Days of the Beer, December 24

The beer for today is Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus.

It's Christmas Eve. Today is traditionally the day (well tonight) where kids leave out cookies and milk for Santa Claus. This year, instead of milk, leave Santa a nice beer that will warm him up ... IMMENSELY!

While you are at it, leave some cookies made with beer.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 1/4 cups room temperature beer
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream together the butter or margarine and the brown sugar. Cut in flour, baking soda and spice. Blend in beer slowly to form a soft dough.
2. Drop by teaspoonfuls and top with a walnut piece.
3. Bake 12-15 minutes at a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven until lightly brown. Cool one minute on cookie sheet and remove to wire rack.

About the beer:

Samichlaus is one of the strongest lagers in the world, at 14% ABV. The name means Santa Claus in Swiss German. Samichlaus was first brewed in 1979, for sale in 1980. Production went until 1997, until the Hürlimann Brewery in Zürich, Switzerland, closed. It started up again in 2000 when Schloss Eggenberg collaborated with the original Hürlimann brewers, using the original recipe.

It is considered to be a doppelbock.

The once strongest beer in the world is back! Brewed only once a year on December 6. Samichlaus is aged for 10 months before bottling. This beer is perhaps the rarest in the world. Samichlaus may be aged for many years to come. Older vintages become more complex with a creamy warming finish. Serve with hardy robust dishes and desserts, particulary with chocolates, or as an after dinner drink by itself. Brewed under the exclusive licence of Feldschlösschen-Hürlimann-Holding, Switzerland.

So, make yourself some beer cookies, and leave a Samichlaus out with those cookies, if Santa is passed out on your living room floor by the fireplace, it's not my fault.