December 13, 2018 | by Faith Bennett
Winter seasonal beers are an annual tradition anticipated by beer enthusiasts and casual sippers a like. Each year, brewers set out to make their own winter warmer with seasonal spices and personal flares. This year, we are counting down to Christmas with these 12 festive beers. From robust dark ales to crisp IPAs, there is a holiday brew for every pallet.
December 12, 2018 | by Mary Small
So, you decided to participate in a holiday cookie swap and you are feeling the pressure of the Christmas clock. You realize you only have a few days until the exchange and your heart drops faster than Hans Gruber off the Nakatomi Tower. (It’s a Christmas movie. End the debate!)
December 8, 2018 | by Mary Small
This year marks the 44th release of Anchor Brewery’s iconic Christmas Ale. Each year Anchor releases a new recipe and an original hand-drawn label to boot. Discovering and decoding the taste of each year’s brew is a very merry tradition for any true beer lover. We reached out to Scott Ungermann, Anchor’s Brewmaster, to see if he would dish out the details of the 2018 recipe. Spoiler alert – the festive formula is still safe with his ironclad silence.
December 7, 2018 | by Nathan Dale
The science of pairing wine with food has been studied for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and the general consensus is that they work wonderfully together. What is not an exact science, however, is what traditional holiday meals are served from one family to another. Each could potentially have a different varietal of wine that suits the staple of the meal. To help with this dilemma I have comprised a list of common festive feasts and near perfect wines to pair with them.
December 6, 2018 | by Faith Bennett
‘Twas the night before guests arrived, when all through the house, not a creature was silent, not even the spouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney in a hurry, in hope that they could pull it together with haste, not fury.
December 3, 2018 | by ABC Fine Wine & Spirits
Whether your holiday season is focused on Christmas or Festivus (for the rest of us), gifts are typically a part of December celebrations. Ditch the default ties, basic mugs, ugly sweaters and Snuggies (okay, maybe keep the Snuggie). The point is, we know gift giving can be daunting, especially when your loved one or colleague seems to have everything or wants nothing.
December 2, 2018 | by Larry Baker
The holiday season is upon us and that means Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa too. The upcoming Hanukkah festival of lights, which begins Dec. 2 this year, is typically not a drinking holiday. I write that as a Jewish level-2, certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and a senior wine and spirits specialist at the new ABC Fine Wine and Spirits in North Miami Beach. Hanukkah is traditionally more for eating latkes with applesauce or sour cream and dreidel spinning for prizes. Nevertheless, this is one of a several times each year when more people ask me about kosher wine recommendations for exchanging gifts.
November 10, 2018 | by Faith Bennett
What do you call a spiked pumpkin pie? We call it, amazing.
November 6, 2018 | by Faith Bennett
At long last we can say it: whip out the stretchy pants. The holidays are upon us and with the amount of food to be consumed, we’re all going to need a little space to breathe.
