Craft Metropolis Online Craft Beer Blog

Craft brewers are seeing the year out with a bang – releasing massive stouts (including those made with hob nobs!), fruit smoothie sours, and IPAs so juice-drenched they’re a Sunny D lawsuit in waiting.

Here’s what I’ve loved most this week.

Craft breweries continued to deploy the big guns this week, with Vault City releasing a mad glitter stout and – naturally – a face-puckering Bucks Fizz Sour for Christmas morning.

Plus there’s Northern Monk’s last EVER version of Smug to discuss and some seasonal specials perfect for Christmas. So let’s get into it!

The theme for this week’s best new beers? Collaboration!

Garage, Lervig, Finback, The Veil, Nerdbrewing – this week, brewing heavyweights joined forces to produce some of the best new beers released this year.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

We turned seven this week, and to mark the occasion, we brewed a hop-monster with our pals at Beak – check out Dennis below!

There’s also the small matter of new Whale Sharks to contend with, plus an Emperor’s collab with… OMNIPOLLO! Oh. Em. Geeeeee! Let’s go!

This week, Azvex turned one, and brewers began to turn their attention to those all important Christmas brews.

This list gets better every week!

This week, one of the biggest beers of the year is back, and it has a new BA buddy! Plus some of the biggest and best collabs I’ve seen in an age from some of the world’s best are in, be it hoppy, sour or dark – they’ve nailed them all!

It’s service as normal this week after last week’s postal strikes, so get your fastest finger ready to snag some of these new releases…

Seriously – Nerd’s Xmas brew, Amundsen, a 25% ABV Ice Bock… this has been the best week of new releases for a long, long time.

It feels a lot like the doomy weather is here to stay, but I’ve collected a mega-haul of hops from Beak, Verdant and beyond this week to keep you snug on those nights in.

Need the moody brews?

I’ve got that covered with a Boxcar classic, HUGE Brew York BA beers and a cinnamon swirl porter. Let’s go!