It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Lakefront Holiday Spice and 21st Amendment Fireside Chat

Lakefront Holiday Spice

I failed to post anything last night because I was too busy watching my Hoosiers get murdered by Duke, and then I went to a concert to try to take my mind off of what I had just seen.  Before I left my house, I shared a bomber of Lakefront Holiday Spice with some comrades.  It's a lager, but at 9.6% ABV, it's unlike any other lager -- dark, heavy, and full of holiday spices, like clove and cinnamon, as well as orange zest and honey.  This is definitely a beer that you want to share because, if you take down a whole bomber by yourself, odds are you won't be able to get up from the couch, and if you can, you'll probably be slow dancing with yourself.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Name:  Holiday Spice
Brewery:  Lakefront Brewery
Location:  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
ABV: 9.6%
IBU:  19
Good for drinking if:  you need some help to quickly forget that your alma mater's once-ranked basketball team is looking like it is going to cause you a hell of a lot of frustration over the next three months
Rating (out of 5 stars):  4.25

21st Amendment Fireside Chat

Saturday marks the 82nd anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed prohibition.  That night in 1933 must have been a hell of a good time.  I probably should have saved 21st Amendment's Fireside Chat for Saturday, but this was the first thing I saw in my fridge, so I grabbed it.  Named after FDR's legendary radio addresses to the American public, Fireside Chat is a classic winter ale.  It's strong (7.9% ABV), it has some spice (but not too much), and it's dangerously easy to drink.  I like it a lot.

Name:  Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale
Brewery:  21st Amendment Brewery
Location:  San Francisco, California
ABV: 7.9%
IBU:  45
Good for drinking if:  you hate polio, but still want to see if you can drink yourself into a polio-like state of paralysis.  Too soon?

Rating (out of 5 stars):  4.25