- Julia Thiel
Round two of tasting Christmas and winter beers, and still no St. Bernardus or Corsendonk in sight. I know I’m headed straight for hell for that sin against the beer gods, but I was more interested in trying locally made brews than the already established kings of the mountain. Not all of these are strictly local—it’s more of a midwestern beer round-up than a Chicago one—but with the exception of Hoppin’ Frog in Akron, Ohio, all the breweries are within about a 30-mile radius of Chicago. I got all the rambling about what defines a Christmas beer (or winter beer) out of the way with last week’s post, so here are the contenders—listed from least favorite to most.
Lake Effect Kiwi Snow: The label specifies that no kiwi fruit is added to this pale ale (or kiwi birds, presumably, though there’s one skiing across the label). It’s a bright, lemony wheat beer with grassy notes, a bit of grapefruit, and a savory, herbaceous finish that lingers on the back of your tongue.
