Not everyone is a fan of sparkling wine. Maybe it’s the unbridled effervescence, the feeling like you’re drinking nothing but bubbles, or the fact that it’s so delicious that you’re liable to drink too much too quickly and wake up feeling like someone drove a railroad spike into the side of your head while you were sleeping. Whatever the case, Prosecco, Champagne, and all manner of sparkling wines aren’t for everyone. Even on New Year’s Eve.
Luckily, for those folks, there’s always beer. And we aren’t just talking about beer that tastes like sparkling wine. Sure, there are a few of those. But New Year’s Eve is a good time for a mix of beers including sour ales, gose beers, crisp lagers, saisons, and even sweet, spicy, flavorful, hazy wheat beers.
So this New Year’s Eve, instead of the usual Moet, Bollinger, or Veuve Clicquot hoist a refreshing, flavorful beer instead. We even ranked them for you based on the best fit for the big night.
8) New Belgium La Folie
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $10 for a 375ml bottle
The Beer:
La Folie is French for “eccentric madness” and that’s a perfect way to describe this unique, tart beer. First launched way back in 1999, La Folie was the first American sour beer most drinkers ever tried. It’s a Flanders-style sour brown ale that’s aged for a handful of years in French oak wine Foeders. The result is a sour, tart, lightly acidic, sparkling brew with a ton of fruit and oak flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Like any good sour, the nose begins with a bit of barnyard funk and moves into tart berries, red wine, and oak. The palate continues this trend with a sharp, tart flavor profile filled with notes of dried cherries, oaky wood, caramel, orchard fruits, and a dry, sweet, slightly puckering finish.
Bottom Line:
Treat this beer like a sparkling wine and drink it slowly out of a chalice or large goblet. Preferably while you wear some sort of crown showing that you’re New Year’s royalty.
7) Singlecut Frequency Lager
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
If sparkling wine isn’t your jam, how about a dry, crisp, sparkling lager instead? Singlecut Frequency is an award-winning beer crafted to be refreshing and “easy drinking”. It’s made with locally grown malts and European malts. It’s lagered horizontally for months at a time and isn’t filtered to create a classic, crisp, lightly spicy, floral lager for all seasons.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is filled with lemon peel aroma, clover honey, freshly baked bread, and floral hops. Sipping it reveals citrus, caramel malts, honey sweetness, bready malts, and lightly spicy, floral hops. The finish is lightly bitter, crisp, and effortlessly refreshing.
Bottom Line:
This is a classic, no-frills lager, but it’s definitely not bland and flavorless. It’s crisp, complex, and thirst-quenching.
6) Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
ABV: 9%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack
The Beer:
La Fin Du Monde is French for “the end of the world” and even though it got its name because French explorers thought Quebec was the end of the world, it’s a perfect beer for the end of the year. This strong tripel blonde ale is 9% ABV and is known for its complex palate of sweetness and spice.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of caramel malts, yeasty bread, honey, fruit esters, and spices greet you before your first sip. There’s a bit of barnyard on the palate along with cloves, bananas, dried fruits, honey, caramel, and sweet grains. The finish is boozy, warming, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
If you’ve never tried Unibroue La Fin Du Monde before, New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to try this timeless, exceptional beer.
5) Troegs Mad Elf Grand Cru
ABV: 11%
Average Price: $20 for a four-pack
The Beer:
If you’re a fan of Christmas beers, you’ve probably tried Troegs Mad Elf before, but have you tried Troegs Mad Elf Grand Cru? New Year’s Ever is a great time to crack open one of these bad boys. While classic Mad Elf features five types of cherries, Mad Elf Grand Cru is only flavored with Balaton cherries, known for their sweet, tart flavor.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of tart cherries, honey, and candied orange peels draws you in and makes you want to take a sip. The palate is very similar to the nose and that’s a great thing. There’s a lot of dried tart cherry and black cherry flavor as well as honey, caramel, clove, and cinnamon. Sweet, spicy, and fruity, this is a must-try beer.
Bottom Line:
If you already love Troegs Mad Elf, you’re going to love Troegs Mad Elf Grand Cru. It’s an elevated version of the original.
4) Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier
ABV: 5.4%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
If you didn’t know it already, Germany’s Weihenstephaner is the oldest brewery in the world. It opened way back in 1040. One of its most popular beers is its Hefe Weissbier. It’s a classic banana, clove, and sweet wheat-filled beer perfect for New Year’s get-togethers.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find bubblegum, yeast, banana bread, and wintry spices. Sipping it reveals a symphony of bananas, freshly baked bread, honey, cloves, and other spices. Yeasty, sweet, and filled with classic banana flavors you expect from a Bavarian wheat beer.
Bottom Line:
If you like unfiltered, traditional wheat beers, Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier is a must-have for holiday parties.
3) Westbrook Gose
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Back in 2012, before the gose-style was so popular in the American craft beer world, Westbrook was making a classic German-style wheat beer that gets its unique flavor from the use of coriander and sea salt. It’s crisp, salty, and very refreshing.
Tasting Notes:
The nose has some salinity, coriander, freshly baked bread, and other spices. There’s more of the same on the palate. There’s a bit of slightly acidic tart flavor to go along with sea salt, fresh bread, sweet wheat, and baking spices. It’s salty, crisp, dry, and thirst-quenching.
Bottom Line:
There’s a decent amount of carbonation to tick the effervescent box along with a salty, crisp, dry body.
2) Grimm Super Spruce
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $17 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
In the simplest terms, Grimm Super Spruce is a dry-hopped gose flavored with spruce tips. But it’s so much more than that. Spruce tips, Chinook hops, and sea salt give this beer a unique, seasonal flavor profile you’ll want to imbibe every holiday season.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of lemongrass, orchard fruits, salt, spices, and spruce tips are the first things you notice on the nose. The palate is filled with lime zest, lemon peels, baking spices, wheat, pine needles, and a nice saltiness throughout. The finish is salty, citrusy, and dry, and leaves you craving more.
Bottom Line:
What could be better for the holidays than a salty, crisp, dry beer flavored with spruce tips? That’s like a Christmas tree in a can.
1) Saison DuPont
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $7 for a 375ml bottle
The Beer:
Brewed since 1844 at a farm brewery in Belgium, Saison Dupont was originally brewed to quench the thirst of farm workers in the summer. It was brewed in the winter before being in barrels for months and ready to drink during the summer months. Luckily, you can drink it all year long now if you want.
Tasting Notes:
It’s well-known for its nose of cloves and other spices, citrus peels, honey, and yeasty bread. The palate is complex and fruity with some banana, cloves, cracked black pepper, straw, and wild yeast. The finish is dry and lightly tart.
Bottom Line:
It wasn’t easy deciding which beer would take the top spot. Saison Dupont is a classic saison and the kind of beer other brewers strive to make. Why wouldn’t you want to ring in the New Year with a beer like that?
