21 Michigan winter beers worth drinking this season

Axle Ruby
Style: Red IPA
ABV: 7.1%
With a rich malt backbone and generous additions of Centennial, Ruby is the kind of beer non-IPA drinkers are talking about when they make that sad face and tell you it tastes like a pine cone. Massive resinous characteristics and a robust body make this a great cold weather brew.

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree
Style: Triple/Imperial IPA
ABV: 12.0%
Dark Horse Crooked Tree is among a small handful of brews which have become staples in the Michigan IPA drinker’s cellar — and that itself is an elite distinction. So for the annual release of its much bigger brother, Dark Horse dialled it up to an enormous 12% monster of a beer.

Bell’s Winter White
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5.0%
While this Bell’s brew is lighter on the alcohol by volume scale (a respectable 5.0%) there is no denying that Winter White Ale is the ultimate winter beer. It’s a great winter beer for drinkers who don’t want anything too heavy. It’s light and has a great aroma of cloves and cinnamon.

Short's Juicy Tree
Style: Experimental IPA
ABV: 7.5%
With blue spruce tips and cranberry, this IPA actually tastes like a Christmas tree. The addition of Juniper berries gives it a distinct gin-like quality. Juicy Tree is a holiday seasonal but bottles are still floating around the Detroit area — grab some while you can.

Milkshake Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 5%
This beer doesn’t even taste like beer, honestly. It’s smooth, rich, and may we suggest a scoop of ice cream to go with it?

Geyser Brown
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 7.2%
Hailing from Gonzo’s Biggdogg Brewing in Kalamazoo, this brown ale has chocolate and caramel undertones that just scream winter.

Founders Azacca
Style: Single-Hop IPA
ABV: 7.0%
IPA’s which feature a single hop variety are perhaps the best way to illustrate their incredibly diverse range of aromas and flavor profiles. Like their core offering Centennial, Founders’ new limited-release IPA is an excellent showcase for the juicy, tropical characteristics of the Azacca hop. Its pleasant dryness is perfectly balanced, creating the harmonious blend of components we would expect from Founders.

Short’s Good Humans
Style: Imperial Brown Ale
ABV: 9.1%
Hold on to your boot straps for this one friends! Short’s Good Humans comes in at a whopping 9.1%. It’s described as a “dry hop double brown ale”, so it pretty much has something for the hop lovers and the brown ale lovers.

Vanilla Porter Ale
Style: Porter
ABV: 7.0%
Another brew from Gonzo’s BiggDogg, this Vanilla Porter is one of the best ones we’ve ever tasted. It’s sweet, rich, smooth, and has a fantastic blend of chocolate and vanilla.

Arcadia Hop Rocket
Style: Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.0%
Following the cue of their neighbors at Bell's Brewing, Kalamazoo’s Arcadia Ales have released their own double IPA for the coldest months. At a hefty 9% alcohol by volume, this one can stand up to the even the harshest of Michigan winters.

Bell’s Cherry Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 7.0%
Bell’s uses cherries that are grown in Traverse City so this beer is 100% Michigan-made.

Motor City Brewing Works Winter Ale
Style: Barley Wine Ale
ABV: 8.8%
The beer is describes as full and malty with an ABV that will keep you warm all winter long. At 8.8% we’d have to agree!

Rochester Mills Brewing Co’s Blueberry Pancake Stout
Style: Stout-Milk & Sweet
ABV: 5.2%
This specialty stout is very similar to the Milkshake Stout that Rochester Mills is so very famous for. If you’re not a fan of stouts than this isn’t up your alley, but man, this brew is very special and perfect for a winter day.

Roak Chestnut Head
Style: Chestnut Maple Porter
ABV: 6.8%
Inspired by Michigan winters of cracking Chestnuts and sitting by a warm fire, this chestnut maple porter is a great winter beer, plus it’s brewed right in metro Detroit at Roak.

Bell’s Two Hearted
Style: IPA
ABV: 7%
Sure, Two Hearted is pretty accessible all year round, but there’s no denying that this classic IPA is great during the cold winter months.

Latitude 42’s Lucifer’s Cuvée
Style: Double Chocolate Stout
ABV: 8.4%
Whoever decided to pair chocolate and beer together deserves all the awards that will ever be handed out for all of eternity. Not only is this a fantastic chocolate stout from Latitude 42’s Brewing Company in Portage, MI — but it’s a DOUBLE chocolate stout. Savor this one, my friends.

Petoskey Brewing Super Trooper
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 7.3%
Petoskey Brewing has been slowly killing it with their new brews, and Super Trooper is no exception. This brown ale is brewed with Colombian coffee grounds and local donuts from Petoskey. How great does that sound?

Huma Lupa Licious
Style IPA
ABV: 7.7%
Sometimes this IPA from short’s will beat out Two Hearted just because it has a slightly higher ABV than the Bell’s brew. Great for the winter.

Milo’s World Famous IPA
Style: IPA
ABV: 6.9%
Harsens Island Brewer know what what the hell they’re doing, especially with this IPA. With a brown color and a cherrywood flavor, this beer will have you feeling good over the winter.

Batch 1000: Imp Dwarf
Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 10.1%
They are not messing around with this beer at Detroit Beer Co. It’s dark, has a huge ABV, and will leave you wanting more.