Days of the Beer, December 6

The beer for today is Penn Brewery, St. Nikolas Bock.

On December 6, 346, Saint Nicholas, died. Yes kids, Santa Claus is dead. Nicholas of Myra was the bishop of Myra in Lycia of Anatolia (Turkey). Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving.

There are a couple of miracles and legends attributed to Saint Nick. The first deals with how he became a bishop. Nicholas was said to have been on a ship traveling from Alexandria to Myra, and a sailor on the ship fell from the rigging, and was saved by Nick. After they arrived, Nick went in to pray and the sailor went around and told how he was saved by Nikei-Laos. It just so happened that the previous bishop had just died, and the church fathers were told in a dream that the next bishop would be a "man who conquers" (Nike is Greek for conquer/victory). Suddenly, Nike-laos is in their midst, so they elect him as bishop.

Another story is about how there was a famine on Myra, and a butcher had taken three children (or clerks) and chopped them up, put them in a barrel and intended to sell them as meat. Nick realized that the meat was children, so he prayed for them, and they came back to life.

One of Nick's most famous stories is about a poor father who had three daughters, but couldn't pay their dowry. Because of that, they'd remain unmarried and (obviously) have to become prostitutes. Nich helped them out by throwing three bags of gold through the window. This either happened on one night, three consecutive nights, or over three years. In one version of the story, the man was trying to figure out who was giving the money, so Nick snuck onto the roof, and dropped the money down the chimney. When it came down, it landed in the third girls stocking, that she was drying by the fireplace.

As to the beer:

Penn Brewery was founded in 1986 in Pittsburgh's North Side. It was established to brew authentic German beers.

A very rich, dark bock beer. Dark ruby in color with subtle tones of chocolate and burn malt. It will warm you on a cold winter night and brighten your days. The perfect holiday gift for the beer drinker.

So, for Saint Nick, have a Saint Nick. There are many different Santa beers out there, so just find one and suck it down for the bishop.