As winter settles in, local brewpubs are rolling out seasonal beers. Mike Maroney at Ann Arbor Brewing Company says that compared to the light and crisp fruit-flavored ales featured in the summertime, winter brews tend to be “bigger bodied, a little bit sweeter, high gravity [alcohol content], and a lot of malt character.” ABC recently released its bestselling Terminator Dopplebock, which comes back each year by popular demand.

Each brewery has a set of “house beers” served year-round and a few rotating beers, which change every month or so. Wolverine State Brewery’s will roll out a new Belgian-inspired dark beer, “Grand CruZ,” around Christmas, joining its offiical seasonal brew, Winter Lager.

Other brews returning to local taps are Grizzly Peak’s White Christmas White Ale in mid-December, and their Edwyn’s Warm-up Ale in early January. Grizzly Peak’s head brewer, Duncan Williams, says his predecessor developed White Christmas, and people have loved it ever since. This year, he’s adding a new recipe of his own; if Three Ships Ale Belgian style Tripel proves popular, it may be back next year.