Celebrate the holidays Michigan craft-brew style

The holidays invoke a bounty of seasonal things, especially including food and drinks, and Michigan craft breweries have gotten into the spirit as well.

Many Michigan breweries are offering cool things like beer Advent calendars and awesome variety packs that can make your holiday party planning nice and easy. I’ve rounded up a few options for you to seek out this season. 

As a child, I always got super excited for December first, when I could finally push open that little cardboard door on my Advent calendar and reveal that precious little shaped chocolate. Out it would pop, and you could enjoy it safe in the knowledge that tomorrow, and the day after that, and oh my gosh the pretty much the whole entire month, you got to have a piece of candy each day. In the morning, before school. A wonderful prospect at the start of dark and dreary December. 

That is until your little brother and sister got their hands on that special thin little box and started stealing candies from December 25 on up. The outrage was always palpable, but what could my mother do? There was only one box for each of us, and once they were gone, they were gone.

Adult Advent calendars appeal to me greatly, just like my chocolate-filled ones of yore. It’s something about the surprise, about not quite knowing what you are going to get, and the constant hope for potential greatness, that sets these seasonal offerings apart. 

Lucky for us here in Michigan, two breweries are offering beer Advent calendars, where behind each wrapped bottle there is a wonderful liquid surprise. Bell’s Brewery and Founders Brewery each produced a limited number of special versions of Advent calendars, and they each contain brews you might not be able to find anywhere else. 

“The team worked really hard hand-packing this release with a variety of Bell's beers,” said Josh Smith, communications manager for Bell’s Brewery. “There is something for everyone to enjoy this holiday season.”

Now I’ll admit that these are both extremely limited, so it's very likely you won’t get one. But that doesn’t mean a girl can’t dream, right? I look at this as an early reminder to plan ahead for next year, with our collective fingers crossed that these will be offered next year. Maybe we’ll find that there will be a few more calendar options out there from our beloved breweries in 2022.

Even if you can’t get your hands on one of these beauties, you can gather quite a variety of beers on your own. This holiday season there are quite a few options for fun beer variety packs, some with holiday themes, and some just loaded up with beer-y goodness. Grabbing a few of these is an easy way to pack your fridge for a party, you’ll be sure to have a little something for every guest. 

These packs also make a great gift for any beer lover in your life, whether they are new to the craft beer lifestyle, or have been enjoying Michigan beer for a long time. You’ll find both old and new favorites in these packs. A newcomer might get introduced to a whole variety of styles from a brewery, while a seasoned veteran might get to remind themselves why they loved a brewery in the first place. 

No matter what holidays you are celebrating this season, it’s always great to raise a toast to and with a Michigan beer. 

Alpena-based Austin Brothers has a holiday 15 pack called Austin-Tacious that will be out in distribution in the beginning of December. The pack features 5 different beers to enjoy and enjoy them you will. They all come in at over 10% ABV, for a pack that packs a punch. Sumo Sumatra Imperial Stout gets the addition of vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and Sumatra coffee beans for a deep and dark brew. Triple IPA Hoplock is made with Citra and Mosaic hops in the West Coast style. Coo Coo Cocoa is a massive 15% ABV, and gets brewed with a wacky concoction of everything from cocoa nibs to breakfast cereal, chocolate donuts, chocolate syrup and even chocolate ice cream. Sir Murkleton, named after a beloved, very big dog, is a triple London style IPA brewed with Cryo, Citra and Galaxy hops. A fruity option comes in the form of Blueberry Acai Triple Sourbet, a funky imperial kettle sour enhanced with a fruity sweetness in a tart base.

Rochester Mills 12 Days of Milkshake Stout is a perennial favorite of the holiday season. Each year the brewery starts with a base of their popular Milkshake Stout and creates 11 different flavored versions, and then hand packs the cans for you to enjoy. This year they’ve brought back fan favorites Blueberry Pancake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Udder Enjoymint, Triple Layer Decadence, Michigan Maple and Peanut Buttercup. They also have three Imperial stout offerings in the pack, Hazelnut Coffee, Toasted Marshmallow, and White Russian. New to the pack this year are Raspberry, Oatmeal Raisin, and Cookies & Cream. The packs are out in distribution now.

North Center Brewing in Northville will release their Flight Before Christmas on December 17. You can enjoy these beers at the pub in a flight for $12, or you can grab them to go in cans, with six 12 oz going for $22. This year’s beers include the Grinch Ginger Apple Sour, a Clove Orange Hefeweizen, a Gingerbread Stout Ale, a Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout, NCB Christmas Ale, and a Fruitcake Belgian Strong Ale. Stop by the brewery, they’ll also be offering some holiday food specials you can enjoy.  

Bell’s Brewery has put together quite their Jingle Bells Advent calendar, with gems from the cellar interspersed with classic favorites.

Each day is different, and according to Smith, “Day 25 is something truly special. I don't want to give too much away, but they're extremely rare even here in the Kalamazoo area.”

Only available at the General Store in Kalamazoo and in very limited quantities. Easier to find is their Jingle Bells Variety pack, which features classic Two Hearted, plus Bright White Wheat Ale, Christmas Scotch Ale, and Wild Spruce Ale. You’ll see this pack statewide. 

Short’s has brewed up a Super Hoppy Holidays variety pack, and it features 18 cans of six different beers, all made for the hopheads in your life. Find favorites like Juicy Tree, Double Psychedelic Catgrass and Yoda’s Blend, plus Humongous Huma, a triple IPA that comes in at a big 12.7% ABV. You’ll also find Double MMMKay and the double hazy IPA Snow Globe. If you see this pack, jump on it, there isn’t that much left in the marketplace. Another option this season, and one that is especially perfect to pick up for a party, is their Tried-and-True pack, which features flagship beers Soft Parade, Local’s Light, Huma Lupa Licious, and Bellaire Brown.

Saugatuck Brewing goes all dark with their Stout Pack, a 12 pack of four different flavors. Fan-favorite Neapolitan Milk Stout, a Michigan beer classic, with flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry is the headliner here, along with Blueberry Maple Stout. The other two additions can only be found on draft at Saugatuck or in this pack. The G.O.A.T. is an oatmeal stout, and Beam Me Up Stouty, a coconut stout, are both also included. You can now enjoy Saugatuck Brewing at their flagship pub in Saugatuck, as well as in Kalamazoo, and at Creston Brewery in Grand Rapids.

Atwater Brewing has a Staycation variety pack that includes a few of their popular beers, plus a hint of mystery. This one includes Dirty Blonde, Atwater’s flagship easy-drinking wheat ale. It also includes Better Life Choices IPA, a more malty version than a lot of other versions of this style. Pog-O-Licious IPA has a fruity, tropical pop from the addition of passion fruit, orange and guava. Now the beer that really intrigues me in this pack is the Mystery beer. Who knows what it could be? It’s like a mini-Advent calendar experience when you open one of these up. 

Founders Brewing made an Advent calendar themselves this year, one that you can only find at their pubs in Grand Rapids (sold out)  and Detroit. According to the brewery, unique barrel-aged beers and never before bottled beers are inside this box. If you miss out on this one, look forward to the new version of All Day IPA, Hazy IPA which will be released soon, as well as Fruitwood, a barrel-aged cherry beer, which is available at the taprooms now, and in nationwide release in January 2022.