Milk And Cookies? This Year Try To LeaVe Santa One Of These Milk Stouts Instead!

15 Dec Milk And Cookies? This Year Try To LeaVe Santa One Of These Milk Stouts Instead!

Posted at 18:50h in 18th Street Brewery, Black Acre Brewing Co., Danny Boy Beer Works, Flat 12 Bierwerks, Musings, Uncategorized, Wooden Bear Brewing by Justin Knepp 0 Comments

By Writing Community Member Steve Williams

Ready or not, Christmas is coming. In fact, its next week! For a lot of families, Christmas is filled with lifelong traditions. Growing up, I remember leaving milk and cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve. If your Santa is anything like me, he’d prefer to get his dose of lactose through a local milk stout rather than a lukewarm glass of 2%. Whether you’re prepping for Santa, prepping for your holiday party, or picking up a last minute gift for the craft beer fan in your life, here’s a list of some of the best Milk Stouts available in Indiana right now.

18th Street – Hunter Double Milk Stout
18th street’s rendition of the milk stout has your typical chocolate sweetness, and it also brings vanilla and caramel to the party. What you’ll also notice from 18h street is a hoppy bitterness from Warrior and Cascade hops. A hoppy milk stout is typically an oxymoron, so if you’re an IPA lover trying to make the winter transition, this one might become your go-to choice. But be warned, most milk stouts are low ABV. With those hops comes a 8.7% ABV price tag, so enjoy conservatively. 18th street is a bit of a drive from Indianapolis, but you can find the original in 22oz bombers if you search around for it at your local stores.

Black Acre – Chai Guy Chai Tea Milk Stout
Black Acre is another local brewery doing something unique with a Milk Stout. They’ve taken the traditionally sweet chocolatey drink and added a dose of Chai. The Chai is more herbal than anything else, so you get it straight away when you grab your glass. These modifications also led to a slightly elevated 5.8% ABV but a standard 28 IBUs. You can pick this one up at the brewery for $5 / pint or $12/growler. As a bonus, they have a CSA program which starts December 28. For $125 you get a Black Acre specialty flip top growler and a fill, included, for 12 consecutive weeks. The CSA is limited so get there ASAP if you’re interested.

Now that we’ve covered two non-traditional options around town, we can dive into the local options around Indianapolis that are true to the definition of a Milk Stout.

Danny Boy – Take me to “Church” Irish Milk Stout (on Nitro)
If you’ve never been to Danny Boy, just follow your GPS. I know, it looks like Pleasantville in that Carmel neighborhood, but its there. Look for the garage doors and large patio, that’s when you know you found it. Danny Boy was new on the brewery scene earlier this year and they seem to be doing a lot right with their beers. This specific beer has a lot of sentimental value for the owner and brewers, so they really put their heart and soul into it. It was originally only available on Nitro, but it is now available as both a Nitro and CO2. I’d highly recommend the Nitro version (4.2% ABV, 22IBUs) if you are visiting the brewery for a pint. It is incredibly smooth, sweet, and has an amazing mouth feel from the Nitro pour. Of all the Milk Stouts I tasted, this one was the most repeatable. Unfortunately, you can’t take a growler of that with you. So enjoy a pint of Nitro while you wait for them to fill you growler with the CO2 version.

Flat 12 – Lacto-Matic Milk Stout
Lacto-Matic, in my opinion, is the standard Milk Stout for Indy. “Malty and rich. Hints of chocolate and the nice roasty finish of coffee complement a milk-sugar sweetness that gives body and a full mouthfeel.” It checks in at 5.0% ABV and 28.6IBUs. It is available all over the city in bottles (even at grocery stores), but you can pick it up in growlers and bottles at the brewery too. If you stop in to the brewery on Wednesday or Friday you can pick up discounted packaged beers for $7.99.

Wooden Bear Brewing – “Milk Stout”
The last Milk Stout currently available in Indy, at the time of my research, is Wooden Bear’s “Milk Stout”. It doesn’t have a name, so you order it by style. Located about 20 miles east of downtown, the Greenfield brewery slings this sweet, rich, and chocolatey Milk Stout for 5 / Pint or ‘$12/ Growler. Most of the Wooden Bear beers clock a pretty high ABV, and this is no exception at 5.6% ABV and 24 IBUs. It is smooth and easily drinkable.

With the ever growing number of breweries in Indiana, I’m sure there are more than I’ve listed. But, these are available at the date of this article, so hurry to the closest brewery and avoid being on Santa’s naughty list.