Best Winter Beers In Sacramento

Winter is just around the corner, and that means bundling up in your favorite sweaters, good eats with friends around the fireplace, cozying up with loved ones during Monday Night Football and staying warm. Thankfully ,California isn't as harsh a place for cold weather as some parts of the world, although a forty-minute drive will bring you to snowy locations. But that doesn't mean our local beer isn't worse for the wear. As a matter of fact, Sacramento boasts some of the best beers around. Have a look at some of the best winter beers Sacramento has to offer.

New Helvetia Brewing Co.'s Mystery Airship 2.0-Second Sighting
1730 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 469-9889
www.NewHelvetiaBrew.com

New Helvietia Brewing Co's best beer for the winter season has to be Mystery Airship 2.0-Second Sighting (try saying that ten times fast). It's a classic double chocolate porter through and through that has been brewed in collaboration with local chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth. Take a sip, and you'll definitely taste strong hints of cinnamon, Tahitian vanilla beans, Pasilla peppers and ginger (freshly cut). And of course, you'll get a strong hint of chocolate. If you especially love dark chocolate, you won't be disappointed.

New Glory Craft Beer's Winter Oatmeal Stout
8251 Alpine Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95826
(916) 760-8306
www.NewGloryBeer.com

If it's the ideal winter beer that you're looking for from New Glory Craft Beer, look no further than their Winter Oatmeal Stout. With an alcohol content of 5.5 percent by volume, the alcohol definitely will not overpower the cornucopia of taste that awaits your taste buds. This particular stout is plenty hearty and rich, perfect for a cold night. Take a sip and you'll immediately find notes of dark coffee and cream paired with a nice oatmeal cookie aftertaste. Oatmeal Stout goes down silky smooth and will have you wanting for more.

Track Seven Brewing Co.'s Riot Act Rye IPA
3747 West Pacific Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95820
(916) 520-4677
www.Track7Brewing.com

Track Seven Brewing was one of the first big breweries to make its mark in Sacramento, and as such, has established a faithful following to its taproom favorites. For winter, their seasonal beer doesn't disappoint. Dubbed the Riot Act Rye IPA, it's a rye ale that's suitable for any hearty winter dinner. With eleven hops that combine earthy tones, a citrus hop and what they call a "rustic spice of rye malt," it's plenty flavorful. First released in 2012, this beer has remained a winter favorite ever since.

Related:  Best Fall Craft Beers In Sacramento

Twelve Rounds Brewing Co.'s Knock-Out Stout
866 57th St.
Sacramento, CA 95819
(916) 476-5384
www.twelveroundbrewing.com

There's only one seasonal winter beer that takes the cake from Twelve Rounds Brewing, and it has to be their Knock-Out Stout. With 5.2 percent alcohol by volume, it certainly isn't the most alcoholic of beers and won't literally knock you out, but the flavors just might. Knock-Out Stout is your classic dark chocolate stout with plenty of cocoa, chocolate malt and coffee malt flavors intermixed. When this beer was submitted to the 2011 California State Fair, it took first place, with second place not even coming close.

American River Brewing Company's Deep Six Stout
11151 Trade Center Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(916) 635-2537
www.americariverbrewco.com

American River Brew Co. has their Deep Six Stout, which conveys what they call, "the essence of winter seasonal brew." Deep in color, dark in both light dispersion and flavor as well as intense, Deep Six does not disappoint. Although rich, it's plenty balanced and combines an Irish-style stout with six different malts to give you a depth of winter beer you'll come to appreciate. An honorable mention is their Rock Hound Barleywine, also perfect for cold days.

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Paulo Acoba is a California native raised in the Bay Area and living in the Central Valley. He enjoys distance running, cycling and grassroots motorsports. He holds a degree in management from the University of California Merced. Paulo has been writing for Examiner.com since 2012 and covering the Fresno area.