It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Last Three Beers

I've been slacking on posting, and I'm still one beer behind, but I vow to you that I will catch up at some point.  Anywho, here are the last three beer advent calendar beers.

Beer #7 was from a Midwestern holiday beer juggernaut, Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing.  Their Christmas Ale is one of the best around, but that's pretty widely available (though I wouldn't have complained if it was an advent calendar selection), so perhaps that's why the purveyors of my advent calendar went with a different Great Lakes option:  Cookie Exchange Milk Stout.  I had never had this one before, but according to the can, it's a seasonal milk stout "brewed with a rotating cookie-inspired flavor."  Given the can, I assume this version was inspired by frosted sugar cookies, and the beer was definitely sweet, with some hints of vanilla.

Name:  Cookie Exchange Milk Stout

Brewery:  Great Lakes Brewing Company

Location:  Cleveland, OH

ABV:  5.5%

IBU:  15

Good for drinking if:  You want dessert in a can, rather than in solid form.

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

Beer #8 came courtesy of one of my favorite breweries, Maplewood, located only a couple miles from where I live.  Silver Morning is their winter doppelbock, and it's fantastic.  Malty and caramelly, this is just a great bock and a perfect fall/winter beer.

Name:  Silver Morning

Brewery:  Maplewood Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.8%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're riding the high of a Bears' winning streak, while at the same time lamenting the fact that without two choke jobs earlier in the season, they would be in the thick of the playoff hunt.  Oh, and you have Rainbow's "Man On the Silver Mountain" in your head.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5

Beer #9 is a local Chicago holiday favorite, Revolution's Fistmas.  It's a red ale with ginger and orange peel.  I feel like they must change up the recipe, as some years it's hoppier than others.  This is one of the hoppy years.  It's still good, but just a little too hoppy for a red ale, at least for my liking.

Name:  Fistmas

Brewery:  Revolution Brewing

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.5%

IBU:  31

Good for drinking if:  Your forearms look like you have smallpox from putting lights and ornaments on your very pokey Christmas tree.

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