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  Brewing Up Cocktails, winter edition

  Posted: December 10th, 2011, 7:36pm CET by Jon

  I forgot to include this on the Oregon beer news post this week: if you’re in the Portland area tonight, check out The Hop and Vine for a special winter and holiday-themed edition of Brewing Up Cocktails, the latest in the “series of events explores the interplay of craft beer and spirits to create a new breed of beer cocktails” masterminded by Ezra Johnson-Greenough of The New School as well as Jacob Grier, and Yetta Vorobik of The Hop and Vine. The event is from 6 to 9pm and includes an ugly sweater contest as well.

  Of the seven beer cocktails that will be featured tonight, three are hot (Wassail, Hot Scotchy, Hot Choklat) and four are cold (Trade Winds Punch, Euclidean 75, Furburger, Smoked Vanilla Bean Flip). You can see the descriptions at the event page. There’s no cover charge for entry; each cocktail is individually priced.

  One of these days I’ll have to make the trip to Portland to check out a Brewing Up Cocktails event, they sound really good—or perhaps I can convince Ezra to bring the event to Bend at some point(!).

  
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  Advent Beer Calendar 2011: Day 10: Anchor Christmas Ale

  Posted: December 10th, 2011, 6:00pm CET by Jon

  Today’s beer pick has appeared on the Beer Advent Calendar every year since I started: Anchor Christmas Ale (also known as Our Special Ale). This is the beer that established the modern Christmas beer tradition in American craft brewing: first introduced in 1975, this is a dark, spiced ale with a recipe that is different every year (and is always a closely guarded secret). The label changes each year as well, featuring a different tree:

  Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew. Our tree for 2011 is the bristlecone pine. Found high atop California’s White Mountains, bristlecones are among the oldest living things on the planet. Some date back nearly 5,000 years, to the dawn of the ancient art of brewing.

  The tree is a potent symbol of Christmas, and Anchor’s distinctive labels have a simplicity and elegance that perfectly capture the spirit of the season. (You can see a snapshot of all their past labels here.)

  Even though this beer is only 5.5% abv it cellars well; I have a magnum of 2010 Christmas Ale that I plan to open on Christmas this year, and last year I opened a 2009 magnum—and it was fantastic. If you get the chance, lay some bottles down to enjoy in the many years to come.

  Untappd. Facebook. BeerAdvocate: B+. RateBeer: 3.56/5, 95th percentile.