1. Friend of HOPS! Metropolitan Brewing
has had its beers out on the market for almost a year now, and most Chicagoland beer geeks have tried their three regular offerings: Dynamo, Flywheel and Krankshaft. Well, this winter Doug and Tracy will be releasing their first seasonal: Generator Doppelbock. I had the pleasure of trying a test batch, and if the final product is even tastier than what I sampled this is going to be one delicious Doppelbock. The first batch will be draught only, so all the more reason to meet up at your local watering hole for some holiday cheer! [Full disclosure: Doug and Tracy Hurst are former (maybe even current?) members of HOPS! and several members are investors in Metropolitan, though I am not.]2. Lakefront Brewing often finds itself in the shadow
of New Glarus when it comes to Wisconsin breweries (and that's more a testimony to New Glarus than a slight to Lakefront), but their Holiday Spice Lager is second to nobody. I generally don't like my holiday beers too heavily spiced, and feared that a clean lager would only further accentuate the spices, but I was wrong. This is one smooth beer, and deceptively smooth at 11% ABV. Want to be the hero of the holiday party? Bring a sixer of this stuff and you won't need any stinkin' mistletoe.3. Okay, this is really five beers in
one, but Dark Horse Brewery just released the first of its five seasonal stouts. To be honest, I missed the first two last year and only got to enjoy Tres (a blueberry stout), Fore (a smoked stout) and Plead the 5th (an incredible Russian imperial stout). However, given how great each of those were, I'm looking forward to trying One (an oatmeal stout) and Too (a sweet stout) as well this year. Together these five beers really showcase the range of flavors that fall under the general term "stout."So those are a few of the beers on my radar this late fall/winter. What are you looking forward to cracking open in front of a roaring fire?
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