Saint Arnold Bishop's Barrel No. 19

The base beer Christmas Ale is a holiday tradition on its own – a hearty ale with malty sweetness and spicy hop characteristics. For this release, we aged it in chardonnay barrels from Napa, California for 22 months. The tart cherries add a flavor reminiscent of freshly baked cherry pie, and three different strains of brettanomyces – lambicus, var. Drei, and brux – add complexity and depth to the brew. To create the final beer, we blended in 10% fresh Christmas Ale to round out the flavor and create something greater than the sum of its parts.