11 unique Christmas season beers from some of the best rated SC breweries

How about skipping the eggnog this Christmas and trying some holiday-themed beers instead?

South Carolina is loaded with locally-owned breweries, each with their own unique takes on different types of beers. And with the Christmas season in full swing, naturally many have tried to brew special flavors that capture the spirit of the holidays.

Here are 11 unique Christmas holiday season beer from some of of the best-rated breweries in South Carolina, according to Google reviews, based on their overall ratings and number of reviews. Two of some of the best-rated breweries were pulled from each of the following cities: Charleston, Greenville, North Charleston and the Columbia area.

Columbia area

River Rat Brewery

Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars (468 reviews)

River Rat Brewery has been crafting beers in South Carolina’s capital since 2013. The brewery recently unveiled its seasonal River Rat My Morning Stout. The limited-time, December drink includes cacao nibs, oats, Madagascar vanilla, along with some of the brewery’s exclusive Jittery Joe’s Coffee.

“This beer is fantastic with herb-roasted chicken, pork and lamb,” River Rat’s website states.

Steel Hands Brewing

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 (466 reviews)

Steel Hands Brewing opened on Dec. 1, 2018 with a 10,000 square-foot facility to hold its brewing area, a 2,500 square-foot taproom, an outdoor gathering place and a restaurants.

Steel Hands is celebrating the Christmas season this year with a batch of new Coffee Lager holiday beers. The limited seasonal releases are all made with locally-produced Loveland Coffee and include flavors such as German chocolate cake, salted caramel and crème brûlée. The beers are available on tap and in six packs in stores across Columbia.

Greenville

Fireforge Crafted Beer

Fireforge has crafted a sweet winter treat that could certainly garner Santa’s attention. Called Infinite Dunks, the winter beer is a 10.8% Imperial Milk Stout with Oreos. It’s brewed with Carolina Malted Oats, lactose and plenty of Oreo cookies.

Fireforge was started by husband and wife Brian and Nicole Cendrowski because of their mutual love for beers of all kinds — both drinking and making.

Liability Brewing Co.

Rating: 4.8 out of 5 (235 reviews)

Liability Brewing mixed a host of Christmasy flavors together this year for its holiday beer, Do You Even Know Elle?: Belgian Christmas Ale. The 8.3% ale offers an aroma of bananas foster, cloves and treacle with flavors of figs, French toast and spiced banana bread.

Started by two neighbors, Liability Brewing makes its beers using almost exclusively raw ingredients from the U.S. The brewery is also committed to sustainability, using barleys and wheats that are grown using only rainwater, requiring no manmade sources. It also captures naturally produced CO2 during fermentation, which lowers the brewery’s carbon footprint, the company’s website states.

Charleston

Palmetto Brewery Company

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 (359 reviews)

Palmetto Brewery Company decided on crafting its seasonal beer this year in honor of a holiday dessert classic. Called the Sweet Potato Pie Porter, the base is a robust American porter that is rich and chocolatey. It is malt forward with flavors of yam casserole, marshmallows, brown sugar and candied pecans. The adjuncts include sweet potatoes, pecans, vanilla, cinnamon and lactose.

Frothy Beard Brewing Company

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (613 reviews)

Frothy Beard has two seasonal beers for the holiday season, the Peppermint Porter and Sour Cran. The Peppermint Porter is a dark, rich porter with just a hint of peppermint. The Sour Cran is a kettled sour cranberry ale. Both are available on tap and in cans.

North Charleston

Holy City Brewing

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 (1,100 reviews)

Fill your stocking with the Stocking Stuffer from Holy City Brewing this year. This beer is a 6.9% hazy IPA that’s available on draft and in cans.

Holy City Brewing started in 2011 in a 4,000 square-foot warehouse. The brewery later outgrew that location and in 2017 moved into an old public works building in Park Circle. The place continued to grow until it housed a four-vessel 30 barrels system and a taproom that could hold more than 300 people, the brewery’s website states. An outdoor stage and other amenities were added last year.

Freehouse Brewery

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 (211 reviews)

You could be one of the first to try Freehouse Brewery’s new seasonal beer, Darkest Day Imperial Stout, when it drops Dec. 17. According to a post on the Freehouse Facebook page, Darkest Day gets its name in honor of the winter solstice, which long nights and short days.

To make the beer, Freehouse took its Hoodoo Imperial Stout and aged half of it in Highwire Distilling Rye Whiskey barrels and the other half in Jimmy Red Corn Bourbon barrels for 14 months. The two were then blended together, harmonizing the peppery rye and caramel from the whiskey barrels and the vanilla and baking spice from the bourbon barrels.