First, today’s weather in Tacoma calls for cloudy skies becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon with temperatures reaching 69 degrees. Second, stouts are better suited than many light-colored beers for pairing with summery foods like charred vegetables and barbecued meats. Think about it: Their earthy flavors and rich, toasted aromas mimic the ones already billowing out from your backyard grill. And stouts benefit from the weather — as the beers warm, their complex, smoky undertones begin to unfurl. Since Fremont Brewing just released their annual The Rusty Nail bourbon barrel-aged stout, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of three Fremont bourbon barrel-aged beauties, including The Rusty Nail 2023. Stop by our craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District and enjoy Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fremont Bourbon Barrels.

Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fremont Bourbon Barrels

Fremont B-Bomb (2022)

14% ABV, bottle

Formerly known as Abominable Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Winter Ale, B-Bomb (the B stands for bourbon or barrel, you decide) is a bourbon-barrel-aged winter beer released annually on B-Bomb Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. The 2022 version is aged in 8–12-year-old American oak bourbon barrels and is a blend of 9-, 12-, and 24-month-old barrel-aged Winter Ale. B-Bomb achieves distinct bourbon, oak, cacao, leather, toffee, and dark coffee notes from its extended barrel aging and barrel blending.

Fremont The Rusty Nail (2021)

12.3% ABV, bottle

Fremont Brewing’s The Rusty Nail begins life as The First Nail, an oatmeal stout of epic proportions with brewer’s licorice, smoked barley, and pale malt, and then aged on cinnamon bark. It becomes The Rusty Nail after spending 15 months in 12-year-old bourbon barrels. Fremont nailed it with layers of dark cocoa and spice, atop a finely tuned whiskey profile. This 2021 vintage clocks in at 12.3% ABV, though rich aromas of molasses, cinnamon, and vanilla cloak it well.

Fremont The Rusty Nail (2023)

14.1% ABV, draft — bottle available

Released this past weekend, The Rusty Nail (2023) hits the nose with cinnamon and chocolate, followed by cinnamon, chocolate, licorice, roast, and barrel-aged flavor.

LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory