Today’s Advent beer pick comes to us from New York and the venerable Brooklyn Brewery, established in 1988 and not only an award-winning craft brewer but also the first (I believe) to expand into Europe (Sweden to be exact, as announced at the beginning of this year).

Their Winter Ale is a Scottish-style Ale at 6.1% abv that would be a perfect accompaniment to the season.

When the days grow short and the beach recedes into our dreams, we need a very nice beer to get us through the long winter. Based on the satisfying malty ales of blustery Scotland, Brooklyn Winter Ale will have you looking on the bright side of things. Rich Scottish malts bring deep bready flavors to a beer with a full copper color, a round, smooth palate, and brisk hopping that pulls the sweet malts into balance. See – things are looking up already!

And as befitting a beer from Garret Oliver, there are some extensive pairing recommendations as well:

Brooklyn Winter Ale is great with robust winter foods such as stews, steaks, lamb, game, duck, pork, barbecue, and it’s a very nice match for a wide variety of fine cheeses, particularly farmhouse cheddar, Stilton, Gruyere and sheep’s milk cheeses. And should you decide to enjoy a cigar in your favorite armchair in front of the fireplace, this beer will play along very nicely.

Untappd. Facebook. BeerAdvocate. RateBeer.