It’s November. We know, we know — where’d 2017 go? Well, here we are. The year is officially winding down, rocketing toward the holiday season, with the weather growing colder and colder and indoor bacchanalia seeing an uptick. There’ll be a lot of holiday parties, quiet nights binging on Netflix, and plenty of football watching on the horizon over the next month. And you’ll need a great beer to go along with all of it.
November is the month when winter ales dominate. It’s also when craft brewers drop their barrel-aged stout masterpieces on the masses. We’ve already mentioned Goose Island’s Black Friday roll out of their Bourbon County line. Don’t forget to check out ‘Stranger Things’ Chief Hopper from Short’s Brewing Company if you’re up in Michigan. And we’ve also got some great microbrew tips from our neighbors to the north around Calgary way. There’s a lot of good beer to drink right now!
Below, we’ve compiled a shortlist of some of the best beers being released this November. Some of them are easier to find and have larger distribution; some of them you’ll have to travel for and do a bit of sleuthing to uncover. A good beer is always worth the effort! Happy hunting!
CHRISTMAS ALE — UPSLOPE BREWING COMPANY
Colorado’s Upslope is the beer brewer’s brewery. Their beers always hit that sweet spot between well-crafted, interesting, and drinkable. Upslope’s releasing their Christmas Ale right now. So there’s no better time to stock up.
The beer is a yeasty ale that’s been infused with “holiday spices.” That spice matrix adds an earthy undertone that elevates the dark fruity notes and sweet malts. This isn’t a hop-forward ale, so look for smooth drinking and very little bitterness. It’s like they bottled the feeling of tramping through thick snow to arrive at a cabin with a crackling fire.
BROOKLYN WINTER LAGER — THE BROOKLYN BREWERY
Brooklyn’s Winter Lager is a Schwarzbier analog that amps up the hop bitterness a little to give this a distinctly American craft vibe. The beer has a solid dark lager base with hints of chocolate, well-roasted malts, and dark and very sweet loaves of bread. There’s a distinct hoppiness on the backend that never overpowers and adds a nice dryness to the whole beer. This one clocks in at a very average 5.6 percent ABV, so you can drink it all through those long winter nights.
BIFROST WINTER ALE — ELYSIAN BREWING
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Dipping into pale ale territory is always refreshing around this time of year. Seattle’s Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale is a great gateway into wintery ales. It’s an orange-hued delight that packs a punch of orange zest and caramel apples, along with a nice earthen hop bitterness balancing that sweet, caramelly malt.
You do have to be a little more careful with this one — the ABV is dialed up to a hefty 8.3 percent.
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ALPHA KLAUS — 3 FLOYDS BREWING CO.
3 Floyds out in Indiana has their beer on lock. Their Alpha Klaus is an American Porter with huge flavors. There’s a distinct note of dark chocolate that’s balanced with a very roasted and sweet malt. In the background there’s a coffee bitterness that aligns perfectly with the hops. It’s a big, warming beer.
STONE RUINATION DOUBLE IPA 2.0 — STONE BREWING
Stone’s national line includes the always drinkable Ruination 2.0 which is released every November. It’s one of the easier to drink double IPAs that still pack a big hop wallop. There’s a blend of pine resin, tropical fruits, and citrus in every sip with echoes of malt in the background. It’s the prime example of a big West Coast DIPA that goes down very easily this time of year.
CARACTÈRE ROUGE — RODENBACH
This special release from Rodenbach isn’t about when it’s being released. It’s about the flavors. They’re a perfect match for fall.
Caractère Rouge is a collaboration between Belgian brewer Rodenbach and Michelin-star chef Viki Geunes (of ‘T Zilte fame). It’s specifically engineering to be paired with wintery foods. The beer is barrel-aged with sour cherries, raspberries, and cranberries adding a dark fruity depth to the sour ale yeasts. It’s the perfect beer to pair with your Thanksgiving meal to add an acidic and tart counterpoint to all that savory turkey and stuffing.
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FATHOM IPA — BALLAST POINT BREWING CO.
Out California way, Ballast Point is releasing their very West Coast IPA. Fathom IPA is the hallmark of the IPA style with an almost perfect balance of orange citrus and pine resin hop bitterness and slight malty sweetness along with a very distant echo of the sea salt. It’s a very easy drink and perfect for cold winter day.
UTOPIAS — SAMUEL ADAMS
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This one is not for the casual drinker. Utopias is one of those rare beers that’s only released every two years. The ales were first aged in Scandinavian Aquavit barrels then blended and aged again in Moscat barrels. The final product is a 28.8 percent ABV beer. The aging and high ABV makes this beer a sipping drink much closer to a brandy or sherry. It’s hefty, with a big hit of dark fruit and very rich maltiness with a sweet backing.
There are only 10,000 of these bottles out there and they’ll set you back around $200 each at retial. So happy beer hunting for this one-of-a-kind American beer experience.
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