A Nice Winter Dozen

One of my perennial holiday favorites has just landed in my beer fridge: Saranac's 12 Beers of Winter, and it's the first time in memory that each beer in the box is a personal palate pleaser. This year's half dozen pairs include their Bohemian Pilsner, Rye IPA, Vanilla Stout, Big Moose Ale (an American pale ale), and two new creations, Lake Effect Lager and India Copper Ale.

So far I've sampled a few of them: the pilsner is nice and crisp, with enough malt to prevent one's teeth from chattering; the Big Moose is a good cousin to a Sierra Nevada pale ale, a good balance of big hop bite and malt in the back; the lager is nice enough, a bit darker than a Yuengling, but missing the nutty finish of Vitamin Y; I like the Rye IPA most of all so far, with a decent hop bite and an earthy rye flavor that makes it a good choice for a hoagie, cheesesteak or burger pairing.

I'll be sampling the Vanilla Stout tonight in our weekly beer chat, The NO BULL INN, on http://www.starchat.net/ at 11 PM EST, Tonight's get-together will be all about stouts. Hope you can bring one to our chat and join in! It's a blast, with beer drinkers from coast to coast.

Grab a couple of these Saranac 12-packs this winter. It's their strongest holiday lineup in quite a a few years. Cheers!