In 1980, Lou Menefee along with his son, Scott, began selling Christmas trees in the empty lot next to their house. Lou would drive out to Shelton, cut down trees, and load as many trees into his 1972 Datsun Pickup as he could. Then, he would drive back to his home on 72nd and Tacoma Avenue and lean the trees against the fences next door. Lou retired in 2012; Scott, his brother Jeff, and the kids run several lots today making everyone’s holidays bright, including Peaks & Pints. We’ve been a Menefee’s Christmas Trees house for the last four year with 20-foot trees scraping our ceiling. Last night, Peaks & Pints gave our hearts to decorating our little craft beer and cider lodge for the holidays, including our Menefee’s tree. We drank the holiday beers below as we wrestled lights, tinsel, garland, and tape. Stop by Peaks, grab Peaks and Pints Christmas Tree Decorating Beer Flight and decorate your own masterpiece.
Peaks and Pints Christmas Tree Decorating Beer Flight
Anchor Christmas Ale
7.2% ABV
Back in 1975, Anchor Brewing Co. released the first holiday beer in America since Prohibition. Since then, Anchor creates a new, secret recipe with a unique hand drawn label for their Our Special Ale, aka Christmas Ale, but the intent with each brew remains the same: joy for the changing seasons and celebration of the newness of life. The 48th annual Christmas Ale showcases notes of orange, honeysuckle, toasted malts, and eucalyptus. Well-structured with botanicals and pleasantly herbaceous hops, this rye-forward brew finishes with a touch of spice like the warming bitter-sweet notes of Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur often enjoyed as an after-dinner digestif.
Brasserie Dubuisson Scaldis Noel
12% ABV, 21 IBU
Brasserie Dubuisson introduced Bush de Noël in 1991 to respond to consumer demands for the ideal beer to add luster to their end-of-year celebrations. Americans know it as Scaldis Noël — a name change to avoid confusion with Busch. Its bouquet is impressive, with smooth alcohol, honey, and cracked pepper notes that all vie for attention. The flavor sinks deep into the tongue with toffee and honey sweetness, followed by raisin, plum fruitiness, peppery spice, and assertive bitterness. It’s so easy to drink you don’t realize it’s around 12 percent alcohol until you ask.
Brouwerij St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
10% ABV, 28 IBU
All the self-restraint of day-to-day life, the emphasis on physical and fiscal fitness — forget it. These four weeks of holiday celebration are just not like the other 48; you must approach them with “dog years” math. One holiday week really takes the toll of seven on your body. Obviously, such a pace is exhausting, and you’ll need extra supplies for stamina. So go ahead, enjoy a Brouwerij St. Bernardus Christmas Ale — and if Jenny Craig doesn’t like it, let her do your shopping. While there are plenty of great imported beers, especially from Belgium, this Belgian quadrupel consistently ranks in the top five Christmas beers of all time. It’s meant for sipping: strong, complex, and thick with molasses sweetness, apricots, and mint. Indulge.
Huyghe Delirium Noel
10% ABV, 20 IBU
In the town of Ghent sits Brouwerij Huyghe, the oldest, active brewery in that corner of Belgium. The brewery is best known for Delirium Tremens, a highly regarded Belgian strong pale ale, but they produce a wide variety of beers ranging from pilsners, witbiers, fruit ales and lagers. Huyghe’s Delirium line of beers is famous for the pink elephant that adorns every label on every ceramic painted bottle. Its Noel labels are no exception. Skiing, sledding, pulling Santa’s sleigh; the Pink Elephant does it all. Delirium Noel is a big, spicy beer with a lot of dried fruit character and touch of alcohol to let you know that you’re drinking a beer with a double-digit ABV.
Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Classic
14% ABV, 20 IBU
It’s THE Christmas beer, no? Brewed once a year on St. Nick’s Eve and aged 10 months, Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg‘s 14-percent ABV doppelbock was the strongest lager in the world when Michael Jackson wrote of it in 1991. That’s no longer the case, but it’s still revered as one of the greats. It hits the nose with dark fruits, red wine, and roasted nuts. Molasses, roast malts, spices, and roast nuts flows over the tongue. This thick, almost oil like, doppelbock hides the alcohol well, but leaves a warmth.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
