Oxford, CT / 5.8%

From the wildly creative minds over at Ordinem Eccentrici Coctorem in Oxford, CT (Order of the Eccentric Boilers in Latin, for those of you wondering) comes this beautiful take on an underrepresented style-- a dark Czech-style lager, or Tmavé Pivo, for those of you keeping score at home. After a venerably traditional brew, which involves cooling this beer over a large copper get-up that resembles a skeletal rack of ribs, or a Baudelot cooler (for the beer geeks out there) and an open coolship fermentation, this dark yet crisp brew undergoes a short period of oak aging, adding some more depth to the rich, roasty malt and the slight charge of earthy bittering hops. Does this beer have anything to do with the holiday season? Not explicitly! Once you taste it, however, you may not want to drink anything else for the rest of the month.