As craft beer becomes more prevalent, so does its most popular ingredient, the hop. Many people recognize the hop as the truly differential factor between craft beer and the more common light American lagers. But what does it mean to describe a beer as ‘hoppy?’ Hoppy is often used as a synonym for the word ‘bitter,’ but there are plenty of beers that use loads of hops and don’t taste the least bit bitter. So, does ‘hoppy’ even mean anything at all? First, it’s important to know what the purpose of hops are in a beer.

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5 Craft Beers Worth Saving For New Year’s. bit.ly/sPVA6R

— Foodrepublic.com (@foodrepublic) December 28, 2011

Great suggestions from Food Republic. All of the suggested beers are very unique beers in that they are attempting to be a sort of “champagne beer,” either by using champagne yeast, being blended with wine, or using “Brett” bacteria to give it some wine-like tartiness.

Nothing says celebration like a Belgian beer made by monks. This is my go-to special occasion beer. It’s a very good, balanced beer that pleases everyone, even the non-beer drinker types.

A very full flavored, robust beer. If you can’t find the BELGO version (which is very likely since it is only brewed every other year), then get it’s non-Belgian yeast-fermented, slightly less awesome brother. 

Brewed once a year, specifically for Christmas and New Year’s. Well spiced without being overdone.

Being released today at Khoury’s Fine Wine! Either drink it this New Year’s or age it a year and drink it next year before the world ends!