Rare Brew: 20 Celebration-Worthy Beers for the Holidays

What better time of year to enjoy your best beers than the holidays?

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

December's many festivities and fêtes are the best time to move away from session beers, dig deep into your cellar, and pop open a truly amazing craft beer. Rather than run down the usual suspects of "holiday-themed" or Christmas beers, Jimmy Carbone—owner of Jimmy's No. 43 and host of Beer Sessions Radio on Heritage Radio Network—chooses to seek out “last bottles,” those rare or one-off brews that we've been saving for just the right occasion.

Whether you’re looking to share with your old college roomie or you need to introduce a family member who insists on drinking Heineken from a skunked bottle, we’ve put together a list of 20 beers that are perfect for nearly any holiday activity. From Barrel Aged and Barleywines to Strong Belgians and Lambics, here's what we're drinking and what our friends are drinking as we count down to 2014. What better time of year to enjoy your best beers than the holidays?

RELATED: The 25 Best Craft Breweries in the U.S.
RELATED: 100 Beers to Try Before You Die

RELATED: 15 Great Beer Cocktails Every Man Should Be Able to Make 

Vertical Epic Ale Series

Not Available Interstitial

Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien

Not Available Interstitial

Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

Not Available Interstitial

Cruising with Ruben & The Jets

Not Available Interstitial

Santa's Private Reserve

Not Available Interstitial

Hairy Eyeball

Not Available Interstitial

XVI (Sixteen)

Not Available Interstitial

Yellow Snow IPA

Not Available Interstitial

Fantôme Spéciale De Noël

Not Available Interstitial

La Rullés Cuvée Meilleurs Voeux (Bière De Gaume)

Not Available Interstitial

Avec les Bons Vœux

Not Available Interstitial

Fantôme Boo!

Not Available Interstitial

De Ranke Hop Harvest

Not Available Interstitial

Cantillon Cuvée St. Gilloise (fka Des Champions)

Not Available Interstitial

Scaldis Refermentée

Not Available Interstitial

Cuvée Freddy

Not Available Interstitial

Ichor

Not Available Interstitial

Confluence Ale

Not Available Interstitial

Brewery: Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Brewdate: Brewed annually in limited quantities
Style: Belgian Dry Hopped Golden Ale  
ABV: 7.5%
Website: allagash.com 
Libation celebration: Drink it while watching the snow fall (in lieu of real precipitation, you can always rewatch the original Airport and celebrate not being stuck at the airport during a blizzard).

 

Allagash Brewing is another killer brewery from New England, and their Confluence Ale is one of our favorites. Created with a mixed fermentation using Belgian-style and a proprietary Brettanomyces yeast, the beer has a spicy, fruity flavor that is well balanced. Confluence uses two hops in the brew process (Tettnang and East Kent Golding) before being aged in stainless steel tanks and finally dry hopped with a Glacier hops. This beer will warm you up without knocking you down, thanks to the relatively moderate ABV.

A Night to End All Dawns

Not Available Interstitial

Super Kitty

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Pop Culture