Draught Horse Brewery‘s 12 Stouts of Christmas are back for 2022!
The South Lyon/New Hudson (depends on who you ask) brewery has been putting together a 12 Stouts of Christmas lineup for eight years now. They release each year’s line up ahead of time, along with the release dates so fans can plan accordingly.
RELATED: Draught Horse Brewery Mystery Stout Release Party (2018)
2022’s list looks solid.
Draught Horse Brewery
Each of the 12 Stouts of Christmas has a base beer with adjuncts added to it to make it unique and special. Eight of the twelve Stouts this year are traditional dark Stouts. These use the Coffee Cake Stout, a rich and fudgey Imperial Stout clocking in at 12.3%. Head brewmaster, Greg “The Mayor” Hidinger, told me that he developed this Stout recipe back in 2015.
Two of the Stouts in the 12 Stouts of Christmas are White Stouts. Greg said that the White Stout was one of the first beers he brewed when he started at Draught Horse earlier in 2022. Draught Horse Brewery had another White Stout, so the change that was made with the most recent variation was the coffee source – Lunar Coffee from Sabbath Coffee. When used for the two 12 Stouts of Christmas Greg reduced the amount of coffee conditioning in order to not have the coffee dominate the strawberry cheesecake and cinnamon bun notes in their respective beers.
One my recent trip to Draught Horse, I was too late for Day 1’s Stout, Whatchamacallit. Greg said that the Whatchamacallit sold out in a day! With only one barrel of each Stout being brewed and a one can limit per customer for take out, Draught Horse definitely has a following when it comes to this seasonal beer release. I was able to snag Day 2’s Stout, Nutella Stout: Santa Goes to Italy. I was blown away by my taster that I had to get a can to go to enjoy at home and review it.
The beer poured dark just like a solid Pastry Stout should. This beer was so thick I could probably use it as a Nutella substitute if I wanted to. The nose had a ton of hazelnut to it. At 12% this was a sipper beer that I enjoyed, especially when it warmed up. As it did so and as I drank more of it, the chocolate notes really started to shine and complimented the hazelnut. A sweet touch of vanilla was noted to keep both the hazelnut and chocolate at bay. Nothing was overpowering which was greatly appreciated. The back end was a roasty nuttiness that I enjoyed having linger. It had the same nutty ending like another one of my favorites from Draught Horse, the Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout.
When it came to whether or not actual Nutella was used in the making of this Stout, the answer is yes! Greg said that he “needed to really play around to nail the Nutella flavor” and that he “can’t remember how much Nutella he ate while tasting the beer to make sure it was as close” as he could get it. The Nutella that was used was turned into a simple syrup to add to the beer more easily. The Stout was also conditioned on vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, and, surprisingly, a small amount of coconut. Like I mentioned above, the beer was a match and could act as a substitute if needed.
I thought the label for the beer was creative and smart. The brewery made its own can label for the 12 Stouts of Christmas yet made sure each was labeled differently with a do-it-yourself label complete with the beer’s name, ABV, IBUs, and Santa. Props for creative yet inexpensive innovation!
At the time of publication, the 12 Stouts of Christmas event is halfway through, so make plans to swing through Draught Horse Brewery on the day of the release to get at least a taster of the Stouts available that day.
Cheers!
Disclaimer: Ed purchased this beer for review. Thank you to Greg “The Mayor” Hidinger for his time answering questions.
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