24 Reasons to Drink in December
A holiday gift guide, a Jersey lager, and the Brewery Visit gets Stoned
Anyone really just not feeling it this week? Like, the weight of [gestures wildly] everything is just really dragging things down at a time when we’re supposed to be in good spirits? This wasn’t the start of some joke or anecdote about beer. I’ve felt like I’m on the Struggle Bus this week, but it’s possible that I’m on the Struggle Select Bus Service and it’s skipping local stops (that’s some NYC transit nerd humor, folks).
Anyway, I’m very excited about the newsletter that will release two weeks from today. I’m going to bring back, after a long hiatus, an annual year-end feature, Beer Superlatives. Here are some examples from back in the day. I’d love to get your nominations for what was great and what sucked about the New York City beer scene this year (I’m sure you’ve already got some ideas, like one that rhymes with Schlomo Cracks).
Feel free to give me your nominations in the comments… or, if you’re on the negativity train like I am this week and don’t want to make the target of your ire publicly known, just reply to this email.
Your Vague Holiday Beer Gift Guide
There are a lot of crappy gift guides for beer drinkers out there. They’re often the result of truly awful PR pitches that ultimately end up in my inbox’s trash folder. This year, those savvy folks have suggested the following items to me:
A beer-themed ugly holiday sweater
A canned ready-to-drink Sex on the Beach
A make-your-own-beer machine (I’ve lost count of how many of these exist, I’m sure I’ve been pitched on literally all of them)
Several growlers with unique-but-mostly-useless features
A cooler designed to hold a 30-rack of beer and only a 30-rack of beer
“Give the gift of non-alcoholic beer to the beer lover in your life” (not now, NA beer companies, save your pitches for Dry January)
On the bright side, at least I wasn’t pitched on any outlandish glassware, particularly the beer glass that set off fellow newsletter-er Courtney Iseman last week (her rant is worth a read). There were some highly-overpriced glasses, when in reality, you probably only need about four types of glassware if you’re an uber-beergeek: a nonic pint, a Teku, a Willi Becher, and a tulip of some kind. That’s probably the hottest take I’ve ever shared in this newsletter. During lockdown last spring, I don’t think I strayed away from these four for any beer I drank at home. And I drank a lot of beer at home. Besides, a pilsner glass is a pain in the ass to clean.
Anyway, here are some more generic gift ideas for the beer drinker in your life:
Get them some brewery merch: it’s the holiday season, so you’re going to buy and drink beer regardless. So why not throw in some merch from a brewery they absolutely loooove? Bonus points for more eclectic items like Threes Brewing’s fanny pack, Bronx Brewery’s Croc charms, KCBC’s slip mat, or Evil Twin’s novelty license plate.
Surprise them with a beer trip: we all need to get out of town, so if you’re giving a gift to a beer tourist looking for a winter getaway, plan a trip to a destination brewery. Head up to Stowe, Vermont for skiing and a visit to The Alchemist and Von Trapp. Warm up in St. Petersburg, Florida with visits to Green Bench and Cycle (and the amazing Dalí Museum). Tour the beer highlights of San Diego, California (one suggestion is below) and bum around Ocean Beach on a sunny afternoon and just take in the vibes.
Buy them a beer book: there are some delightful books about beer out there right now. Jeff Alworth’s updated edition of The Beer Bible is a great reference for beer nerds. Fans of a certain Delaware brewery might appreciate 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures, a book retracing Dogfish Head’s history. And The Ultimate Book of Craft Beer is Melissa Cole’s newest release — her Little Book of Lager lives on my coffee table and is something I thumb through regularly.
Can we talk about beer advent calendars?
When I was in Portugal over Thanksgiving, I visited a brewery that was full of staffers taking a load off after a very busy day of packaging their beer advent calendar by hand. The folks at Oitava Colina said it was long sold out by the time they packaged it. I wasn’t surprised — these types of traditions have been quite successful in Europe. Whenever I find myself in the U.K. or Belgium or Scandinavia around the holidays, I see breweries promoting beer advent calendars. But here? Not so much. While they do exist, they’re a rare find in the U.S.
So my wish list for next year? More of these here. There’s so many breweries that make more than enough different beers to fill an advent calendar on their own! And if breweries band together or work with a retailer, they can certainly wrangle 24 beers for a mixed pack that could surprise me, and I’m more than willing to pay a premium for it.
Some brilliant friends of mine made their own beer advent calendar, which is wrapped and packed with a different bottle from their cellar for each day until Christmas. I like this idea, but if I put my own beer advent calendar together, there’s really no surprise. So please, next year? More commercially-available beer advent calendars. Let’s get it done.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,495
New breweries in 2021: 421
Breweries visited in San Diego County, California: 79
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #274, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, Escondido, California (Visited 6-Dec-2014)
You have to go to Stone,” a friend told me when I was planning my first trip to San Diego. “It’s the Disneyland of Beer.” I wondered what that could possibly mean. Are there rides and shows? Overpriced food and beverage? Fireworks shows? Costumed characters named Harry Hops and Mickey Malt? Thankfully, there are none of those things at Stone’s flagship location in Escondido, but there is a lot of beer, some really good food, a beautiful garden, and a massive brewery.
Less than ten years into their existence, this temple to beer opened and turned Stone from a small player into a craft beer behemoth. Now in its third decade making beer, they’re the ninth largest craft brewer in the country and still relevant in an era where hype beasts reign supreme.
But let’s put aside the brewery (which you can see on a tour that was once guided by what they called “Indoctrination Specialists”) and focus on their restaurant and garden. The restaurant seats over 400 people, pours 36 different beers on tap from the brewery and other California beer makers, and an eclectic farm-to-table food menu. My favorite part, though, is the lush one-acre garden, which offers nooks around every bend to settle in and enjoy a beer in peace and quiet. As social as beer can be, sometimes you want to drink fresh beer without anyone bothering you. On a weekday afternoon in Escondido, you can do this. Sipping a glass of the latest Enjoy By IPA among the trees and rocks of the garden while the San Diego sun peaks through the leaves is one of the most relaxing things you can do in Southern California.
Disneyland it is not, but Stone’s Escondido brewery, much like its beers and branding, is something all its own.
Social Post of the Week
Reminds me of when someone suggests I should open a brewery and I reply, “no, I’m not stupid enough to do that.”
Beer of the Week
Can It Be So Simple?
The Seed (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Pale Lager
5.4% ABV
The only respectable beer I drank all weekend in Atlantic City last weekend was at a visit to The Seed, a relative newcomer to New Jersey that’s making some absolutely lovely beers. This crisp lager was made with 100% New Jersey-grown malt, and hopped aggressively with Saaz for a grassy, earthy brew. It was all downhill after that, with plenty of free Miller Lites at the casino as we celebrated my friend’s birthday and then, regrettably, a High Noon Grapefruit (literally my first-ever RTD — or ready-to-drink — canned cocktail). Can’t blame this beer for that hangover, it was definitely the drink with vodka in it. The Seed has a cozy taproom a few blocks from the Boardwalk, and it’s definitely worth your time next time you’re looking to do something other than gamble down the shore.
Long Read of the Week
This piece by Evan Rail in Good Beer Hunting is an enlightening look at beer from a Native American perspective. Many Native American-owned breweries are mentioned in this piece, as is Native Land, Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.’s effort to promote visibility of Native people through beer.
One Last Thing
Let’s stop to think about those who are struggling during the holiday season, for various reasons. A couple weeks ago, an explosion and fire left nineteen families not far from me in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn without homes just a week after Thanksgiving. State Senator Julia Salazar’s office and the local Development Corporation is organizing a GoFundMe to help support these families at an awful time to be without homes. I hope you’ll consider donating.
Cheers,
Chris
This newsletter was fueled by EBBS Stout No. 1 and a 2016 vintage bottle of Anchor Christmas Ale.
TALEA opening this year. I had heart surgery the end of May and part of my PT was daily walking. I stopped in TALEA everyday over the summer to get a coffee for my walk at McCarren Park. Got to know the incredible caring staff and had my first beer post recovery in July there. Cool beer but even cooler people at TALEA. Shout out to Hannah, Patty, Caroline and Josh!
Hi Chris,
The Costco in Astoria NY was selling imported German beer advent calendars this year FYI. Not sure if they still have any.