Christmas is everyone’s favorite holiday, but true beer fans know that the most wonderful time of the year is made even more wonderful with a pint in your hand. Winter warmers and other dark, comforting brews take over around the holidays to help carolers and Christmas tree shoppers thaw out after a chilly night. These beers dance on the tongue, fill the belly and warm the soul. Many of the traditional winter warmers are malty, high-strength ales with a sweet and/or roasty character. Old ales, strong ales and barleywines fit right in. Some new holiday beers boast Christmas-inspired herbs, fruits and spices. Almost all of them are rich and delicious, including the five Peaks & Pints presents in our Sunday holiday flight, Peaks and Pints Christmas Beer Flight: Santa.
Peaks and Pints Christmas Beer Flight: Santa
Rogue 2024 Santa’s Private Reserve
6.7% ABV
This year’s Santa’s Private Reserve 2024 is a festive stout from Rogue Ales & Spirits, made in collaboration with Portland Coffee Roasters. This stout is brewed with roasted grains and creamy chocolate flavors.
Pelican Bad Santa
7.5% ABV
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” sung by former jockey Jimmy Boyd, takes a humorous approach to a child’s shocking discovery of his mother’s infidelity. Pelican Brewing in Pacific City, Oregon, brews a Cascadian dark ale that pairs with Mommy’s merry adulterer — Bad Santa. This mysterious dark elixir is filled with complex malt flavors and aromas with toasted malt and roast character, blending seamlessly to the alluring herbal hop aroma that comes from copious amounts of Fuggle hops. Bad Santa doesn’t care if Jack Skellington has been naughty or nice; he just wants Mommy.
Baerlic Ho! Ho! Hop Man
8% ABV
Santa was a little reluctant to encourage Rudolph to drink even more, but he knows Rudolph is a reindeer of his word: not a drop till after the last gift is delivered. And when Rudolph did his part, Santa rewarded him with his double IPA namesake, Baerlic Brewing Ho! Ho! Hop Man. This seasonal craft beer is brewed with Cascade, Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Galaxy hop for big pine and sharp citrus character. And before you get all sanctimonious rewarding a reindeer with an 8 percent beer, let us remind you: it’s Rudolph’s red nose Santa hired him for.
Abomination Santa’s Black Blood
13.3% ABV
According to Abomination Brewing in Pennsylvania, “The name ‘Abomination’ stems from the fact that for hundreds of years, Germany had a beer purity law, or Reinheitsgebot, that placed strict demands on what was and wasn’t legally allowed to put in beer. This law stifled creativity and forced German brewers to create only tradition styles of beer with little to no variation. It could be said that they would look at what ABC is doing as an abomination to what they consider beer. We look to continue pushing the envelope of beer with new and exciting hop profiles and tweaks on old and new world styles.” Abomination certainly pushes it with their Santa’s Black Blood, a creamy, double pastry stout brewed with vanilla beans, milk sugar, and eggnog spices.
Prairie Christmas Bomb!
13% ABV
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Bomb! is an imperial stout aged on Nordaggio’s espresso beans, chocolate, vanilla beans, and ancho chile peppers. It hits the nose with cocoa, vanilla, coffee, chili peppers, and roast. Taste is sweet, chocolate, vanilla, warming chili, coffee initially subtle but comes through much more as it warms, roast malts, and at 13 percent the alcohol is well integrated. It’s dangerously easy to drink. Their Christmas Bomb! is their famous Prairie Bomb with added Christmas spices and Santa on the label.
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