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?
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Vertical Epic Ale Series
Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien
Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale
Cruising with Ruben & The Jets
Santa's Private Reserve
Hairy Eyeball
XVI (Sixteen)
Yellow Snow IPA
Fantôme Spéciale De Noël
La Rullés Cuvée Meilleurs Voeux (Bière De Gaume)
Avec les Bons Vœux
Fantôme Boo!
De Ranke Hop Harvest
Cantillon Cuvée St. Gilloise (fka Des Champions)
Scaldis Refermentée
Cuvée Freddy
Ichor
Confluence Ale
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.