Dec 2023 Featured Beers | Beer of the Month Club

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Empyrean Brewing Company - Long Route

Big Sky Brewing Company - Space Goat

Empyrean Brewing Company - Burning Skye

Big Sky Brewing Company - Brown Ale

Empyrean Brewing Company - Watch Man IPA

Big Sky Brewing Company - Big Sky IPA

Big Sky Brewing Company - Hazy IPA

Hofbrauhaus Freising - Dunkel

Colbitzer Heide-Brauerei - Colbitzer Pils

Brouwerij De Halve Maan - Straffe Hendrik Tripel

Brasserie Dubuisson - Scaldis Noël

Featured Brewery & Beer	The U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club			The Hop-Heads Beer Club
	4 styles: 12 bottles	4 styles: 12 bottles	3 styles: 12 bottles	2 styles: 12 bottles	2 styles: 2, 4 or 6 btls
Empyrean Brewing Company - Long Route
Big Sky Brewing Company - Space Goat
Empyrean Brewing Company - Burning Skye
Big Sky Brewing Company - Brown Ale
Empyrean Brewing Company - Watch Man IPA
Big Sky Brewing Company - Big Sky IPA
Big Sky Brewing Company - Hazy IPA
Hofbrauhaus Freising - Dunkel
Colbitzer Heide-Brauerei - Colbitzer Pils
Brouwerij De Halve Maan - Straffe Hendrik Tripel
Brasserie Dubuisson - Scaldis Noël

Empyrean Brewing Company - Long Route

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: American Porter
ABV: 6.0%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 20
Serving Temperature: 50-55º F
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass or Mug
Hops: Perle
Malts: Pale 2-Row, Biscuit, Dark Crystal, Roast, Midnight Wheat
Country: United States

Long Route pours a very dark, virtually opaque brown color, topped by a head of medium brown foam. Peanut butter porters and stouts have been quite popular during the last several years, and this take by Empyrean has been a hit since it was first brewed for a special tasing event in 2016. Since then, it’s become part of Empyrean’s year-round lineup and made Untappd’s list of 9 Best American & English Porters of 2021. Brewed with non-allergenic...

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U.S. & International Variety Beer Club U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club

Big Sky Brewing Company - Space Goat

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.0%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 32
Serving Temperature: 45-50º F
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass, Mug, IPA Glass
Hops: Chinook, Mosaic, Eureka Salvo, Galaxy, Lotus T-45
Malts: Pale, Flaked Barley, Dextrin, Malted Wheat
Country: United States

This pale ale presents a rich golden and lightly coppery color, boasting good clarity as it rests beneath a rocky off-white head of foam. On the nose, expect a complex character thanks to the five different types of hops that Big Sky employs here. Citrus leads the way with shades of orange, tangerine, and grapefruit, backed up by additional layers of peach-like stone fruits and tropical fruits that evoke guava. These aroma notes come through...

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U.S. & International Variety Beer Club U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club

Empyrean Brewing Company - Burning Skye

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: Scottish-style Ale
ABV: 5.3%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 13
Serving Temperature: 48-53º F
Suggested Glassware: Thistle Glass, Pint Glass
Hops: Nugget, Cascade
Malts: Pale 2-Row, Biscuit, Honey Malt, Dark Crystal, Smoked, Midnight Wheat
Country: United States

Empyrean’s Scottish-style ale presents a medium amber hue in the glass, topped by a significant head of light beige foam. In the aroma there’s quite a malty impression, as expected for this rather malty style, and it offers us a good deal of honeyed character in concert with touches of toast, prominent caramelization, and a wisp of smoke from the use of smoked malt. Some fruity esters are apparent, as well, generating some stone fruit and even...

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U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club

Big Sky Brewing Company - Brown Ale

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: American Brown Ale
ABV: 5.0%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 26
Serving Temperature: 48-53º F
Suggested Glassware: Pint Glass or Mug
Hops: Liberty
Malts: Pale, C-75, Chocolate, Black
Country: United States

Big Sky’s Brown Ale pours an absolutely gorgeous deep garnet-mahogany color with perfect clarity when held up to the light, topped by a head of beige foam. On the nose we’re greeted with notes of toasted bread crust, cocoa powder, coffee grounds, caramel, and brown sugar, overlaid with a woody, herbal-spicy hop contribution. On the palate, expect a very round and smooth experience that’s not overly heavy; in fact, this is a remarkably...

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U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club

Empyrean Brewing Company - Watch Man IPA

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.0%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 51
Serving Temperature: 45-50º F
Suggested Glassware: IPA Glass, Pint Glass, Tulip
Hops: Nugget, Comet, Cashmere
Malts: Pale 2-Row, Dark Crystal, Aromatic
Country: United States

Watch Man IPA pours quite hazy and quite deeply colored with a goldish to amber hue topped by a persistent and lasting head of khaki foam that drops some lace as we drink this down. On the nose, look for a nicely floral, herbal, and fruity hop character offering plenty of citrus tones evoking mandarin and lemon-lime, stone fruit leaning toward apricot and peach, sliced melon, and very light currant-like hints. As we take a sip, we’re greeted...

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Hop Heads Beer Club

Big Sky Brewing Company - Big Sky IPA

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.2%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 65
Serving Temperature: 45-50º F
Suggested Glassware: IPA Glass, Tulip, Pint Glass
Hops: Simcoe, Centennial
Malts: Pale, C-75, Dextrin
Country: United States

Big Sky IPA pours a medium amber color with crystal clarity and a robust head of beige foam that persists well and laces the glass nicely. On the nose, we get a big blast of bold citrus notes evoking sliced orange and grapefruit, plus candied orange peel, along with some softer peach-like stone fruit tones and resinous touches of pine. A bit of caramelized malt lurks below. It’s a very traditional American IPA impression and we’re digging...

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Hop Heads Beer Club

Big Sky Brewing Company - Hazy IPA

Bottle Size: 12-oz
Style: New England-style Hazy IPA
ABV: 5.6%
Int’l Bittering Units (IBUs): 60
Serving Temperature: 45-50º F
Suggested Glassware: IPA Glass, Pint Glass
Hops: Mosaic, Azacca Lupomax
Malts: Pale, Flaked Oats, Flaked Wheat, Malted Wheat
Country: United States

Pouring a nicely hazed golden hue and capped by a head of off-white foam, Big Sky’s Hazy IPA is already sending its aromas aloft as we consider its appearance. Leaning in, we get a beautifully luscious hop profile delivering the fruit-forward blast we look for in a hazy IPA. Mosaic and Azacca hops are both multifaceted varieties, so it’s no surprise the profile is full of subtle complexities. Citrus and tropical fruits lead the way – look for...

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Hop Heads Beer Club

Hofbrauhaus Freising - Dunkel

Bottle Size: 330-ml
Style: Munich Dunkel Lager
ABV: 5.2%
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Suggested Glassware: Pilsner Glass, Flute
Country: Germany

Freising’s Dunkel presents a deep, dark mahogany color with crystal clarity and a head of fluffy beige foam. On the nose, look for prominent toasty and bready notes with hints of hard pretzels, merging with deep-down caramelization amidst flashes of dried dark fruits which conjure impressions of date, raisin, and fig. Expect the story to continue on the palate as a super-flavorful and deep caramel character – which is emblematic of the...

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International Beer Club U.S. & International Variety Beer Club

Colbitzer Heide-Brauerei - Colbitzer Pils

Bottle Size: 500-ml
Style: German Pilsner
ABV: 4.9%
Serving Temperature: 42-47° F
Suggested Glassware: Pilsner Glass, Flute
Country: United States

Colbitzer’s Pils pours a bright, sunny golden color with excellent clarity and a head of just-off-white foam. On the nose, we get a quintessential German pilsner aroma, which offers up a prominent shot of central European noble hops in all their spicy-herbal, grassy, and earthy glory. A very soft bready undercurrent lurks below. That malty note forms a delicious central core on the palate too, with some notes of fresh bread and crackers. But...

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International Beer Club U.S. & International Variety Beer Club

Brouwerij De Halve Maan - Straffe Hendrik Tripel

Bottle Size: 750-ml
Style: Belgian Tripel Ale
ABV: 9%
Serving Temperature: 52-59° F
Suggested Glassware: Tulip, Chalice, or Goblet
Country: Belgium

This month we’re proud to bring you a very special beer from a world class brewery and one of our favorites, Brouwerij De Halve Maan: the Straffe Hendrik Tripel. This is a very lightly distributed beer throughout the United States and the Rare Beer Club’s allocation is the largest portion of what was imported for 2023.

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Rare Beer Club

Brasserie Dubuisson - Scaldis Noël

Bottle Size: 750-ml
Style: Strong Dark Belgian Ale
ABV: 12%
Serving Temperature: 52–58° F
Suggested Glassware: Tulip, Goblet, or Chalice
Country: Belgium

Scaldis Noël is one of our favorite Belgian winter beers, brewed especially for the holidays, and was first introduced to the world all the way back in 1991. This famous Belgian brewery has seen relatively sparse U.S. distribution over the past 10 to 15 years after their previous importer shut down, and only about 70 cases of Scaldis Noël ended up being sold across the U.S. in 2022. The Rare Beer Club has obtained the vast majority of the total...

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Rare Beer Club

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Featured Beers - December 2023

Featured Brewery & Beer