Christmas beers: marketing or tradition?

cervezas de Navidad

They always appear around this time of year and they're cause for controversy
among consumers and even historians.
To some they are just a marketing tool. To others they are deeply rooted in tradition.

Among this second group, there are beers considered as the last of the
year, direct descendants of the "October beers" that
breweries essentially created to take advantage of the surplus of
barley and hops available to them before the new harvest.

For others, they are the first of the year, produced to
take advantage of the mild temperatures of autumn and the fruits of the 
latest harvest.

The fact is that many breweries have a Christmas beer
in their back catalogues, although their sales represent
barely 5% of total sales.

Generally speaking, they are strong, dark, heavy, sweet and often
spiced, but there are notable exceptions. Among the first
we find the already classic St. Bernardus Christmas, Carolus
Christmas or Abbaye de Rocs Noël, and among the second we do recommend
Stille Nacht and Père Noël.

In any case, these are seasonal beers and the majority of them are to keep.
As you'd expect, here at Lambicus we can't turn our
backs on Christmas beer, and that's why we're inviting you to try some more - by coming
to our tasting on the December 15th or just 
let yourself be seduced by our pourers who will be offering customers
these Christmas gems over the next fews days.

Don't miss the video of our Mr. Lambicus promoting our Christmas beer tasting.

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BXL BeerFest

Shall we meet up to go to the Festival in Brussels?

Tickets, accommodation, and transportation are each person's responsibility. We suggest creating a group to meet on-site and enjoy drinks and food together. Once the festival is over, we can continue the party at some of the city's bars.

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Nanobrasserie de l’Ermitage

Ermitage label

Nanobrasserie: brewery which produces a maximum of 3 barrels each brew

Try their beers at our event: 2/3/2019 Meet the Brewer L'Hermitage

The Nanobrasserie or Nanobrewery de l’Hermitage, a project by three friends: Nacim Menu, François Simon and Henri Ben Saria, made their first production in July 2017.

Before this and after some home brewing they learned to brew at la Brasserie Bastogne, now called Brasserie Minne.

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Brewer Saints - Chapter 1 - Arnulfo de Soissons

Arnulfo de Soissons, a famous clergyman who became Bishop of Soissons – not without regret, as he fled from the Monastery in order not to have to occupy this position – was fond of two fluids that changed the course of humanity: first, he introduced the production of boiling water in order to prevent the transmission of contagious diseases. About the second, we shall speak later.

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