By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Dec 02, 2010 at 4:03 PM

Christmas is a great time of year for beer lovers. With so many seasonal beers popping up around fall and winter, the holidays offer enough brew options to fill Santa's bag twice over.

With fall behind us, your local liquor store is probably flush with winter ales and stouts. While brewers across the world get into the Christmas spirit releasing their own winter brews, Wisconsin has plenty of yule tide options to keep your palette satisfied and wet. Here are five suggestions to get you started and please head to the talkbacks with your suggestions. Happy holidays and bottoms up.

Capital Brewery Winter Skal

This amber hued micro-brew from Middleton is all about smooth hops. Just a crisp and delicious beer to sip on a cold winter night. Hit up the company website for a recipe for onion soup that uses the Winter Skal, for those nights when Jack Frost is really nipping at you.

Sprecher Winter Brew

You are only going to find this full bodied Munich bock during the months of December through February. A blend of dark roasted and sweet carmel malts with hints of coffee and nuts that triggers memories of other holiday tastes and will have you running to the open fire with those chestnuts.

Hinterland Winterland

This is one handsomely packaged tasty dark porter that packs a lot of flavor into its pint-sized bottle. Coffee and chocolate are a couple of the pronounced tastes. Brewed with juniper berries, this beer will leave you with a slightly bitter aftertaste, not unlike that sweater your mother-in-law gave you you for Christmas last year.

Lakefront Holiday Spice Lager

If visions of sugar plums dance through your head, this is the winter brew for you. Brewed with cinnamon, clove, orange zest and honey this ruby lager is smooth, full and spicy with just a slight bite of hops. This beer is as kind on the nose as it is on the tongue, with enough spices to rival mom's kitchen on Christmas morning.

Point St. Benedict's Winter Ale

This beer is only around until the end of January. It's warm malty taste makes it a decent choice if you are waiting up for Santa. The beer has a dark red color and a faint trace of chocolate taste. While St. Benedict is no relation to the red-suited one, both are welcome at my house this Christmas.