What do you imagine when you think of Christmas beer? Quite likely what comes to mind are strong, darker ales with warming notes of alcohol and possibly holiday spices. These types of beers hearken to the traditions of the winter warmers of England as well as the spiced Bières de Noël of Belgium; during the Yuletide season breweries released these special beers for their favored customers as a “thank you” for their loyalty throughout the year.

The traditional American craft brewing template for holiday beer is Anchor Brewing Company’s Christmas Ale, first released in 1975. It’s a darker, spiced holiday ale with a secret recipe that changes each year along with the label.

Not all Christmas beers are spiced, however, or even dark and malty, and Sunriver Brewing Company’s Mele Kalikimaka Double IPA is a great example. Sunriver brews it with hops known for intensely fruity and juicy characteristics for a Hawaiian-inspired tropical IPA experience.

“We wanted to make a non-traditional Christmas beer and thought a tropical-themed double IPA was a good fit,” said Brett Thomas, director of brewery operations, via email. “We wanted something distinctly different than our other winter brew, Shred Head.”

Thomas notes that he was a child of the 1980s and found inspiration for the beer from a 1989 John Hughes-penned film. “Inspiration can come from odd places,” Thomas said. “For this beer, it came from a scene in the movie ‘Christmas Vacation.’ Clark Griswold is fantasizing about his future pool while Bing Crosby’s ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ is playing in the background — 80’s Americana at its finest. The concept just sort of emerged from that.”

Thomas and his team infused the beer with layers of Citra, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, and Hallertau Blanc hops to achieve the intended juicy, tropical aromas and flavors. It’s a big beer as well, with 8.6 % alcohol by volume and 80 IBUs. I purchased a four-pack of cans to go from the brewery’s Galveston pub to review.

Mele Kalikimaka is clear and gold in color and is indeed loaded with tropical aromatics as well as a bit of allium (such as chives or garlic greens) that I find in Mosaic hops. I found notes of bruléed pineapple, fresh sliced mango, dried papaya, and even pineapple upsidedown cake, along with some wild greens and a spicy note similar to a mustard seed.

The hop intensity continues into the flavor with a solid “green” bitterness punctuated with pineapple juice, juiced bitter greens, light peppercorn, green papaya and fruit skins. There’s a gentle boozy note that lends a cotton candy-like sweetness to give the impression of candied fruit hops. It’s strong and bold and bitter for what I would consider a proper double IPA experience.

Unlike some holiday brews, the recipe itself doesn’t change. “The recipe remains the same every time we brew it,” said Thomas. “It always presents as tropical, but depending on our selected lot of Citra, it can present with more or less citrus or melon.”

Mele Kalikimaka is a bold and fruity treat of a beer to include in your Christmas plans alongside other traditional holiday ales. It’s available directly from the brewery and can be ordered online for curbside pickup, which is a great option for a safe holiday experience.

“Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day. That’s the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway”

– “Mele Kalikimaka,” written by R. Alex Anderson, famously performed by Bing Crosby