Holiday beers around Columbus to try
There’s something for everyone’s palate
It's the most wonderful time of the year for craft beer enthusiasts. Holiday ales are on tap at Greater Columbus brewpubs and taprooms, and come in a wide variety of flavors. No matter your holiday palate, there is likely something for you. h Below are some of the holiday brews you can find around Columbus and its suburbs. The descriptions come from the brewers themselves. h It goes without saying these beers are brewed on a seasonal basis, so they won't last into the spring.
Sideswipe Brewing, West Side
The Season' Christmas Ale is a chestnut covered beer with a delightfully insidious blend of orange peel, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.
Double Edge Brewing Co., Lancaster
Yule Fuel is brewed with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, honey from Wilde Honey Farms, and a dose of Amarillo hops.
Olentangy Brewing Co., Lewis Center
Roosevelt Coffee Stout is made with beans from Roosevelt Coffee Roasters, which is located on Broad Street in Downtown Columbus. It has a roasted finish and a low alcohol content.
Belgian Aloha is a rosy, bubbly Belgian tripel with a strong finish. The beer is the Ohio Craft Brewer's Cup winner for French/belgian ales.
Spires Social Brewing Co., Far North Side
Did you Bring a Saw? pays homage to a line in the holiday classic “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.” Spires brews the beer with cinnamon, honey, vanilla beans and cranberries.
Parsons North Brewing Co., South Side
The Pecan Holiday Ale is a dessert beer brewed with roasted Krema Nut Co. pecans, vanilla beans and cinnamon to mimic the taste of pecan pie.
North High Brewing Co., Short North
The German Vienna malt ale is brewed with crystal malt for a sweetness and body and a touch of chocolate rye malt for complexity. The beer also includes cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice.
Lineage Brewing Co., Clintonville
FESTCBUS is a traditional Englishstyle Christmas ale brewed with ginger and cinnamon.
Wholly Cran! is a cranberry, hibiscus and citrus wheat brewed in collaboration with Wild Cat Gift and Party on High Street in Clintonville, which was once called Wholly Craft!
Seventh Son Brewing Co., Italian Village
Rime is a classic West Coast IPA, lightly spiced with ginger and citrus.
Whistle and Keg, Arena District
Holiday Fruitcake Hefeweizen is a traditional hefeweizen with cherry, pineapple, orange zest and roasted pecan
flavors. The brew is Whistle and Keg's very first holiday beer.
Nostalgia Brewing Co., Gahanna
Fra-gee-lay Christmas Ale is a tip of the hat to the classic holiday film “A Christmas Story” and includes cinnamon, ginger, clove and a touch of blood orange. Head Brewer Shawn White built a leg lamp out of Legos to celebrate the brew's release, pictured below.
Nocterra Brewing Co., Powell
Schussing Sticks winter sour has black currants and holiday spices like nutmeg, ginger, coriander and Belgian candi syrup.
Parabolic Winter Wheat is light bodied beer with notes of citrus and clove.
Terra Misu is a Baltic porter with chocolate and vanilla. The dessert beer is intended to drink with holiday meals.
Barley’s Brewing Co., Downtown
Barley's Christmas Ale tastes like a lightly sweet orange ginger cookie. The beer is brewed with British malts, ginger, oranges, honey and cinnamon.
Buckeye Lake Brewing, Buckeye Lake and Eastside Brewing Co., Reynoldsburg
Winter Shandy cinnamon spiced ale has a balance between cinnamon and spiced ginger without either flavor overpowering the other.
Henmick Farm and Brewery, Kilbourne
The Belgian Quad is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and orange peel. At 11.3% alcohol by volume, it's one of the heavier holiday beers available in Greater Columbus.
Random Precision Brewing Co., Northwest Side
The Sugarplum Obscuration is a sour stout, barrel aged for more than a year, and fruited with plum, with notes of muscovado sugar. The latter creates notes of molasses and gingerbread.
Crooked Can Brewery, Hilliard
Holidays with Mcswagger is an amber ale brewed with orange peel, cinnamon, and cloves with hints of ginger.
Walking Distance Brewery, Marysville
The Egg Nog Ale is an American milk wheat ale aged with roasted oak, with overtones of bourbon and rum and infused with nutmeg and other spices.
The Gingerbread Ale has a strong malt undertone to mimic the crunchiness of gingerbread, with hints of molasses and other gingerbread flavors.
Ohio Boii's Mullet is a mulled American ale heated up to 170 degrees during the brewing process and infused with a special blend of mulling spices (yes, the title is a play on words).
Endeavor Brewing and Spirits, Northwest Side
Hearth is a Belgian strong ale, mixed with a special combination of hopes, barley, malt and yeast to imitate the flavor of sugarplum, evergreen and other spices. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley