Ah, July 2. The real red, white, and BOOM. The actual moment—1776, sweaty Philadelphia, powdered wigs askew—when the Second Continental Congress leaned in, whispered “nah” to King George, and voted to break up with Britain harder than your last Mercury-in-retrograde situationship. And yet, like most things in American myth-making, the drama got rescheduled. The Pennsylvania Evening Post shouted it from the parchment rooftops that very night: “The United Colonies are Free and Independent States!” Mic drop. But alas, the printer didn’t roll until July 4, and like a bad tattoo date or your cousin’s wedding RSVP, that’s what stuck. One year later, Congress said, “Screw it, let’s take the day off,” and thus a barbecue empire was born. Still, July 2 remains the actual moment of liberation—quiet, bold, bureaucratic bliss. So today, Peaks & Pints honors the real rebellion spark with Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: America—a liquid declaration of delicious defiance. Raise a glass to the original unfollow.
Peaks & Pints Beer Flight: America
Level One Million Trees
5% ABV
Not all revolutions need muskets and manifestos—some come crisp, cold, and quietly noble, like Level Beer’s One Million Trees, a pilsner brewed not to conquer, but to reclaim. Brewed in celebration of a million saplings planted by Friends of Trees, this 5 percent whisper of Oregon lagered elegance reminds us that true independence sometimes looks like planting roots instead of burning bridges. It’s smooth, lightly floral, touched with the faintest citrus exhale—like sipping clarity from a forest breeze: no pomp, no hop bludgeon, just a clean-limbed act of eco-liberation in a can. If Thomas Jefferson brewed beer with a trowel in one hand and a recycling bin in the other, it might’ve tasted something like this.
Claim 52 THICC: Rocket Pop
5% ABV
Behold, the sour that slaps like summer’s juiciest fever dream: Claim 52’s THICC: Rocket Pop, a 5 percent ABV nostalgia bomb wrapped in cherry-lime-blueberry-raspberry glory, like someone liquefied your childhood Fourth of July and made it slightly dangerous. It’s not just tart—it struts its citrus like it owns the picnic table, whispering, “Remember the popsicle that stained your tongue and soul? I’ve evolved.” Smooth, bright, and barely restrained, this Eugene-born fruit gose doesn’t just quench—it performs thirst exorcisms with every sip. A bronze medalist, a summer darling, a can-shaped sermon to the sticky-fingered gods of sunshine. If you’re not drinking this in a tank top with fireworks echoing in your ribs, are you even trying?
Fat Orange Cat 4th of July Kittens
7.4% ABV
Somewhere between a citrus explosion and a backyard firework, Fat Orange Cat’s 4th of July Kittens pounces—half beer, half psychedelic summer poem in a pint can. This hazy IPA doesn’t meow so much as roars through your synapses with a patriotic swirl of Mosaic, Simcoe, and Centennial hops, leaving trails of orange rind, mango pulp, dank herbal haze, and just enough grassy bitterness to remind you freedom is never clean-cut. It pours like a mango-smeared watercolor and drinks like a Declaration of Juicy Dependence, where independence is optional and flavor is your new founding father.
Firestone Walker Union Jack
7.5% ABV
Ah, Firestone Walker Union Jack—because nothing says Happy Birthday, America like obliterating the crown with 70 IBUs of hop-soaked rebellion. This isn’t just an IPA, it’s a citrus-laced cannon blast across the pond, double dry-hopped with such flag-waving ferocity (Simcoe! Cascade! Chinook! Amarillo! Centennial! Warrior!) that you can almost hear the Boston Tea Party splash with every sip. At 7.5 percent, it swagger-jacks your palate with grapefruit glory and a floral-funk elegance that defies its brawny ABV—nothing hot, nothing cloying, just a sleek, dry finish that feels more revolutionary than Paul Revere on a fixie. The lion and the bear on the label may nod to Anglo-American roots, but make no mistake: this is a West Coast war cry in a glass. Drink up, ye free citizens—liberty tastes like this.
21st Amendment Tall Hat
9% ABV
Because nothing says “liberty” like repealing your nation’s biggest buzzkill, 21st Amendment Brewery takes its name from the glorious repeal of Prohibition—and their Tall Hat Imperial IPA drinks like a celebration of that very moment: loud, luscious, unapologetically free. At 9 percent, this West Coast hop-blast charges forth with Centennial, Comet, and Mosaic, slinging grapefruit zest and nectarine thunder like it’s delivering a citrus-soaked filibuster. Bold, bitter, and somehow still crisp, it finishes with the kind of clean snap that suggests freedom can be refreshing. If Abraham Lincoln brewed a beer to toast the fall of the dry years, he would’ve worn a Tall Hat.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
