Every December — while the bartenders close down our Proctor District craft beer bar, bottle shop and restaurant for the night — Peaks & Pints co-owner Pappi Swarner grabs three holiday beers, heads upstairs to his office, cranks his computer speaks to an 11 and watches holiday Youtube videos. Obviously, he can’t perform his holiday tradition this year … at Peaks & Pints. No, his holiday hell now takes place inside his home, much to the chagrin of his wife and daughter. In the spirit of giving, we offer you the chance to share his joy. Today, he pairs the three Christmas season beers below with three snippets of his beloved Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, the 1977 Muppet special about destitute forest critters who assemble a bluegrass band to win Christmas cash in a talent show against the Riverbottom Gang, a motley crew of rich kids with bad attitudes who enter into the talent contest as The Nightmare. The hitch: Emmet forms a jug band with his dirt-poor buddies and he’s stuck on bass, meaning he’ll have to punch a hole in Ma’s washtub to make an instrument. This was back in the days before you could finance a washtub bass at 45 percent interest over 36 months at your neighborhood music-superstore chain. Stop by for Peaks and Pints To-Go Christmas Beer Flight: Riverbottom Gang.
Peaks and Pints To-Go Christmas Beer Flight: Riverbottom Gang
Bosk Krampus Bock
6.1% ABV, 21IBU
Krampus, the goat-demon of Central European folklore, traditionally precedes Santa Claus’ arrival in order to scare naughty children into being nicer. He is the raging yang to Santa’s jovial yin, and his work is never done. Bosk Brew Works brewed an amber colored bock for Krampus that tastes like liquid gingerbread. Expect star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, orange peel, cloves, and no presents if you’re not nice.
Silver City Old Scrooge Christmas Ale
8.5% ABV, 60 IBU
What’s the difference between a Christmas beer and a winter beer? Well, the labels for Christmas beers are usually red and green, while winter beer labels tend to be blue and white. As far as style goes, though, there’s not much to differentiate them. In fact, neither is even an official beer style. It’s fair to say Silver City Brewery’s Old Scrooge Christmas Ale is a Christmas beer. Besides its red and green label and Scrooge reference, “Christmas” is actually in its name. The English barleywine is bound to delight the palate with notes of apple, cherry and apricot.
Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws
11.5% ABV, 70 IBU
A gruff bulldog wearing a Santa hat while smoking a stogie? That’s the imagine that greets when handed a Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws barleywine bottle. People have been making pilgrimages to Portland for Alan Sprints’ beer since the dark ages — back when hazy and sour beers weren’t made that way intentionally. Hair of the Dog’s Doggie Claws holiday-themed barleywine is brewed with Simcoe and Amarillo hops along with Organic Pilsner malt, British crystal and dark wild flower honey collected on Mount Hood. It smells of thick, decadent caramel coupled with notes of raisins, molasses and dark fruits. First sip brings a sweet caramel-raisin infused maltiness that carries hints of dark fruits, cherry and sourdough. This is followed by a nice wave of piney, citric, herbal hop bitterness causing a nice interplay between the sweet and bitter aspects of the craft beer.
