Brewery – Sonder
Beer – Kenosha Kickers
Style – Apple StreusALE
ABV – 7.5%

A festive ale with notes of Golden Delicious apple, cinnamon, and brown sugar glaze, with a clean & merry finish

Story: With Wisconsin roots inside the brewery, Kenosha Kickers pays homage to Wisconsin and the movie Home Alone where the Kenosha Kickers help the parents get home to see their son in Chicago

Look… if you’re anything close to a fan of Christmas movies, this one will certainly ring a bell for you. Named after a fictional band in a famous movie featuring McCauley Caulkin, it screams loudly Christmas seasonal joy every year.

The beer made its debut on draft and in cans for the 2018 season and became a smash hit almost immediately. 2020 saw some, well… political stuff happening around Kenosha and the brewery thought it might be best to change the name to not offend any of their loyal customers, which birthed one year of “This Beer Is Named After The Polka Band From A 1990’s Christmas Movie” – It didn’t have quite the same ring to it, but none-the-less, I was happy to see the beer not get scrapped altogether.

For 2021, the brewery brought the beer back to its original name, and even debuted a limited run of a barrel-aged version as well as a special ‘Cobbler Pie’ variant of it, as well. I’m excited to see what fun things that they come up with for this seasonal favorite in years to come!

You can usually find it in the taproom and in local bottle shops from October to December!

My Thoughts On Kenosha Kickers

This beer has quickly become one of my favorite Christmas beers locally. It’s bold… and I mean that in a very good way. It doesn’t shy away from big Christmas flavors… which I always appreciate out of a beer this time of year!

In the glass, the beer is murky, dark orangish-brown colored. It isn’t exactly a pretty beer.

Aromas leap forward out of the glass, though, making its intention very clear. Apple and cinnamon swirl through the air in a blast of seasonal deliciousness.

The flavor is a wild blend of apple cider and beer. It’s sweet, cinnamon-y, and that puckering fresh apple taste is right in the front of it all.

It’s absolutely wonderful – maybe slightly tacky – and I think that’s what I enjoy so much about it. Like the movie itself, it’s become a big part of how I celebrate this time of year.