Five Beers on Friday - Chrismas

Merry Christmas everyone! In the air you can feel the holiday cheer and in my fridge you'll find some holiday beer. For this Five Beers on Friday I have put together a list of five Christmas style or winter style ales that I have enjoyed recently. Having five of these darker full flavored brews will make it much easier to get through the day with family.

ONE
Boreal Winter - Lakes & Legends

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I'm starting off with a beer from the brewery that I work at, Lakes & Legends, because why wouldn't I. This is one of two seasonal beers that we have on tap and it is going fast. It is a winter warmer ale that is packed full of flavor with strong roasty and dark chocolate notes. A friend of mine had a blind taste test of ten different stouts with a group of nine other people and this beer took the prize as crowd favorite. If you need to drown out your younger cousins quickly this one will help with an ABV of 10.1%.

TWO
Milk Stout Nitro - Left Hand

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I am loving all of the breweries that are experimenting with adding nitrogen to their canned and bottled beers. It creates a smoother and creamier head that you would only think to find straight from the tap. Left Hand Brewing Company out in Longmont, CO was the first American brewery to bottle a nitro beer with their milk stout back in 2011. This beer is so amazing! It is so smooth and refreshing. I won't say much more than to tell you to just go out and buy it right now.

THREE
Snowdrift Vanilla Porter - Leinenkugel's

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I have a great fondness for my hometown brewery, Leinenkugel's. Even though I am slightly biased, I believe their Snowdrift Vanilla Porter is a top notch beer that can stand up against any other winter beer. It has a strong vanilla flavor that is complemented with chocolate and coffee notes. I have this every year and I've never been able to limit myself to just one.

FOUR
Winter Ale - Summit

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Summit's Winter Ale is a nice introduction to the winter warmer category. It is approachable with a medium body, a slight hoppy spice, and some sweet caramel flavors. A nice easy drinker that I compare more to a brown/amber ale than a stout/porter.

FIVE
Canneberge - Lakes & Legends (cranberry saison)

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While this technically isn't a winter or Christmas style ale, the Canneberge is a cranberry saison that is the second of our two seasonals at Lakes & Legends. The cranberries were actually harvested from Minnesota's only commercial cranberry bog making it a true farmhouse style ale with a farm-to-glass approach. This has been a huge hit and it may actually be gone already (there were only two kegs left on Tuesday). It has a slight tartness from the cranberries and a little saison spice to complement. This beer is a perfect pair with a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. A pocket full of money and a cellar full of beer!