North America (and its food) has always been a mix of cultures and ideas. This is especially apparent during our holiday celebrations where we share tables and traditions with generations of relatives and friends who may or may not think or eat like we do. In my family alone, we celebrate with food from the Southern United States, Mexico and Poland. We host both meat-eaters and vegans. There’s even a good mix of Democrats and Republicans who break bread together. Nobody said it’s easy to bring all these different viewpoints around the same table, but sharing a meal that welcomes everyone to that table is a good start.

Our holiday menu does just that. It is rooted in tradition, with familiar flavors, textures and aromas. Every dish is hearty and satisfying and it’s all paired with delicious craft brews, of course. What makes our menu uniquely inclusive is that it’s completely plant-based; there’s no meat, eggs or dairy. Even so, each item was chosen for its stick-to-your-ribs meatiness to treat even the most zealous meat-eaters to a satisfying and welcoming seat at the table.

As the seasons change, so too does the craft beer world’s release calendar, which means a rush of seasonal favorites, spiced beers and holiday ales of all stripes.

While the idea of different beers to imbibe is, of course, the most important aspect of the change in weather and temperature, the shift from late summer to fall to early winter is one that also serves as a harbinger for the holidays as well as the difficult task of giving gifts to the craft beer fans in your life.

While obtaining hard-to-find limited-release beers is always a tried-and-true technique to win over any craft beer-obsessed friend or family member in your life, there are also a plethora of craft beer-adjacent and breweriana-themed gifts that would make any beer connoisseur blush with holiday cheer (although those red cheeks could also be due to a few tipples).

Read on and delve into our 2018 Beer Lover's Holiday Gift Guide for craft beer enthusiasts and see if there’s anything that would make the craft beer fanatic in your life thank his lucky stars that Santa stopped by with a beauteous beer bounty to enjoy.

Sometimes the call to brew outstrips one’s means of production. In this case, there are two options: sign a contract or become a gypsy.

The benefits of gypsy brewing and contract brewing include the ability to make unique beers on different types of equipment with unique waters and different facilities. Contract brewing is defined as regularly brewing with another owner’s equipment. While contract brewers sometimes use their own ingredients and recipes, they can also use raw ingredients and barrels provided by a large brewer with excess capacity. Gypsy brewing involves brewing at different facilities every year, often on a nonstandard schedule. Both processes help new brewers avoid the multimillion dollar expense of building a facility or expanding an existing one.

Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, founder of Evil Twin Brewing, which is coming to Queens, New York, has been a contract and gypsy brewer since 2010.

You can make beer without hops. However, the odds of making good beer without hops are not incredibly high.

Hops are inextricably entwined with the story of beer, just as they bind to the trellises upon which they ascend every year. They are mysterious, seemingly able to take on elements of nature’s most enticing offerings – mangoes, kiwis, lemons or spices like sage or mint. Of course, being related to the “forbidden fruit” of cannabis only adds to their appeal.

As humans are hardwired to do, we are constantly seeking out the newest and best; the shiniest, ripest, or even most aromatic and flavorful. If a craft beer drinker wants the newest, best or “hottest” beer, much of what will determine their experience stems from the hops contained within.

If the experience is pleasurable, these hops will be cultivated, selectively bred and produced in exponentially larger quantities, just as recent phenoms Mosaic and Citra have been. In fact, despite having only gained traction in the past few years, these two varietals comprised an estimated 15 percent of hops produced and harvested in 2018, according to a Reuters report.

Hop Harvest 2018

Outdoor adventures and craft beer are a perfect duo. We love to crack open a beer after our hike or ride or whatever other activity we’ve enjoyed to celebrate with our companions and commemorate just how awesome it was. Skiing is no different. While skiing and craft beer don’t mix in a literal sense (i.e. don’t drink and ski), these U.S. skiing destinations feature craft brews that serve as a perfect accompaniment to a long day on the slopes. Whether you’re an expert skier or have never put on a set of skis, here are the top U.S. skiing destinations perfect for beer lovers.

Albany, New York

Albany is an affordable destination that’s only 1.5 hours from four different ski experiences – Windham is just 26 miles away, Jiminy Peak is 42 miles away, Catamount is 46 miles away and Gore is 70 miles away. The city is also home to the Northeast Ski & Craft Beer Showcase, which offers samples from breweries all over the country, gear deals and ski lift tickets. Druthers Brewing Company, Fort Orange Brewing, Albany Pump Station, The City Beer Hall, and The Albany Ale & Oyster just scratch the surface of the craft beer and dining scene in Albany.

In traditional pubs in the U.K., patrons stroll up to the bar to select a beer. Along with offerings in bottles and cans, pubs will pour a range of draft lagers and ales. Most fine pubs will also showcase a row of peculiar, elongated, vertical tap handles that resemble billy clubs. These require the bartender to use a bit of muscle to pump the handle a couple of times to suction beer from the cellar up to the pint glass. These "hand-pulled" beers display colorful pump clip labels featuring eccentric names and artwork, and the unfiltered beer pours from a gooseneck spout with a soft, light CO2 sparkle. This quirky, historic English product is known as "real ale" or "cask ale."

Fizzy draft or keg beer is filtered and pumped full of pressurized carbon dioxide gas, but real ale breweries in the U.K. usually put unfiltered, uncarbonated ale into 10.8-gallon metal casks called "firkins." A hint of fermentable sugar and live yeast is included in the sealed firkin. Like a bottle of homebrew, the yeast consumes the residual sugar over a few days, producing a natural, subtle carbonation in the cask ale – making real ale a living product.

I remember when I used to have cravings for a pumpkin beer. The desire fell somewhere between a circadian rhythm – fall colors have arrived – and patriotism. We’re craft beer-loving, farm-to-table Americans, by God, and pumpkins are indigenous here.

Now, there’s a new thing for me. It’s year-round. And, apparently, I’m not alone.

I’m always ready for a juicy, hazy IPA that’s properly made and not fruited. In other words, hold the juice additive and bring out those citrus flavors through biotransformation, which means using an f-ton of dry hops, which are transformed by non-flocculating yeast. Then, give me more of that hop goodness by not filtering the beer and serving lots of yeast, which itself has been bio-transformed and therefore carries some of that hop goodness.

Everybody, of course, has their opinions about juicy, hazy IPAs. Those opinions range from disdain to irrational exuberance. There is some valid criticism: “They all taste the same – there are no nooks and crannies of aromas and flavors.” But the exuberance side is winning, helping to produce more entries for this newly created category at the Great American Beer Festival this year than the American IPA, the former festival leader.

With leaves littering the sidewalk and vividly colored trees dotting the landscape, it's almost "the most wonderful time of the year:" The holidays! With a newfound crispness hanging in the air comes another issue of The Beer Connoisseur, full of all the brew that's fit to drink. So grab a filling and warming seasonal dark beer and enjoy Issue #39 of the The Beer Connoisseur.

A sumptuous feast of beery content awaits you in this issue of The Beer Connoisseur. We aim to educate and inspire on the subject of beer and brewing, and some of our top stories typify this approach.

Owen Ogletree, an expert on the subject of cask ale and real ale, gives readers a sterling definition of one of the U.K.’s most important beer exports in What is Real Ale?

After that Jessica Zimmer, making her writing debut for The Beer Connoisseur, provides the definition of the wondrous world of gypsy and contract brewing in Gypsy Brewing and Contract Brewing Defined.

Then Jim Dykstra straps on the lupulin goggles and outlines the most interesting and popular hops to look out for in 2019 with The Hop Report: Trending Hops in 2019.

No holiday issue would be complete without a food story, and we have a terrific take on a holiday spread with Sherry Dryja’s Vegan Holiday Beer Feast – featuring delectable recipes as well as sterling beer pairings for the season.

Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon has announced the release of tow of its most popular and sought after beers: The Abyss Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout and The Dissident Barrel-Aged Sour Beer.

The Abyss is available from Deschutes taproom and The Dissident will be available in three different variants in bottles.

The full release from Deschutes is below.

The Abyss returns just in time for the Holidays. Grab a bottle or, better yet, two for your cellar, or as a gift for the craft beer lover in your life! And, if you are in the lovely state of Oregon on November 10th, come and celebrate with us:

Bend Public House 

• Vertical flights of The Abyss 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 
• Bottles to go
• Special menu with items paired and cooked with The Abyss
• Snifters available to enjoy at the pub

Portland Public House

• Brunch from 9am-1pm (Menu Here)
• Bottles to go
• Vertical flights of The Abyss 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Snifters available to enjoy at the pub

Bend Tasting Room

• The Abyss to enjoy on CO2 and Nitro
• Bottles to go

Bottles from past versions of The Abyss for sale.