If you’re lucky, Christmas Day can play out like a grand journey, filled with anticipation, warmth, cherished traditions and hopefully… great beer. Whether your Christmas Day is a family filled food fest, or some quiet time to yourself, it’s the one day of the year that deserves to be done right. Just as every step of a journey can bring new experiences, each moment of Christmas day can be elevated by your choice of beer. And so, your ticket is stamped as we embark on this expedition through Christmas Day, with our guide to matching beers with every stage of the festivities.

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Christmas Morning: The Journey Begins

Everyone starts their Christmas morning with the traditional Buck's Fizz, right? That’s the rules. Well… rules were made to be broken. Enter Red Berry Rhapsody. Our big fruited sour was designed as a winter sour, absolutely loaded with all sorts of red berries. With a hint of vanilla to balance sweet and sour and a spritzy carbonation, it’s a great replacement for Buck’s Fizz. Another great option for this is Pompelmocello. Despite the fact that it’s a 6% Sour IPA, our hardest to pronounce beer is one of our easiest drinking. A sour punch is rounded out with a delightful sweetness, making it a great way to start your special day. For the morning smoothie fans, go Red Berry. For the traditionalists - Pompelmocello is a squeeze of pink grapefruit in a glass.

Tim’s Tip: If you’ve still got some, I’d also highly recommend White Tips. At just 4.5%, it’s a great “opener”. This effervescent brew mirrors the morning's sparkle, blending citrusy zest with hints of coriander and clove notes from the Belgian yeast. I doubt that you do still have any, because it’s too delicious to keep. But as this writer always stocks up and keeps several back for this very reason, I couldn’t not share this tip! 

Christmas Dinner: A Culinary Path

Christmas dinners are often the biggest plate of food you’ve ever seen, so the natural thing to do is to also have a starter. The classic is the prawn cocktail, right? Even if you’re having something different, you want to start light and so look no further than Expressions: Idaho 7. This beer is currently available in Morrisons, but it’s been one of our staff go-to beers since it was first brewed. Delightfully thick and hazy and loaded with flavour due to the heavy hopping of Idaho 7. Its tropical notes will bring a prawn cocktail to life. For another option, check out South Facing IPA, a great beer to pair food with. With Oats and Wheat there’s a gorgeous creamy base, topped off with an indulgent hopping of Motueka, Citra Cryo and Columbus. The key thing here is the lime zest and lime leaf. Yep, lime leaf. A really interesting ingredient that’s bringing zingy-ness (go with it) and helping those citrus forward hops to sing. Those citrus notes will be great for cutting through - more on that in a moment. 

But of course, no one is writing home about their starter, we’re here for the main event. Big meals need big beers, and there’s none bigger than the traditional Christmas Day Roast. When pairing food and beer, we’re looking to do one (or more!) of these things:

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A Christmas dinner should be full of punchy flavours. Rich roast meats and earthy umami notes from gravy and roasted veg. With all those flavours you need beers to stand up to them and we’re looking no further than either Memento or Reviver, our Best Bitters. These beers offer a versatile journey, balancing sweetness with caramel notes and a subtle bitterness. They harmonise with the flavours of roast turkey, honey-glazed ham or even your mushroom wellington, guiding you through a culinary adventure of savoury delights with an awakening of flavour potential.

Christmas Pudding Delight: Indulgent Peaks

As dessert beckons, ascend to indulgent peaks with a Barley Wine. If you have some Maiden stowed away then fantastic, if not check out our 5-Points Collab - Decades. Barley Wines boast deep, complex flavours of dried fruits and dark sugars and create a perfect synergy with the dense sweetness of Christmas pudding or fruitcake. For a completely complementary option, then look no further than Caribbean Chocolate Cupcake. With its decadent chocolate notes and swirls of vanilla it’ll add a layer of delight to any Christmas pudding, or y’know, just pair it with mid-course snacking on Celebrations.

The Cheese Course: A Savoury Stop

Christmas is one of those days when it’s perfectly acceptable to consume 10 million calories. Even after a starter, a huge main course and a pudding, there’s still room for cheese. During some of our beer and cheese pairings over the last couple of years, we discovered that our flagship stout, Broken Dream, makes for an outrageously good pairing with cheese - specifically, Blue Cheese. The sweetness in the beer combines with the earthy blue notes for an incredibly satisfying experience. If you have some of that Barleywine left, then you’re in heaven pairing that with some cheddar. 

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The Afternoon Family Games: Lighthearted Pathways

During spirited games and laughter-filled moments with family, you need reliable beers that you can have a few of, like crisp Pilsners or light-bodied Pale Ales. These easy-drinking brews keep the mood light, offering refreshment between bouts of competitive joy (or chaos). For us, there are two perfect options - 3.4% easy drinking Soft Pale Ale Mesmerist or 4.8% Gluten Free Italian Lager - Pastel Pils. Two beers you can keep going back to over and over again. Although you’ll also find bottles of Augustiner Helles disappearing from the fridges of most Siren employees throughout the day! Look out for some stock of that in the Siren Tap Yard!

Evening TV Relaxation: A Cozy Retreat

After all that food and arm flapping (Charades), it’s time to sit down, put your feet up and watch some classic TV. With the lights low amidst the warming glow of the tree lights, you need a beer to cosy up with, something deep, rich and comforting. Look no further than our former Flagship classic that made a very popular return this year - Liquid Mistress. So popular was it in fact, that after it quickly sold out, we did another brew to fill up your advent calendars. This box is one of the only ways you’ll get your hands on some, so make sure you’ve got some Liquid Mistress in your fridge ready to help see out your perfect Christmas Day.

The Journey's End: Reflection and Celebration

As the journey through Christmas Day culminates, take a moment to reflect on the memories made and the flavours savoured. Just as every turn of the journey brings us back to where we began, raise a glass of your favourite brew and toast to the spirit of the day—a journey filled with love, laughter, and perfectly paired beers. If Untappd is anything to go by, your favourite beer is the same as ours. Our highest ever rated beer, Dark & Perilous Nights, made a comeback this year and is the perfect way to see out the day with an evening sipper.

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