Aged golden sour, winter warmers, milk stout released by Bay Area breweries

Berkeley brewery, The Rare Barrel, is releasing a golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with apricots. Photo courtesy of The Rare Barrel

As bellies from Thanksgiving begin to deflate and the end of the year inches closer, Bay Area breweries are beginning to role out winter-themed and -flavored beers. Here are some new offerings around the Bay available this week from local breweries:

San Francisco

Cellarmaker – The SoMa brewery released their “Saison des Flandres,” a collaboration beer with French brewery, Brasserie Thiriez. The French-American Farmhouse Ale uses French saison yeast, Caliente, Sterling and Syrian Celeia hops, and is described by the brewery as “crisp and dry with beautiful spicy yeast driven flavors/aromas.” Not available in growler fills.

Thirsty Bear – Just down the street from Cellarmaker, the Howard Street brewery tapped their Winter Warmer. A 9.3 percent alcohol brew with dark Belgian specialty malts and a little bit of honey, the beer has hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and spice.

East Bay

Buffalo Bills – The brewery’s holiday season oatmeal stout makes its return to Bay Area shelves. The 7.5 percent alcohol dark brew boasts flavors of chocolate, oatmeal and blueberries.

Cleophus Quealy – The new San Leandro brewery recently tapped a coffee milk stout called “Batch 12.” The brewery is open Saturday and Sunday; visit their website for available on current beers.

Rare Barrel – The Berkeley brewery is set to release their “Map of the Sun” golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with apricots. Bottles will be available at their Berkeley taproom this Saturday at 2 p.m. The beer is fermented with Brettanomyces yeast and Lactobacillus bacteria, and the brewery describes the beer as “overflowing with notes of juicy apricots and apricot jam,” from the 42 pounds of apricots added to each oak barrel.

South Bay

Strike – The San Jose brewery is releasing their Holiday Bonus strong ale this week at their taproom. It will be on tap starting tomorrow, Wednesday, available in growlers, and bottles will begin hitting local markets soon after.