Fort George Brewery over in Astoria, Oregon, is busy this month: not only are they celebrating their third birthday coming up on March 14th, they’re also holding a contest to suggest their next new beer. From their blog:
We here at Fort George take being a Public House very seriously. It has been because of our great customers that we have been able to grow and better our business and for that, we would like to give back. Fort George Brewery would like your ideas for a new beer that could be made in our brewery. If you would like to see a new style of beer, would like us to try something new with our beers, or have a recipe of your own that you would like to see pouring at Fort George, submit an entry and it could end up being brewed!
All beer entries must be able to be made with our American Ale Yeast or our Belgian yeast. The beer selected will be based on quality, creativity, availability of ingredients, and by how delicious it sounds. You may submit as many entries as you like but only one beer will be chosen.
Click through to the blog to get the details on how to submit your beer idea. You have until April 10th to get your entry in.
Three years ago this month The Session celebrated its inaugural Friday with the topic of Stouts. This month, The Session’s third birthday, we have an entirely apropos topic: 
Ah, 
I suppose you can’t talk “Big Beers” without mentioning (at least in passing!) Belgium. In this case, it’s a Christmas beer: 
Appearance: Nut-brown and cloudy, with a rocky, impressive tan head.
Appearance: Mahogany brown with red highlights when held up to the light. Woody putty head.
Appearance: Pours thick and oily from the can, very little carbonation though a chocolate-brown head builds up a bit after the pour. Dark brown/black and thick.
Interestingly, unlike a lot of big beers coming out these days, this is only available in 12-ounce bottles (rather than the 22-ounce bombers everyone seems to be using). That makes for a nice serving size but the price is steeper than what you might be used to: $8-9 for the 12-ounce. It’s worth it, though.
Appearance: Very dark red-brown; you can just see ruby when held to the light. Finely-bubbled half-finger of tan foam.
Appearance: Hammered copper in color that’s deep red when held to the light. Nice tan head that broke down to lacy rings.
Even though they call it “Golden Ale,” 
The spec sheet they included with the package indicates an alcohol content of 5.3% by volume (the website says 5%), and has an interesting grain bill: 2-Row Pale, Munich, Vienna, Malted Wheat, Flaked Barley. (The site indicates Carapils as well, but it’s not on the sheet.) The wheat is what caught my eye; it’s not a component of Cream Ales I’ve seen much in commercial beers (though I’ve used in it my own recipe), though it would help to lighten the body and aid head retention.
Normally only available in Wisconsin, I was able to acquire some just to be able to review it for Cream Ale Week.
Appearance: Substantially darker than the other cream ales—amber honey-colored. Generous off-white head.
It’s all-malt, and they don’t mention what variety of hops or yeast is used. No mention of alcohol content either, but around 5% by volume is probably a good guess.
Plus yeast and water and that’s it. But once you have a pint in front of you it’s obvious why it’s a top-rated Cream Ale.
Tonight I opened up the bottle of 
The final of the four beers that 
Black Noddy is a Schwarzbier from 
No, it’s not a review (for reasons I’ll get into in a moment), but I need to at least mention the Tule Duck Red Ale from 
For those of you that missed the news, 
Our first day in San Diego (which was the first Monday after Christmas), we headed up to Carlsbad to hit the shopping outlets and visit 
After sitting overnight, it fermented out to a session-strength 4% alcohol by volume and developed a nice red rose color.
This final day’s selection comes from 
This is really bad of me but my favourite Christmas beer is not technically a Christmas beer at all. I cook Christmas dinner every year and I always serve it with a bottle of 
Today is my birthday, and as is the tradition for the Advent Calendar, my pick is a vanity beer: not necessarily a holiday beer, but a stellar example of something I’d love to crack open for my birthday. And, as it happens, I have a 2007 bottle (the first year ever bottled) of 
The Christmas Doppelbock from 
Today’s beer is a second pick from 
Today we venture around the world to New Zealand for our beer today—I don’t believe I’ve picked a New Zealand beer before—Monteith’s Brewing’s 
One of the beers 
Today’s pick comes from one of Maine’s most popular brewers: 
Today’s pick comes from beer writer 
Today’s beer comes from one of Michigan’s long-time craft brewers, 
What list of Christmas beers would be complete without including 
Today’s pick comes from Jeff Alworth, Portland, Oregon-based 
Today’s beer pick is an Oregon beer—you know I had to include at least one—from one of Oregon’s “Old Guard” breweries: Rogue’s 
Our pick for today comes from beer writer 
Today’s pick comes from western Massachusetts’ 
In Texas, 
Today’s pick comes from beer writer 
Today’s pick comes from beer writer Jay Brooks, author of the excellent 
You can’t talk about Christmas beers without mentioning the beers of Belgium, and each year I try to make sure to feature several Belgians on the Advent Calendar, so today’s beer pick is likely the first of several: 
Part of the fun of doing the Advent Calendar is the research: finding those obscure yet tasty-sounding beers that (maybe) no one knows about and being able to highlight them. It’s partly the thrill of discovery, and partly the chance to keep it fresh. So it is that today’s beer is a holiday brew from the middle of Kansas: 
Today’s beer is a strong Winter Warmer from 
The beer I selected for this first day of December is 
Surely one of the most hyped, talked-about beers of the last month or so is 
The 
As a beer geek, I am extremely thankful that Oregon is one of the best places to be in terms of beer culture—and that I live in the heart of it.