Peppermint Fresh Beers for the Holidays
There are two kinds of people in this world, the grinch-like ones that turn their noses up the idea of a festive peppermint holiday infusion into their beverages, or those who are gleefully stirring their morning coffee with a candy cane for the entire season. The winter is when people trade their pumpkin spice latte’s in for peppermint mochas, and with the overwhelming popularity of gooey dessert beers we figured it’s time to celebrate the ultimate holiday treat in liquid form. But before you reach for a Bud Light Seltzer Peppermint Pattie flavor, there are more than a dozen great independent craft made peppermint candy cane beers available in package form this season.
Peppermint Bark Imperial Stout
Oakshire Brewing - Eugene, OR
Style: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
Last year Eugene, Oregon's Oakshire Brewing made no less than three different peppermint beers for the holidays, but the one they liked the best was just a single keg. This year they have scaled up that winter warmer into a full-sized can drop of barrel-aged Peppermint Bark Stout. This beer wasn't made on a whim or as a novelty, the brewers actually tapped into their reserves for one of their most highly sought after beers ever - Hellshire X. The base Imperial Stout was aged in Kentucky Bourbon, Rye Whiskey and Port barrels for 22 months. The base consists of three Blanton's single barrel casks, one Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey Cask and 1 American Port cask that were all intended to go into Hellshire X but were held back. To peppermintize it they added 35 lbs of chocolate peppermint bark candy from Eugene's Euphoria Chocolate Co, plus 100lbs of Peruvian Cocoa nibs, and then finished it on top of hundreds of peppermint sticks! All in all this beer is chocolate boozy goodness with warm alcohol notes and a cooling peppermint taste and nose coming in at the front and back of this tasting experience. 16oz cans available now for a limited time.
Chocolate Mint Stout
Guinness Brewery - Dublin, Ireland
Style: Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
It's a hell of a world we live in when Guinness' Dublin brewery is going all dessert beer on us with chocolate and mint in their style-defining Irish Stout. This winter they have launched this limited-edition brew in 4-packs available around the country and it looks to be a hot item for the holidays even if it will chill you out during family gatherings. The brewers even took the care to age it in Kentucky bourbon barrels before conditioning it on pure cacao and dried mint leaves. This is a much bigger and full flavored than their traditional Stouts, at 10.8% ABV it makes for a hell of a party drink this Christmas.
Peppermint Bark Yeti
Great Divide Brewing - Denver, CO
Style: Imperial Stout
Denver, Colorado's Great Divide Brewing has been making one of the earlier mainstream examples of Imperial Stout with the 'Yeti' since 2003 and started playing with fun alternate version many years later. Now the Yeti Imperial Stout brand has expanded into oak-aged versions, Mexican chocolate, pumpkin spice, and many other iterations before bringing us Peppermint Yeti for the first time this winter. In the realm of bold Imperial Stout's, the Yeti has always been one of the most easy drinking examples and never moreso than the Peppermint Bark Yeti. To take off the winter edge the brewery added peppermint chunks, chocolate, vanilla and lactose to round out the roastiness and bitterness normally associated with Yeti making for a sweeter, holiday-themed version the legendary imperial stout. Available now through January in giant 19.2oz cans and 5 gallon kegs.
Mocha Mint Black Lager
Zoiglhaus Brewery - Portland, OR
Style: Schwarzbier
For a brewery focused and named after the historical brewing culture of Germany, Zoiglhaus Brewing sure does make a lot of fun modern twists on well established styles. Recently they took their Zoigl-Black Lager and turned it into a Mocha Mint beer. Brewed in the style of a German Schwarzbier, aka a black lager with lightness of body/mouthfeel but a dark color that contributes only mild roastiness, with a spicy hop note that reminds some of mint. For this very limited version of the Zoigl-Black, the brewers actually dosed it with freshly steeped peppermint, liquid dark chocolate was added, and so was Honduran coffee and voila! you have a dark lager that will remind you of a seasonal winter mocha you picked up at the Starbucks drive-thru.
Reuben Claus
Reuben’s Brews - Seattle, WA
Style: Porter
A longtime draft-only favorite at their Ballard taproom, Reuben Claus was upgraded into packaged 22oz bottles for the past few years and now in 2021 it’s made it into the brewery’s Unbound Series in 16oz cans in Oregon and Washington. That’s just great with us, as the robust Porter base is now unbound from the normal in-person constraints and plumped up like a stocking with cocoa nibs and peppermint. Based on their regular recipe Robust Porter, the Reuben Claus is available for a limited time during the winter to brighten your spirits.
ABV: 5.9%
Peppermint La Vida Mocha
503 Distilling - Portland, OR
Style: Rum Cocktail
So technically this is a canned cocktail and not a beer, but it’s sold as a fermented beverage and not a spirit and it’s sold locally in Oregon and Washington so we are making an exception. 503 Distilling based this on their popular La Vida Mocha cocktail-in-a-can, this winter warmer is a festive blend of 503 Rum, cream infused with natural peppermint, cold brew coffee and chocolate. For now this limited edition canned cocktail will be available at Fred Meyer stores or you can order to have them shipped direct from the distillery to your home or office. 1000 cases of Peppermint La Vida Mocha are on their way to Fred Meyer stores in Washington and Idaho, as well as select liquor stores in Oregon. The seasonal beverage, sold in 4-packs of 12-ounce ready-to-drink cans, is also available direct from the distillery.
Mega Mint
Heathen Brewing - Vancouver, WA
Style: Imperial Milk Stout
OK so it’s technically not a peppermint beer, but Heathen Brewing’s big and bold Imperial Milk Stout is too good of a local example of seasonal Girl Scout cookies in liquid form not to include. Every year the brewers and local volunteers gather to hand pick fresh leaves from Seely Mint Farms for MegaMint and the results come through in the final product. Milk sugar leaves a pleasant residual sweetness balanced with chocolate and biscuit notes of the specialty malt that are seductively balanced with aroma of the cacao nibs and fresh mint.
ABV: 9%
IBU: 22
A Yeti’s Story
Great Notion Brewing - Portland, OR
Style: Imperial Stout
Packed with peppermint and fudge, A Yeti Story is a holiday treat best enjoyed while traumatizing children by making them watch creepy claymation Christmas movies that will haunt their dreams for years to come.
ABV: 11.75%
Big Bad Baptist Chocolate Mint
Epic Brewing - Denver, CO
Style: Imperial Stout
The Big Bad Baptist line of Imperial Stouts from Epic Brewing has become an annual tradition much like Christmas. Every year the brewery releases 6+ variants on their now classic Imperial Stout in increasingly wild and desserty flavors. After considering almost a dozen different variants for 2021, they settled on 6 beers, and 3 of them were completely new, including a Chocolate Mint Big Bad Baptist. For the 2021 lineup the brewery came up with a Chocolate Mint version. Big Bad Baptist Chocolate Mint is made with fresh mint and a copious addition of cacao nibs. Notes of mint live in harmony with silky chocolate and coffee flavor for a sensational minty fresh finish, who needs mouthwash when we have this beer!
10.5-13.5% ABV
Candy Cane Ice Cream Cake
Abnormal Beer Co. - San Diego, CA
Style: Imperial Milk Porter
According to these San Diego brewers it’s a good idea to have ice cream cake on Christmas Day when you are in warmer climates as they are. When you live in a warmer climate like San Diego, CA it's ok to have ice cream cake on Christmas Day.
Abnormal Beer’s head brewer has an aunt in Miami, Florida and every year she makes up this ice cream cake with candy canes and rich chocolate ganache mixed in with those iconic crunchy chocolate cookie pieces that separate the layers of the minty vanilla ice cream. The beer is meant to emulate this dessert while still bringing that big alcohol to warm you up in front of the fire. The best part is that the beer won’t melt.
ABV: 11.0%
IBU: 35
Minted
Hop Butcher for the World
Style: Imperial Stout
Hop Butcher is a Chicago area brewing company known for killing hops on huge IPA's, but for this special holiday release they are killing Frango instead. What the hell is a "Frango" ? It's an iconic chocolate mint from Garrett Brands, the company behind Garrett Popcorn and Frango® Chocolate. Hop Butcher teamed up with Garrett brands to brew a 10.5% abv Imperial Stout inspired by the candy, with the same taste and smell of the classic chocolate mints. The secret was using the same mint oil that the company uses to make the Francho chocolates. The beer "Minted" was released this December in 16oz cans if you can find it in Illinois.
Peppermint Mocha Cow Cow
The Brewing Projekt - Eau Claire, WI
Style: Milk Stout
We have very little info to go on when talking about the latest small batch can release from the Brewing Projekt. But based on past releases we know the Mocha Cow Cow will be overflowing with sweet and spicy chocolate sauce and peppermint syrup flavors like a gooey hot cocktail frothing over the top of a mug. This creamy lactose packed milk stout is blended up with coffee, chocolate, and peppermint with a low abv that will allow you to put back a few while staying home for the holidays.
ABV: 4.76%
Barrel-Aged Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Trillium Brewing - Boston, MA
Style: Imperial Stout
The latest in Trillium’s dessert series is an Imperial Stout inspired by the holiday party classic sticky sweet and boozy Peppermint Hot Chocolate responsible for the best bad decisions. Brewed with chocolate, peppermint, and brown sugar, Barrel-Aged Peppermint Hot Chocolate pours a glass-coating opaque black color with a frothy fudge-colored head.
The peppermint addition plays a prominent role in the aroma of the beer, though its seamlessly balanced by notes of milk chocolate mousse, caramelized brown sugar, vanilla cream, and textured oak. A mild and pleasant warming character is complemented by the viscous mouthfeel and rounded body. Barrel-Aged Peppermint Hot Chocolate is the evening fireside sipper that you will be skipping dessert for.
ABV: 14.9%
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Peppermint Porter
Lexington Brewing & Distilling - Lexington, KY
Style: Imperial Porter
Warm up this season with a special release of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Peppermint Porter. With just the right amount of chocolate and peppermint, this bourbon barrel aged porter is the perfect complement to a warm fire. Notes of bourbon and toffee complement the roasted malts in this brew, and the result is a peppermint patty cocktail in your glass.
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: 16
Peppermint Patty Milk Stout
Uinta Brewing - Salt Lake City, UT
Style: Milk Stout
A blend of chocolate, vanilla & peppermint, make for a silky sweet body like a boozy holiday spice version of Swiss Miss. Uinta plays down the bittersweet roasty and sometimes smokey notes in stouts and instead goes for thick cake and ice cream mouthfeel. The spice is subdued with just a bit of refreshing peppermint on the back end.
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 18
2021: A Candy Cane Milk Stout
R. Shea Brewing - Akron, OH
Style: Milk Stout
Many of us already felt like we were getting bludgeoned by 2021 for most of the year, so why not let our beating come in a candy caning for the final days of the dumpster fire? Atleast that seems to be R. Shea Brewing’s message as they threaten to suffocate us all in candy canes before we can enter our next year of suffering, and to sweeten things up they have added oreo cookies to this years edition. There is not much time left.
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 28