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 glee 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 seasonal beers below with A Very Cool Christmas, where 16-year-old girl (Brooke Nevin) meets the real Santa Claus (George Hamilton) in a mall, then gives him a metrosexual makeover. Pappi bumps up the ABV on Peaks and Pints To-Go Christmas Beer Flight: Very Cool Christmas because this movie is sooo wrong on sooo many levels.
Peaks and Pints To-Go Christmas Beer Flight: Very Cool Christmas
Fremont 2020 B-Bomb
12.8% ABV, 50 IBU
What would Christmas have been like if Rudolph hadn’t prevailed over the Abominable Snow Monster? Yes, it is a scary thought. Holy Hermey the Elf! Fremont Brewing might not have invented Bourbon Barrel-Aged Bourbon Abominable Winter Ale! B-Bomb, as it’s known the last four years, is a 12-plus-percent bourbon-barrel-aged winter beer released annually on B-Bomb Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This year, B-Bomb achieves distinct bourbon, oak, cacao, leather, toffee, and dark coffee notes from its extended barrel aging and barrel blending.
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.
Baerlic Yippee-kI-PA
7.1% ABV
Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and not because Argyle pops a tape of “Christmas in Hollis” into the cassette player on the way to Nakatomi Plaza. The film is a parable about one man’s devotion to his family, and the unconditional kindness of strangers, Officer Powell. Baerlic Brewing also believes Die Hard is a Christmas movie and they brewed the “greatest Christmas movie themed IPA of all time!” according to Baerlic Yippee-kI-PA hype. Yippee-kI-PA is loaded with notes of resinous pine, candied citrus and grapefruit zest with enough malty sweet character for a really balanced and clean holiday IPA. “Yippee Ki Yay Mother Gruber!”
