Oh, the weather outside is… not frightful. But it sure is delightful! As for this holiday season? Well, it’s still 2020.
Despite this garbage fire year and the fact that Los Angeles will not have a white Christmas, that doesn’t mean we can’t fire up the faux fireplaces and reminisce about the good things we do still have. Lucky for us, one of those things is local craft beer.
Plenty of Southland breweries are celebrating the holidays with new beer releases or themed specials. Below are some of our top picks to get you in the spirit this December, snowmen not included.
Los Angeles Ale Works’ Van Yuletide and Scrampus
LAAW has blessed us with not one but two holiday beers this year!
Scrappalicious, named for the brewery cat, has been deemed Scrampus for the most festive season. The hoppy holiday ale rings in at 6% ABV and boasts a glorious amber hue, and it’s packed with notes from some of our favorite trees, pine, spruce and juniper, as well as citrus.
They’ve also got a 7.5% ABV winter warmer on tap called Van Yuletide, complete with notes of honey, candied fruit, and mulled punch. Team these two with an ugly holiday long-sleeved shirt and you’ve got yourself a quarantine party!
Common Space Brewery’s Space Beer Float (Collaboration with Coolhaus)
The holidays are a time to be with our loved ones, and there’s nothing we love more than chocolate, ice cream, and beer. Pre-orders for the Coolhaus x Common Space Beer Float Package went on sale on Dec. 16, with deliveries hitting the L.A. area on the 18th and 19th. What will you get with this indulgent gift, ringing in at a cool $38? Glad you asked! You’ll nab a four-pack of the Coolhaus Chocolate Molten Cake Ice Cream Beer, either a pint of Coolhaus vanilla ice cream of their three mini dairy-free vanilla cups, a James Carey-designed Common Space x Coolhaus collaboration pint glass, an ice cream scoop, and a face mask. If you can’t have snowflakes, you might as well have ice cream. Not into sugar comas? Common Space has also got a build-your-own holiday crowler pack available for $35; their other holiday-themed gift packages have already sold out.
El Segundo Brewing Co.’s 2020 Christmas Shirt
What goes well with a Hopped LA tee? More shirts, of course! For 2020, Damian Fulton brewed up a delightful print of Santa and his elves, all enjoying some ESBCS beers around a Christmas tree. The olive green hue screams the yuletide season, and if you want to double down on Los Angeles love, there’s plenty of L.A. Showdown (a 6.9% ABV IPA, part of ESBC’s Tone Series) and, of course, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA. Crack one of the latter up with some of your pals all across the country, seeing as many of them can get it in their local stories now.
We know 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, but if you’re looking to support local and purchase some goodies for your craft beer buddies, you can’t go wrong with picking up 4-packs or merch from our local breweries. Los Angeles County was hit month after month with stricter restrictions than every other county in the state due to mandates from the Dept. of Public Health, and every bit of support helps.
Let’s raise one to our Southland beer brethren and to you, our loyal readers. From Hopped LA to you and yours, we wish everyone a safe and hoppy holiday season.
Emily Krauser
December 16, 2020
