It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Beers 11-13

I haven't posted about my daily beers since Thursday, but rest assured, I've been keeping pace with my beer advent calendar.  Beer #11 was a "Sabro hopped oatmeal stout" called Batch Two Was Better! from another local brewery, Alarmist.  I love oatmeal stouts, but this one was hopped up enough that I didn't love it.

-Name:  Batch Two Was Better!

-Brewery:  Alarmist Brewing

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  7.0%

-IBU:  N/A

-Good for drinking if:  For some reason you want an oatmeal stout to be hoppy while you're watching the comedic results of a flatulent horse.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Beer #12 was a "festive red ale" from one of my favorite local breweries, Maplewood, which is one of the nearest breweries to where I live.  The beer is called Royal Tannenbaum, which might be my new favorite name for a winter beer, even if the hoppiness and spruce tips weren't particularly appealing to my palate.  If you're a fan of dark, heavy beers (as I am), Maplewood has some really good ones, like their Cuppa series (my favorite is the Cuppa Stuffff, which is an imperial stout that tastes like Oreos), Fat Pug (their milk stout), Morbidly Obese Pug (their imperial milk stout), Krispie Cakes (which isn't dark or particularly heavy, but tastes like Rice Kripsie treats), and Silver Morning (their winter doppelbock).

-Name:  Royal Tannenbaum

-Brewery:  Maplewood Brewing Co.

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  6.6%

-IBU:  N/A

-Good for drinking if:  You died tragically rescuing your family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.25

Beer #13 was a classic:  Boulevard's Unfiltered Wheat.  It's a great, hazy American wheat beer, which, at 4.4%, is definitely crushable.  I love a good wheat beer, and this is no exception.

-Name:  Unfiltered Wheat

-Brewery:  Boulevard Brewing Co.

-Location:  Kansas City, MO

-ABV:  4.4%

-IBU:  14

-Good for drinking if:  You're looking for a refreshing break from the heft of winter beers.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4