BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Welcome to 12 days of a beer world that utterly baffles me.

Last week a friend gave me a bottle of Vienna-style lager from KC Bier Co, a brewery in Kansas City. It's a classic European style, underappreciated and too seldom brewed, as well as delicious. Shortly thereafter I bought a six-pack of Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, the label of which clearly states that the recipe is the original, from 1988. It was absolutely beautiful in its unadorned simplicity. 

 

Yep; tasting is entirely subjective, and it isn't necessary for us to agree. Furthermore, I'm not interested in being the old man with clenched fist railing against creativity. It's your money. Nothing against Rochester Mills; haven't been there, and know no one involved. I hope they make a mint, as opposed to infusing a milkshake stout with it. 

This said, I can think of nothing about twelve variously flavored milkshake stouts that speaks to me. So be it, and we move on. 

By the way, how'd that Red Velvet get in there?  

• Peanut Buttercup Milkshake Stout
• Imperial Milkshake Stout
• King Cake Milkshake Stout
• English Toffee Milkshake Stout
• Imperial Java (Coffee) Milkshake Stout
• Michigan Maple Milkshake Stout
• Gingerbread Cookie Milkshake Stout
• Chocolate Chip Pancake Milkshake Stout
• Imperial Triple Layer Decadence Milkshake Stout
• Red Velvet Ale
• Double Chocolate Milkshake Stout (Revised Recipe with More Chocolate)
• Salted Caramel Milkshake Stout

The full press release is here:

 

Rochester Mills Announces 2020 Twelve Days of Milkshake Stout Release Dates and Contents

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Craft beer lovers in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana can begin their Holiday shopping and celebrations early with the return of the Twelve Days of Milkshake Stout. Given the popularity and growing consumer demand for this variety pack of beers, Rochester Mills will release their limited holiday edition 12-pack on November 1 online for pick-up at the Production Brewery Taproom in Auburn Hills and at “Better Beer Stores” across their distribution territory. The sampler pack features one, 16 oz. can of each beer in this year’s Twelve-Days of Milkshake Stout draft promotion.

“What began as a crazy idea to take twelve different versions of our Milkshake Stout to twelve bars over twelve days a few years back has grown into a holiday tradition,” said Rochester Mills Marketing Director David Youngman. “It’s the perfect gift for stout lovers, already wrapped and ready to go. Containing one pint of each variant allows you to share and compare with friends or horde for personal enjoyment.”

The Rochester Mills Taproom in Auburn Hills will join more than twenty-five other select premium craft beer bars and restaurants throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana as host locations for the progressive tap takeover event beginning the first week of November. Admission is free and open to the public, ages 21 and up. The progressive tap takeover event will feature the (12) twelve specialty and limited-edition varieties of Milkshake Stout, Rochester Mills’ flagship beer. Each week, beginning the first week of November, two new beers will be tapped and stay on draft until the kegs run dry.