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BEER Hops for the Holidays Celebrate in Style with Local Craft Beer By GEORGE MACKE If strong, rich stouts with cranberries, brown ales spiced with seasonal flavours such as cinnamon, and well-played gimmicks like a rum ball-flavoured beer are your thing, this is your season. A sleigh full of novel and warming seasonal beers guarantee to please guests and get party conversations started in this season of malty magic. And sorting out what to buy for a party or gifts can be daunting, especially if you’re not a frequent beer buyer or haven’t done Holiday beers mean rich and dark with seasonal flavours, such as the gingerbread, hazelnut, cherry and chocolate used last year in two stouts and two porters from Refined Fool Brewing of Sarnia. The innovative brewery will be back with more twists this season. deep dives at local craft breweries to get wonderful beers that might not be sold at the LCBO, Beer Store or grocery stores. “There is such a wide range (of Christmas beers) that it’s hard to be specific,” said Brandon Huybers, director at the innovative Refined Fool Brewing in Sarnia. “In our opinion, a great Christmas beer is one that gets finished. We’ve experimented with different holiday styles and ingredients over the years, some were good, and some were terrible. What we focus on now is making sure the base is on point (in our case heavy, dark ales), and being thoughtful with additions.” This year, Refined Fool will build upon its popular four-pack of two stouts and two porters, each named for Canadian winter pastimes: Jean Skier, a gingerbread porter; Incredible Athletes, a cherry-vanilla stout; Cross Country Sniper, a hazelnut espresso porter; and a chocolate and sea salt stout, christened Knife Shoes. “Last year we brewed four flavoured dark beers, and it went over really well,” Huybers said. “We will be following this same formula but will be introducing some new flavours.” Beer lore says strong, malty beers brewed for Christmas celebrations likely started with the Vikings. Dabbling in seasonal flavours — imagine nutmeg in your Belgian dubbel — is an innovation of modern craft brewers as they look to set themselves apart in the marketplace. “I think classically, brewers lean to the bigger beers, be it Belgian styles or a big Forked River summoned the favourite Christmas treat flavours of orange and chocolate for a delicious stout last year. Co-founder Dave Reed says raspberry will be a featured flavour this year. 52 LifestyLe LIFESTYLE November/December FEATURING EATDRINK 2023 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
Blackfriars Bridge Stout by London’s Toboggan Brewing is slightly sweet with the expected roasted barley aroma with chocolate and coffee background notes. Toboggan is also known for a similar brew with an added infusion of Madagascar vanilla beans. bourbon-aged imperial stout to enjoy over the holidays, or at least that’s where I lean,” said Dave Reed, co-owner of Forked River Brewing, the oldest operating craft brewer in London. “Lately there have been some cool, fun flavoured stouts too. It’s such a great platform, roasty, chocolaty, velvety, creamy vanilla flavours to have fun with. As for themes for the season, I think the best way to describe it is that decadence is the theme,” Reed added. Flavoured stouts that are fun for Christmas and throughout winter are a Forked River forte. These include Upper Thames Brewing’s Dark Side Chocolate Stout is thick and malty and derives its rich dark chocolate flavour from being aged on roasted Ivory Coast cacao nibs sourced from their Woodstock neighbour Habitual Chocolate . Chocolate Raspberry, a sweet stout that mimics the flavours of a Viva Puff cookie with sweet raspberry and chocolate. “It’s a great way to make connections with beers and flavours you may not immediately associate with beer, like a Viva Puff, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, or an After Eight, and those are flavours we have been playing around with lately in a sweet stout format,” Reed said. “We had done the Chocolate Orange in the past, so this time around it’s time for the Raspberry to take the stage.” Christmas beer and winter warmer releases start in November. Brewers across the region have worked with other flavours in seasons past, including gingerbread, butter tart, black forest cake and smoky wood. Hoppy bitterness disappears in favour of malt-forward ales that can get a sweet boost from brewers with the addition of honey, molasses or brown sugar. A defunct brewery in Kingston found a winner with Tannebomb Imperial Wit, with spruce for bitterness and cranberries for sweetness in a wheat beer base. Perhaps a true seasonal classic, and one that’s easily prepared at home, is wassail beer. The tastier cousin of cider, it’s made with brown ale such as the nutty Anderson Craft Ales Brown, red wine, cider, spices and apple slices served warm. There are various and varied recipes. Wassail is an old English word for “be well” and that’s what one of the area’s popular tiny breweries, Caps Off Brewing, wishes for its patrons anticipating the return of Wassail Ale. Last year, Caps Off brewed its own take on wassail, with a brown ale infused with mulling spices — imagine cinnamon and nutmeg — and christened it Pass the Hat. It was an apt name as money made from its sale was given to charity. Pass the Hat might be back for 2023. Another style right for the season is cuvee, a premiumpriced, high-quality beer that’s rested in barrels, sometimes several different barrels, for intense taste. Among local brewers working with barrel ageing is Forked River, which uses bourbon and white wine barrels to produce distinctive sours. If you think unusual flavours or high-alcohol coffee-and-dark-chocolate beers won’t please dinner guests or gift recipients, there are seasonal alternatives with sampler gift packs featuring multiple styles and, often, a merchandise bonus. For example, Railway City Brewing has a pack featuring its much-loved Black Coal Stout, as it returns for winter along with the straightforward Crew Premium Lager, the East Coast IPA Juice Caboose, and Elgin’s Finest Wee Heavy, a Scottish ale ideal for cold weather. A stylish Railway City toque is included. At yuletide, there’s room for lowalcohol or no-alcohol brews. Beers such as Lunchbox Lagered Ale by Harmon’s Craft Brewing, the brewed-in-London Triple Bogey Brewing’s Non-Alcoholic Lager and Bellwoods Brewery’s Non- Alcoholic Jelly King Dry Hopped Sour are among the popular choices for those who don’t want any buzz. The best selection is available through Designated Drinks (designateddrinks.ca) in London while select brands are at many grocery stores, including those that don’t sell “real” beer. Light or no-alcohol beers are a good option to start off a three-beer dinner party. Starting with a crisp four per cent alcohol beer with subtle fruitiness, such as Smooth Sailing Light Lager from Cowbell Brewing of Blyth, is a good choice. Follow this with an amber, such as Rusty Sled from Toboggan Brewing or Local 117 from London Brewing. These taste wonderful when paired with a traditional turkey dinner. A rich dessert is best matched with a stout, such as the seasonal Crappy Tire Stout from Rusty Wrench Brewing of Strathroy, or Dark Side Chocolate Stout from Upper Thames Brewing in Woodstock. High-alcohol imperial stouts are best in a snifter glass, warmed by your hand or, in a pinch, a red wine glass. For light beers and ambers, a pint glass works well but looks a little too everyday for special occasions. A stemmed lager glass adds a touch of class. What’s on your Christmas beer menu? A light lager, an amber and a strong stout are excellent starting points. A Scotch ale — aka “a wee heavy” — a barrel-aged sour and a festive cranberry-infused beer round out the list for a selection that will leave guests impressed. GEORGE MACKE is a Southwestern Ontario explorer with a taste for local craft beer. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 November/December LIFESTYLE FEATURING 2023 EATDRINK LifestyLe 53
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