Beer and the Holidays

Whether it's Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Celebrated Kwanzaa or Felix Navidad there is no gift higher for the high holidays than beer. Great lagers and ales are great spirits to put people in great spirits at the end of the year.

Ales seem to be best suited for the holidays. The lighter-bodied nature of some lagers doesn't quite hold up to the heartiness and fortitude required to withstand Chicago winters.

The best brewers are artists, masters of ingredients and temperature. Like any good chef, they use what is fresh and on hand. Holiday beers are often strong in body and spirit and may include products of the harvest -- nuts and spices -- remembrances of the colors and flavors of fall.

Kwanzaa enjoyed is all about The Local, family, community and self, with purpose, creativity and faith. One of the seven principles of Kwanzaa is Ujamaa, or cooperative economics. Buying the wares of your local brewer helps those around you and, in turn, they will support you.

Whip up a beer batter for your fish fry with a luscious lager. Or add some to your next batch of veggie chili.

Slip some stout into your next scratch cake or use it to deglaze your roast pan as a gravy base.

Local brew houses proudly feature limited releases of seasonal beers. Try Bell's Holiday Ale, a riff off a

Scottish Ale. Two Brothers makes an Imperial Stout they call Northwind.