Classic Midwest Christmas Beers
By David Nilsen
Midwest winters are special. The crops that define the landscape for half the year have been harvested, and the empty fields shimmer in the cold sunlight under blankets of snow or frost. Christmas in the Midwest sits like a jewel in the crown of this harsh but beautiful season, and many Midwest craft breweries offer seasonal beers fit for royalty. Whether or not you have a white Christmas, you’ll be sure to have a merry one if these beers are in your home.
Great Lakes Christmas Ale
As an Ohioan, I would be remiss not to begin the list with this classic. The venerated Cleveland brewery first brewed Christmas Ale in 1992, and since then it’s become their best-selling beer and a Buckeye state tradition. The beer is brewed with ginger, cinnamon, and honey, and a lot of each—6,000+ lbs. each of the spices and 200,000 lbs of the sweet stuff. In the old days, the beer was hard to find, and beer geeks would travel great distances on the rumor a few six-packs had become available. It can be found now in any supermarket in the state, but it’s no less special.
Revolution Fistmas
Illinois’s largest craft brewery celebrates the release of their Fistmas Christmas Ale each year with...a mall bar crawl. Yes, you read that right. Attendees don elf hats, head to Chicago’s Woodfield Mall, and meander between the bars and restaurants attached to the shopping center sipping on this 6.5% ABV beer spiced with ginger and orange peel. It’s a tribute not only to the off-center spirit of this brewery, but a certain Millennial and Gen X nostalgia for the holiday experiences of our childhoods.
Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza
Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales are pioneers in the world of oak-aged sour beers on this side of the Atlantic. Founder Ron Jeffries went out on a limb launching an all-sour brewery in 2004; it’s not too uncommon now, but it was unheard of then. Naturally, their Christmas beer is a sharp deviation from the standard spiced holiday ale. Noel de Calabaza is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that weighs in at a hefty 9% ABV. It ages in oak barrels for six months, leading to complex layers of malt and barrel character, some acidity and subtle funk, and notes of dark fruit and chocolate.
Summit Winter Ale
The oldest beer on our list was first brewed in 1987. Minnesota’s Summit Brewing is an institution of the upper Midwest, and their 6.2% ABV seasonal is modeled after the British Winter Warmer style of old. Malt flavors of espresso, caramel, and black cherry meld with spicy, herbal notes from the English and German hop varieties for a profile both comfortingly familiar and tantalizingly intriguing. The beer was almost discontinued in 2018, but fan support ensured its future. Summit promises their holiday brew will “warm your cockles, whatever those are.”
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus
Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing have danced to the beat of their own drummer since their founding in 1996. And to be clear, that is definitely a heavy metal drummer. This brewery with the slogan “It’s not normal” often teases the Midwest’s wholesome sensibilities with horror-inspired label art. It’s hard to describe exactly what’s on the label for their Christmas Porter, Alpha Klaus. A goblin? Krampus? What’s inside the bottle is a little more straight-forward, though still unique: a hoppy American Porter that balances chocolatey, cookie-like malt flavors with big, bold American hop bitterness and aroma. Who ever wanted to be normal?
Bell’s Christmas Ale
Michigan is cold in December, and a strong, comforting beer is needed while ice-fishing or wrestling wolverines or whatever it is Michiganders do for some holiday fun. The state’s iconic Bell’s Brewery used to brew a moderate 5.5% ABV holiday ale, but updated the beer in 2017 to reflect consumer expectations for a bracing, warming Christmas tipple. The beer jumped to 7.5%, and is now based on the Scotch Ale style. Using this strongest of Scottish ale styles as a base, the brewery layers subtle spices over the malty, comforting foundation for a beer worthy of a frigid Michigan winter.