Ridgeway

Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Come to think of it, considering how bad you’ve been this year, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas. Concocted by the vastly talented -- though, frankly, a little too cheery -- Peter Scholey, Lump of Coal will be hitting shelves and better pubs in November 2004.

This special holiday porter is made for winter - rich and warming, the way they like it at the North Pole. It was inspired by this famous line from a well-loved children’s storybook: "And Santa sat on his great butt, enjoying a hardy brew..." In case you find that amusing, the brewer hastens to point out that in England, "butt" refers to a certain sized barrel, in fact, holding 108 Imperial gallons. Back in the day it was quite a normal thing for a brewery to put its beer up in a large butt for storage. Still snickering, eh? Get your mind out of the gutter, or Santa will be skipping your house entirely this year.