Genesee Brewery Lights A Towering Beer Keg Christmas Tree

Thousands gathered on a cold night in downtown Rochester, New York last week to await the lighting of an enormous Christmas tree made out of hundreds of beer kegs.

And not surprisingly the illumination of the only beer keg Christmas tree in the nation proved to be an event worth toasting.

Here’s the deal…

For five years running Genesee Brewing has built this festive monument to beer and Christmas. And every year they keep increasing the size of the holiday keg tree, adding more layers and lights to the truly unusual spectacle.

This year, the Genesee keg tree stands at 27ft and consists of 520 beer kegs, up from the 430 used last year.

Now with 12 layers, the one-of-a-kind tree is decorated with 20,000 lights and its lighting last Friday drew a one-of-a-kind crowd who weathered the cold conditions many of them no doubt warmed by a special Keg Tree Ale which was crafted by Genesee to mark the occasion.

If you missed last Friday’s lighting the 6% ABV Cream Ale, is currently available on draft (and in Crowlers or growlers) at the Genesee Brew House, where it’s served with a fresh cinnamon stick garnish to ensure that things stay seasonal.

According to Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle the special ale, which was crafted by Genesee Brew House brewmaster Dean Jones, comes at the tail end of Genesee’s year-long 140th anniversary where he resurrected a classic Genesee recipe for each month.

What a way to end the year,” Jones told the paper. “We’ve won a World Beer Cup medal this year, a Great American Beer Festival medal this year. …This has been an absolute dream come true. It’s a blast.”