8 beers that will win you gift-giving karma
Nobody wants junk for a holiday gift, and most of us don’t particularly need new things, period. Yet, at this time of the year, we often buy stuff just for the sake of giving it away. This leads to living room floors strewn with wrapping paper, plastic tear- off packaging and new toys that all too often wind up collecting dust in the garage by February.
So, instead of giving someone a piece of junk for Christmas or Hanukkah, give them a beer — a perfect holiday gift for any adult who enjoys responsible drinking. Unlike much of the stuff we throw at each other this time of year, beer will get used.
As a bonus to soothe your conscience, many beers come without any plastic packaging at all. Wrap the bottle, can, crowler or growler in a piece of newspaper, tie it with a piece of twine, and — good on you! — you’ve just prepared a useful, plastic-free holiday gift.
But if you do give beer for holiday gifts, this is no time for a 12-pack of mainstream pale ale. You’ve got to buy special, rare or somehow remarkable beers. Go hunting at small boutiques like Libation Taproom and Bottle Shop in San Rafael, or even in the aisles of quality supermarkets like Good Earth, BevMo! and that one that Jeff Bezos owns, which offers a pretty good beer selection. Have fun with the pursuit, get creative and come home with some treasures.
If you need ideas, here are eight beer suggestions that will win you gift-giving karma this December:
• 2020 Anchor Christmas Ale. This is an obvious one, but it’s exciting for a few reasons. First, the beer comes in large magnum bottles. Second, it’s different every year, so even if you gave this one last holiday season, the 2020 vintage will technically be a new one to whoever tastes it. Finally, it’s always pretty good, an amber ale brewed with spices that strongly evoke the Christmas spirit.
• Pond Farm Oatmeal Stout. The San Rafael brewery’s take on a classic style is bold, roasty and toasty in flavor, with warming scents of toasted hazelnuts and coffee on the nose and a soft, velvety finish, thanks to the effect of the oats in the recipe. The beer is a limited winter release, so get it now.
• Shmaltz Brewing Co. She’brew Beer. The fourth installment of the brewery’s
She’brew series, this year’s release — a milkshake IPA brewed with raspberry, blueberry and grapefruit — is dedicated to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became a hero to social justice activists through almost three decades serving on the United States Supreme Court. Initially scheduled for release in
March for International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day, the beer was delayed by the ongoing pandemic.
• Anderson Valley Brewing Huge Arker. This barrelaged flavor bomb just might be the strongest imperial stout you will ever drink.
The beer was brewed to more than 13% alcohol-by-volume before spending a year in oak bourbon barrels, where it picked up flavors of vanilla and toasted coconut while gaining another shot of booze, bringing the ABV to 15.5%.
The Huge Arker comes in 12-ounce cans, and even these are best shared between two.
• East Brother Beer Russian Imperial Stout. Another strong beer, this 10.5% ABV beer is brewed less in the spirit of mad crazy bigness and more in the traditional spirit of the style, which was born in Russia or England, depending how you look at it.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, royalty in Saint Petersburg, Russia, took a liking to English stouts. However, the barrels containing the beer often burst in transit over the frigid Baltic Sea as the liquid froze and expanded. A boosted alcohol content solved this problem, and the imperial stout was born. East Brother’s version is brewed with locally malted barley and wheat, classic English hops and English ale yeast.
• Adobe Creek Breakfast Bowl Golden Stout. Here’s another stout — sort of. This beer, from the ever- changing beer list of Adobe Creek in Novato, is as amber-colored as an IPA.
However, a unique mélange of flavors gives way to the unusual designation as a “golden stout.” It was brewed with coffee, whole vanilla beans, lactose and cinnamon.
Some of these beers can — and should, for the sake of minimal packaging — be purchased in crowlers and growlers. If you go this route, remember that beers served this way have a brief shelf life of just days.
So, order them just before Christmas, and be sure they get drunk by New Year’s.