D'Agneses Trattoria in Akron will hold a 12 Beers of Christmas tasting from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 5.

The event will feature Great Lakes Christmas Ale, Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs Of Christmas, Avery Old Jubilation, Troegs Mad Elf, Goose Island Christmas Ale, Southern Tier 2XMAS, Anchor Steam Merry Christmas Ale, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Breckenridge Christmas Ale, Bell's Christmas Ale and Great Divide Hibernation Ale.

Hark! Do you hear what I hear? It’s Santa delivering Christmas beers — a ton of them.

Here in Ohio, we love our holiday brews thanks in large part to fan favorite Great Lakes Christmas Ale. Made with honey, ginger and cinnamon, it’s an annual obsession for many and defines the winter beer-drinking season.

Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland will hold a Holiday Ale Fest starting at 4 p.m. Dec. 5.

In addition to Market Garden's Festivus Ale, the event will feature Great Lakes Christmas Ale, Fat Head's Holly Jolly, The Brew Kettle Winter Warmer, Buckeye Christmas Girl, Thirsty Dog Barrel Aged 12 Dogs of Christmas, Hoppin' Frog Frosted Frog, Bell's Christmas, Southern Tier 2XMAS, Troegs Mad Elf, 3 Floyds Alpha Claus, Lagunitas Brown Shugga' and Crooked River Yuletide.

Listermann Brewing Co. in Cincinnati will hold an End of the World party from 5 to 10 p.m. Dec. 21 at the brewery. "The Mayan calendar says it's the end of the world on 12/21/12, so why not go out in style?" the brewery says in a Facebook page.

The brewery -- also the home of Triple Digit Brewing -- says it's making up a three special beers for the event, which will include live music and food from Dino's Gorilla Grill. Tickets are $10 and include a commemorative glass.

Ohio Brewing Co. in Akron will hold its second annual Christmas Party from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday (Dec. 1) at the brewery. There will be a free appetizer buffet and three bands playing throughout the night: Average Joe, Zach Friedoff and UmoJahNation.

Ohio Brewing beer, including the brewery's holiday brew Jingle Bell Ale, will be available. There is no cover charge to attend.

Indigo Imp Brewery in Cleveland has released a new "Small Batch Sample Pack" featuring four of its beers: Winter Soul, Firebrand, Candi-man and 26 degree Stout. The beers are all more than 7 percent alcohol by volume and age well, the brewery says.

The brewery tasting room also will be open from noon to 7 p.m. today (Nov. 23). Indigo Imp is tapping a special -- and the only -- firkin of Tall Boy, a wet-hopped brown ale made in collaboration with Rocky River Brewing and Market Garden Brewery. Also on tap is a barrel-aged Imperial Gatekeeper, the first in a series of small batch beers available only at the tasting room.

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance will hold its third annual Winter Wine & Ale Fest from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 24) in the lobby of the Huntington Bank on Public Square. The event follows downtown's Winterfest.

Winter Wine & Ale Fest features wine and beer from more than 20 local wineries and craft breweries paired with food from downtown restaurants, including Parallax, Table 45, L’Albatros, Chinato, Cowell & Hubbard, Greenhouse Tavern, Noodlecat and Pura Vida.

The Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. in Cincinnati will hold an open house at its brewery on Moore Street from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 21). The open house is free.

"We will be opening our doors for a sneak-peak of the new brewery renovations," the brewery said in an email. In addition to opening the Moerlein Lager House brewpub downtown, Christian Moerlein also plans to operate a production brewery in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The Yellow Springs Brewery in Yellow Springs hopes to open in January, the Dayton Business Journal reports. “I’m not sure what’s more capital intensive beyond an oil refinery than a brewery,” co-owner Nate Cornett told the business publication.Coc 

To read the short story, click here.

West Point Market in Akron will hold its annual Christmas Ale Tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 30. The event, which includes food and live jazz, will feature 35 holiday brews, including beers from Ohio brewers Hoppin' Frog, Fat Head's, Great Lakes, Rivertown, Thirsty Dog, The Brew Kettle, Elevator, Samuel Adams and Indigo Imp.

The cost is $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 330-864-2151 ext. 129.

Here are some interesting beer-related stories:

-- This falls into the shameless self-promotion category: The Lima News stopped by the Beers of Ohio beer tasting in Minster on Saturday and wrote a story about my talk about how it's the best time ever to be an Ohio beer drinker. To read the full story, click here.

Portside Distillery, a new micro-distillery and brewery in downtown Cleveland, hopes to open within the next two weeks.

Alexandria's, a nanobrewery in Findlay, turns 1 year old Saturday. The brewpub -- which also includes a small bowling alley upstairs -- will celebrate with a specialty cocktail (champagne with cotton candy), a cotton candy machine and candy bar, said Chelsey Peterson, assistant manager.

There also will be giveaways. Alexandria's, which has a Psycho Brew system, has one of its beers on tap, a double India pale ale called Pump Chugger.

Here are a few interesting beer-related stories:

-- Columbus Alive! reports on the Whole Foods in Dublin serving draft beer. To read the full report, click here.

Dan Blatt thought it was strange. Here he was sitting at a tiny brewery in Colorado drinking a beer from a 16-ounce can but he didn’t see a canning line anywhere.

How was this little brewery putting its beer in a can, he thought.

Table 45, the restaurant in the InterContinental Hotel Cleveland, will hold a beer dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday featuring Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. of Akron.

The dinner will include five courses created by Table 45 chef Tom Schrenk and paired with five Thirsty Dog beers: Smoked Black Lager, Terrier Pale Ale, Pumpkin Ale, Hoppus Maximus and Cerberus Belgian Tripel. Schrenk and brewery co-owner John Najeway will be on-hand to talk about the pairings.

Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron will release its Barrel-Aged Frosted Frog Christmas Ale starting on Black Friday. (Nov. 23) The brewery has two Frosted Frog batches -- one was aged longer and has less bourbon and more oak character. Both are $12.99 for a 22-ounce bottle.

The brewery will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 23 and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 24. The first 20 customers each day will receive one of two new Hoppin' Frog glasses, complete with etching inside the glass to release more aroma.

Here are a couple of interesting beer-related stories:

-- Reuters reports that the tradition of stopping at the local bar for a beer on the way home from work is going the way of the dodo bird. Experts blame the decline on fewer manufacturing jobs and the economy. "Contrary to the myth that people go out and drown their sorrows, the truth is that beer drinkers are pretty responsible people and when they have to cut back, they're cutting back on their pleasures," Beer Institute spokesman Chris Thorne told Reuters. To read the full story, click here.

The Portsmouth Brewing Co. in Portsmouth is adding Peerless Pale Ale to its bottled beer lineup. Peerless joins Portsmouth Pilsner and Red Bird Ale in bottles.

Anheuser-Busch is rolling out a new home draft system for the holidays called the Draftmark Tap System. It is being sold now in only five U.S. markets, including Cincinnati. The battery-operated system, which holds one gallon, fits on refrigerator shelves and is designed to provide draft beer at home.

Miller Lite -- which is made in Ohio -- is giving away $50,000 as part of a "Beersgiving" Facebook promotion. Beer drinkers of legal age can visit the Miller Lite Facebook page at 1 p.m. today (Nov. 13) to receive one of 2,000 $25 gift cards.

The giveaway is based on a survey that estimated that 80 million Americans over the age of 21 get together with friends the night before Thanksgiving.

Triple Digit Brewing Co. in Cincinnati is upgrading its brewing system as it tries to keep up with demand for its high-gravity beers, brewer Kevin Moreland says. The brewery, which also makes the Listermann brands, is installing a 10-barrel brewhouse and fermenters.

"I'm brewing like crazy to keep up with those [Triple Digit] brands," Moreland says.

World of Beer is opening a new location today (Nov. 12) in the Easton Town Center in Columbus. It's the 32nd location for company and the second in Columbus. World of Beer offers more than 500 bottles and 35 rotating taps from around the world.

"I'm excited about this new team and bringing craft beer to the East Side," World of Beer Easton General Manager Tom Sweeney, Jr. said in a prepared statement. "We have experienced people passionate about our craft beer products, which has made Beer School a lot of fun."

The Moerlein Lager House in Cincinnati will host the Holiday Beer and Breweriana Extravaganza from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Breweriana experts will be available to appraise all sorts of beer memorabilia. It's not the first time the brewpub has hosted the event. 

"We had one gentleman that brought in 1800 {era} German Army beer steins and they were clanging in a paper bag," Greg Hardman, president of the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., told Channel 12. "They were worth about $1,100 to $1,200 a piece. We also had a gentleman who brought in a beer stein, had no idea what he had, and the value of it was $10,000."

A new beer – well, sorta new -- is making its debut this week at retail locations in Northeast Ohio. Chef Kimberly McCune Gibson, who has appeared on the Food Network and is owner of Hungry Bee, collaborated with Black Box Brewing Co. in Westlake to create ReHive Ale.

A Tipp City, Ohio, company has developed a "stylish and ergonomic" beer koozie that fits on bottles and cans. Called BeerHugZ, the koozie was created by Kimaya Technologies.

"We used a lot of thought and testing to come up with the ergonomic design of BeerHugZ," the company said in a prepared statement. "When the idea of the design came up, we wanted to have something that fit the habits of the normal beer drinker. We found that a thick hugging plastic design worked best for holding a beer bottle or can. This design fits most of the beer bottle and can sizes."

  Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron just released its new collaboration beer Natasha Rocks America. The beer -- a dry-hopped chocolate rye imperial stout -- was made with Fano Bryghus in Denmark.

Hoppin' Frog brewer and owner Fred Karm also released a video about his brewing experience in Denmark. Check it out here: 

Here are some interesting beer-related stories:

-- Advertising Age reports that Anheuser-Busch InBev will release a new beer brand called Black Crown. "Though originally created in L.A., it's a beer born out of the collaboration of all of Budweiser's 12 brewmasters," said Robert McCarthy, vice president of Budweiser. "The beer is an amber lager that is a little darker than Budweiser, but is flavorful and like Bud very drinkable." To read the full story, click here. To re 

Ray's Place in Kent will host a beer tasting with Willoughby Brewing Co. at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13. Brewmaster Rick Seibt will attend to chat about the beers and chef Bob Paone will pair them with food.

The featured beers will be: Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter, Kaiserhof Kolsh, Cosmic IPA, Gutterpup Porter, Aramis Pale Ale and Reinheits Kaput (a collaboration beer with The Brew Kettle.)

The Ohio Beer Drinkers Association is holding a beer tasting at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Elks Lodge 54 in Lima. The event will feature 26 beers from Great Lakes, Brooklyn, Magic Hat, Spoetzl and Christian Moerlein. There also will be Woodchuck cider.

Tickets are $18.

Cavalier Distributing is raising money for the American Red Cross to assist victims of Superstorm Sandy. The company announced it partnered with East Coast brewers Dogfish Head, Heavy Seas and Sixpoint in the effort.

Throughout the week, the distributor will donate $1 to the Red Cross for every case of Dogfish Head, Heavy Seas and Sixpoint beers sold. The company also has partnered with many Ohio bars and restaurants to donate $2 for every pint sold today (Nov. 6) from those breweries.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland is adding two new beers to its 2013 seasonal lineup. "Alchemy Hour Double IPA and Rye of the Tiger IPA will satisfy hopheads and adventurous craft beer enthusiasts with bold but balanced flavor profiles," the brewery said in a release.

Alchemy Hour -- a double India pale ale at 9.4 percent alcohol by volume -- will be available in February in four-packs. The name stems from a West Coast term for when the waves are breaking just right and you can ride them forever.

The Minster Bock and Rock is morphing this year into the Beers of Ohio beer tasting -- a special event that will highlight some of the best beers made in the state. The tasting is 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Minster Knights of Columbus Hall.

The format is a little different than a regular beer tasting. For the first hour or so, I will serve as master of ceremonies and talk about my experience writing the book Ohio Breweries, which was published last year. I'll also answer any questions folks have about the Ohio beer industry. While I'm talking, we'll sample Rivertown Helles Lager, The Brew Kettle White Rajah, Hoppin' Frog BORIS the Crusher, Rockmill Witbier and Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale. And after the presentation, the general beer tasting will begin and feature beers from Fat Head's, The Brew Kettle, Hoppin' Frog, Rockmill, Mt. Carmel, Thirsty Dog, Rivertown, Maumee Bay, Rust Belt, Lagerheads and Wooden Shoe.

Here are a few interesting beer-related stories:

-- Boston Beer Co., which has a Samuel Adams brewery in Cincinnati, reported third quarter results. The company reported net revenue of $166.4 million, an increase of $31.6 million or 23 percent, over the same period last year. Net income was $20.8 million, an increase of $4.5 million, from the third quarter of 2011. To read a release about the results, click here.   

Great Lakes Brewing Co. has made a special beer to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the West Side Market, a Cleveland landmark and attraction located across the street from the brewery. Called Butcher's Brew, it's a Kulmbacher-style lager.

The brewery describes it as having "lightly roasted malt character and subtle hop aromas ... Brewers note that this style would have been popular during the market's early years, and it speaks to the city's ethnic heritage."

Barley’s Brewing Co. is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this month – a major milestone for one of the oldest brewpubs in Ohio. Plenty of breweries around the state have opened and closed since Barley’s served its first craft beer along North Nigh Street in November 1992.

“We've survived because we take our beer (and food!) seriously,” owner Lenny Kolada says. “We listen to what our guests want and try to surprise and delight them. We pay attention to quality and we only offer what we're truly proud of. Apparently, our guests agree.”