Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Winter Beers

Winter is my favorite beer season of year.  Generally speaking, my favorite types of beers are porters, stouts, and dark ales, and my least favorite types of beers are IPAs.  Fuck IPAs, and fuck hops.  It needed to be said. 

But anyway, many breweries put out seasonal beers in the winter, and I go apeshit.  My wife's one and only failing is that she sometimes lets me go to the liquor store by myself between mid-November and mid-January.  I can't resist the winter beer displays, and I usually return home with at least three or four six-packs and three or four bombers.  Other than fantasy jai alai, autoerotic asphyxiation, and betting on royal baby names, it's my only vice.

My goal this December is drink at least one beer a day, preferably a seasonal beer.  So far, I have succeeded, and the only thing stopping me from reaching my goal is if the world runs out of beer.  If that happens, rest assured we'll all be dead by my hand.

Back in 2010, I posted a list of my then-favorite winter beers.  As it tends to happen, I have had many more beers since then, thanks in large part to my favorite bar, Rocks, having the 12 Beers of Christmas each December, wherein, if you drink 12 of their 15-20 seasonal beers during the month of December, you get a t-shirt.  Some years I have gotten two, and I see no shame in that.

Rather than try to limit myself to my ten favorite winter beers, I am going to rank them as I have done on my two beer rating apps (and yes, I have two beer rating apps -- BrewGene and Untappd), on a five-star scale, and give you the list of 4-, 4.5-, and 5-star beers.  If it's not on the list below, it's either because I haven't had it, don't remember having it, or didn't think it garnered at least four stars.

5 stars

Bell's Christmas Ale.  Apparently, I have discerning taste because this is the only 5-star winter beer in my apps.  It is quite delicious.

4.5 stars

Anchor Christmas Ale

Avery Old Jubilation Ale

Breckinridge Christmas Ale

Breckinridge Vanilla Porter

Dark Horse Fore Smoked Stout

Goose Island Christmas Ale.  This is one of the several breweries that change up their winter beer recipe each year.  Some years it's a 4.5, and some years it's a 4 (see this year's offering, Sixth Day, below), but it's always good.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale

He'Brew Jewbelation.  This is a tricky one to categorize because, each year, Shmaltz Brewing releases a different He'Brew Jewbelation, increasing the ABV by 1% each year.  This year is the 17th year they have done that, so the ABV is 17%.  I haven't yet had it, but based on the several past years, I'm sure I will like it.

Magic Hat Howl.  I don't think Magic Hat makes this anymore, which is a damn shame.

New Holland Cabin Fever

Two Brothers North-Wind Russian Imperial Stout

Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale

Samuel Adams The Vixen Chocolate Chili Bock.  I'm not entirely sure this was a seasonal beer, but it was one of Samuel Adams's limited run bombers a couple years ago, and I bought it near Christmas, so I will include it.

Smuttynose Winter Ale

4 stars

Abita Christmas Ale

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice

Bell's Winter White Ale

Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Christian Morlein Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale

Dark Horse 4 Elf Winter Ale

Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout

Dark Horse Thirsty Trout Porter

Dark Horse Too Cream Stout

Delirium Noel

Goose Island Sixth Day

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Harpoon Winter Warmer

Hinterland Winterland

Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale

Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Lost Abbey 10 Commandments

Magic Hat Heart of Darkness

Samuel Adams Black & Brew Coffee Stout

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter.  I was not happy to see that this was excluded from this year's Samuel Adams winter sampler pack.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome

Shiner Holiday Cheer

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Two Brothers The More The Merrier

Wittekerke Winter White Ale

As always, I'm happy to take any recommendations.