Beers of Christmas | Day 9- Mikkeller’s From To

8.0% ABV

Holy holiday cheer this beer is outstanding. Malty + sprucey + notes of a subtle mint chocolate. The balanced mouthfeel embodies a depth of both flavor and complexity, … Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 1: Breckenridge Christmas Ale

ABV: 7.4%

Once upon a time, a time one day ago in fact, a single man braved the single worst element, wind, and walked the entire one block down to his favorite watering hole. Once he found a single seat at the bar, he knew it was time to make the #1 most important decision of his night: What will my first beer be? After scanning the droughts for one minute, his eyes finally came upon a single tap placed by its lonesome at the end of the bar, the tap for Breckenridge Christmas Ale. This was to be his first beer of the night. There was one thing amiss about the drought tap, however, atop it sat a single piece of paper. Taped to the back of the tap with one measly piece of Scotch tape, the single piece of paper simply read: “Christmas Ale : $1.” Read More