Yule get sleighed with these Xmas beers

Beer drinkers will be all aglow this Christmas as brewers get ready to sleigh you with their festive offerings.

Leading Santa’s pack is Bateman’s Rosey Nosey, with the Lincolnshire brewery expecting record sales for the beer. Last year sales grew by 13% over 2012, with orders from supermarkets increasing by a staggering 50%. Since 2009, the beer’s sales have grown by 22.0% each year. Rosey Nosey will be available in both cask and bottle this Christmas. Morrisons has already placed a large order for the bottled version.

Marketing director Jaclyn Bateman says: “Rosey Nosey is one of the most popular festive beers and has achieved iconic status among our customers, with many saying it doesn’t feel like Christmas until they’ve enjoyed their first pint of the ale.” The 4.9% dark amber ale is full of rich fruity sultana and raisin notes fused with crunchy pale, crystal and chocolate malts from Norfolk. It’s hopped with Challenger and Goldings varieties.

Adnams in Southwold, Suffolk, has added to its annual Tally Ho strong ale Southwold Spruce IPA (6.5%), which has an addition of Douglas spruce tops along with malt and hops. The bottled beer is exclusive to Marks & Spencer. The brewery has also launched Shingle Bells (4.5%) on draught and in mini-cask, a red ale brewed with pale, caramalt and black malts and hopped with Cascade and Citra.

Also in Suffolk, Mauldon’s Brewery, famous for its Blackadder ale, has added Christmas Reserve (6.6%) this year. In Oxfordshire, the famous Victorian tower brewery at Hook Norton has two Yuletide offerings, Greedy Goose and Twelve Days.

In London, Truman’s Brewery in Hackney Wick has collaborated with Caveman Brewery in Kent to produce Christmas Cave (4.8%), brewed with the addition of caramel, orange peel, dark fruits and dessicated coconut.

Another brewery back from the dead, Phipps NBC in Northampton, offers Becket’s Ale made with local honey to mark the 850^th anniversary of the cleric’s associations with the town. Phipps also offers a recreation of Ratcliffe’s Celebrated Stout (4.3%).

The Old Mill Brewery in Snaith, East Yorkshire, is celebrating Christmas in style with three beers: Winter Warmer (4.7%), Santa’s Midnight Moonshine (4.5%) and Black Jack (5%). Marble Brewery in Manchester brews its Stout Porter Stout (5.1%) for the season while the Ilkley Brewery has two beers at 4.7%, Mary Christmas spiced amber ale and Holy Cow cranberry milk stout.

In Somerset, Butcombe Brewery brews Christmas Steps (4.2%) while Harvey’s in Lewes in Sussex produces Christmas Ale at a redoubtable 7.5%, a beer that was named Best Barley Wine in the World Beer Awards in 2012.

The Dorset family brewer Hall & Woodhouse is offering four beers as its Badger Sett for the season: Hopping Hare, First Call, Blandford Flyer and Poacher’s Choice. The box is on sale in selected branches of Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, via Ocado or from the brewery’s online shop www.badgerdirect.com at £7.50.

In Burnley, fast-expanding Moorhouse’s, famous for its Pendle Witch award-winning beer, has three offerings for the holiday: Christmas Cauldron (4.2%), Ebenezer Ale (4.8%) and Santa’s Spell (4%). In Birkenhead on Meseyside, Peerless has produced no fewer than five seasonal ales: Jack Frost (4.3%), Winter Gold (5.6%), Winter Witch (3.9%), Winter Wizard (4.8%) and Red Rascal (4.3%).

In Manchester, long-established family brewer Joseph Holt has brought back its Bah Humbrew spiced with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg along with pale, crystal and amber malts and Fuggles and First Gold hops.

Red Squirrel in Berkhamsted, Herts, brews Winter’s Tail (5%), a dark copper beer using both German and New Zealand hops. Tring Brewery produces a seasonal beer called Santa’s Little Helper(4.8%) with a delicious nutty character from the use of roasted barley, while Chiltern Brewery offers Black Chocolate Stout, which at 9.5% alcohol should keep the winter blasts at bay.

Buntingford Brewery near Royston, Herts, has two seasonal offerings, Silent Night (4.1%) and Donner & Blitzen (4.4%). The last named is German for Thunder and Lightning: you’ve been warned!

In Cambridgeshire, Elgood’s in their handsome Georgian brewery offer three beers for the season: Festive Feelgood (3.7%), Reinbeer (5%) and Winter Warmer (7.5%).

In Cumbria, Hawkshead Brewery has a beer that will have you rushing up hill and down ale with Jingle Fells (4.5%) in both cask and bottle.

Purity Brewing has launched an exciting new limited edition celebration beer for the festive season.

The beer, called Gnarly, is a limited edition strong black beer, created to share with friends and family or simply to enjoy all to yourself.

It comes in 750ml corked champagne-style bottles, and with a run of only 1,000, it is sure to be highly sought after by beer and food enthusiasts alike.

Born from the Warwickshire-based brewery’s passion for cycling, Gnarly has been named in tribute to the extreme sports term, which gained prominence in the 1970s. The phrase gnarly was adopted by mountain bikers, surfers and extreme sports fans to describe a dangerous but exhilarating ride. And for Purity Brewing Company, this is what its new beer Gnarly is all about - extraordinary, full of exhilaration and a real drinking experience. 

Brewed with a variety of Maris Otter, crystal rye, smoked and black malts, hopped with Northern Brewer, Cascade, Chinook and conditioned for six months in traditional oak whisky casks, Gnarly is complex and full bodied. Its aromas carry spiced black pepper and dark fruits with a hint of orange, while the hops allow a lingering bitter finish to counter the sweetness produced naturally by the tannins of the cask.

“Gnarly uses champagne yeast which gives the beer a light and tight carbonation and the oak whisky barrels provide an unmistakable and decadent twist,” said Paul Halsey, managing director of Purity.

It is available from Purity’s brewery shop and extended online bottle shop for a limited period only and promises to allow a pure and unadulterated drinking experience.

“Gnarly is a tip of the hat to our friends on two wheels and for those who want to celebrate in style with a truly indulgent beer,” concludes Paul.

Gnarly is priced at £14.95 per 750ml bottle and is exclusively available at www.puritybrewing.com and www.bottleshack.uk and the brewery shop at Upper Spernall Farm, Great Alne, B49 6JF.

Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewery, has launched its annual Christmas Ale brewed with pale and crystal malts and hopped with Challenger and Target varieties, with Goldings for extra bitterness. The head brewer is Richard Frost (!) who has made the beer available on draught at 5% and 7% in bottle. The packed version is available from the brewery shop www.shepherdneame.co.uk/shop.