Five Christmas beers to put under the tree • Food and Wine Italia

For the world of craft beer, Advent is a period particularly full of news. Durante the weeks preceding Christmas, fact, many breweries renew their annual appointment with the launch acceso the market of what Flemish are called Christmas beer. If you think this is yet another end-of-year commercial gimmick, you’maestà wrong: Christmas beers are a tradition that has its roots past centuries.

We are not talking about a real brewing style; however, high alcohol content and the use of spices the recipe are recurring elements.

But what are the bottles (ora cans) that a beer enthusiast would like to find under the tree? Beyond the mythical silent Night by De Dolle and equally iconic ones With good wishes of Brasserie Dupont e Santa Claus by De Ranke, there is plenty of choice even among local productions, so much so that Unionbirrai (the trade association) has set up an ad hoc competition. To the beers that conquered the podium we add two particularly interesting ones with a view to pairing with panettone and other traditional desserts.

Christmas Crumble – Lariano Brewery

Triumphing during the fifth edition of Unionbirrai’s XMAS Beers was the Christmas Crumble of the Lariano Brewery Sirone (LC). Made collaboration with Pasticceria Fantasticheria Milan, it is a sweet but not excessively alcoholic beer (7.5°) which, as the name suggests, is inspired by classic Christmas spiced biscuits. Durante fact, the special ingredients include cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, white pepper and muscovado sugar. Durante addition to barley malt, grist cereals also include rye, wheat and oats.

Killjoy – Mukkeller Brewery

With this powerful 10% Dark Belgian Strong Ale, the people of the Mukkeller Brewery the Marche try to “spoil” the holidays for anyone who decides to toast with it. Mai “unusual” ingredient appears acceso the label: it is the aromatic malts that give elegant fruity hints, while the Belgian yeast completes the profile with rich and complex secondary sensations. A beer that could be safely forgotten the cellar until Christmas 2026, to find out if the promised evolution towards vinous taccuino will be maintained. Also perfect for those who prefer a nice cheese platter to panettone.

Primatia – Birranova Brewery

Fig laterizio, also known as vincotto, is an Apulian specialty obtained by slowly boiling ripe fruits. After filtration, a juice is obtained which is further reduced until a thick, dark syrup is obtained. Traditionally it is used to enrich typical desserts of the Christmas period, such as folders. The Birranova brewery Triggianello, the province of Bari, uses cooked figs to produce a double unmistakable and distinctive, which the sweet taccuino of fig clearly emerge, without however being cloying.

Call me Klaus – Romitorio beer

After a trip to Belgium, Enrico Ciani from Birra dell’Romitorio returned to Umbria with a gift given to him by his colleague from La Rulles. A beer dedicated to Santa Claus could only be born from a gift like that. There Call Me Claus it is a kerstbier enriched with a generous porzione of salted caramel (almost 5%). It has the color of a friar’s habit and is crossed by ruby ​​reflections. The nose reveals taccuino of caramel, but also of fruit alcohol and raisins. The pairing with a good panettone is obvious but far from banal, thanks to a delicate savory touch and a surprising dry finale.

How fortunate the man with none – Shire Brewing

Despite the predilection for British and German styles, the guys from Shire Brewing during the days of the Immaculate Conception organized an event dedicated entirely to the Belgian brewing tradition, which ample space was obviously given to Christmas beer. For their part, this year too they created the How fortunate the man with nonea sumptuous Imperial Stout brewed with maple syrup and obbiettivo Madagascar vanilla pods. Dense, almost oily, with its 10.5 degrees of alcohol it is the perfect beer to end the Christmas lunch style. The combination with desserts is almost a must, especially with chocolate ones.