It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Next Four Beers (Again)

I'm still a couple beers behind, but here are the last four advent calendar beers I had.

Beer #10 was from another of my favorite local breweries, More, whose flagship location is in Huntley (which is about 40-45 miles northwest of Chicago).  This one was Praga Nocturne, a Czech-style dark lager.  I love Czech dark lagers, and it's not a style you see much in the States, unfortunately.  This was expectedly good -- malty and crisp at the same time.

Name:  Praga Nocturne

Brewery:  More Brewing Company

Location:  Huntley, IL

ABV:  5.2%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want to enjoy the warm embrace of kith and kin.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Number 11 was kind of a mind fuck from Akron's excellent Hoppin' Frog.  Named Chocolate Orange Stocking Stuffer -- with a chocolate orange gracing the label and it's 7% -- I assumed it was going to be a stout.  I was particularly excited about this because Goose Island's Midnight Orange Bourbon County Stout variant from 2018 is one of my favorite beers, so I'm always looking for another great chocolate orange stout.  You can imagine my shock when I poured it into my glass and it looked like a light wheat beer.  I thought maybe it was going to be a white stout (also a mind fuck), but then I read the back of the label and realized it's a shandy!  I have nothing against shandies, especially when they're 7%.  I kid you not, this tasted like Zima.  And I don't say that in a bad way.  I think I might have discovered what flavors when into Zima.  This whole time, it was chocolate and orange.

Name:  Chocolate Orange Stocking Stuffer

Brewery:  Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company

Location:  Akron, OH

ABV:  7.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're cousin-in-law is on your diving board, but can't swim.

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

The next beer in the advent calendar was a more traditional winter beer, from local brewery Hopewell.  The aptly named Winter Lager was a nice malty, slightly sweet lager with some winter spices.  All in all, a great winter beer.

Name:  Winter Lager

Brewery:  Hopewell Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're decorating a pine tree you temporarily upended your living space to accommodate.

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

Beer #14 was from another one of my favorite local breweries, Pipeworks.  Unfortunately, this one was an IPA from their "Vs. Unicorn" series.  Abominable Snowman Vs. Unicorn is at least a hazy IPA, which I like better than traditional IPAs.  This one has Idaho Z Mosate and Cryo Simcoe hops, whatever that means.

Name:  Abominable Snowman Vs. Unicorn

Brewery:  Pipeworks Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  7.6%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You are glad to be in a structure with central heat, rather than at an outdoor stadium in Pittsburgh.

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