Patrick Donohue is the proudest Indiana native you're likely to find. Seriously. No one is prouder to be from a state that so many people know relatively so little about than he is. Patrick is a native of Terre Haute and a graduate of the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism at Indiana University. Knowing this, you might think he’d be a huge John "Cougar" Mellencamp fan, a man considered by some to be the Hoosier State's poet laureate. But you'd be wrong. In a major way. | 
New Year’s Eve is a night for friends, family, reflection, introspection and drinking.
Usually, lots and lots of drinking.
But imagine waking up Jan. 1 to a world of possibilities — and football — and a day that doesn’t include stuffing your face with greasy food while trying to move as little as possible as you sweat inappropriately and regret your decisions from the previous night.
This could be your life.
No, not by abstaining. Don’t be ridiculous.
Instead, try drinking just a few of these great winter beers and nurse a steady, mellow buzz into 2013.
• Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, 6.8 percent alcohol-by-volume: An old classic that never goes out of style. Sierra-Nevada Brewing Co. first started brewing this beautiful, hoppy winter seasonal in 1981, and it continues to make regular appearances on “Best of Winter” lists. Careful, though — its stumpy bottle makes it all too easy to fly through a six pack of this beer in no time.
• Smuttynose Winter Ale, 5.83 percent alcohol-by-volume: I’ve never been a big fan of winter beers because, for the most part, they tend to be stouts or spice-heavy ales, but Smuttynose changed it up when it introduced this amber ale with a flavor profile resembling a Belgian-style dubbel. No fuss, no gimmicks and tastes nothing like gingerbread or nutmeg. What more could you want in a winter beer?
• Westbrook Dark Helmet, 5.9 percent alcohol-by-volume: I like this beer for a few reasons, not the first of which is that it is really, really great. This German-style black lager brewed with 10 percent malted rye is one of my favorite dark beers. I also like that the beer’s name and its logo bear a striking resemblance to that of a certain science-fiction franchise, which I will not name to avoid legal action against myself or Westbrook.
Follow staff writer Patrick Donohue at @IPBG_Patrick.