May the 4th didn’t start as canon. It started as a wink — a pun born from Star Wars, whispered between fans who knew exactly why “May the Force be with you” could bend into something playful and still carry weight. And somehow that little joke became a global holiday, because Star Wars never really left. It just keeps expanding — new series, new timelines, new corners of the galaxy lighting up. The Mandalorian gave us creed and consequence. Ahsoka kept the mysticism alive. Andor reminded us rebellion is often quiet, human, and complicated. More is always on the way — new chapters, new Force ghosts, new reasons this space opera keeps pulling us back like gravity from a distant moon.
Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the brewers have been playing their own Star Wars game, turning taps into a kind of interstellar cantina. Great Notion, Level Beer, Vice Beer — the usual smugglers of galaxy-branded liquid, reliably moving product through our sector. But this year? Disturbances in the supply chain. Great Notion’s fleet running late. Level arriving with a single ship. Vice Beer’s cargo not touching down until midweek. And yet — like any decent rebellion — we adapted. Rerouted. Assembled a five-beer flight that wasn’t supposed to happen and made it happen anyway.
Because that’s the real Star Wars energy — not perfection, not pristine alignment, but improvisation under pressure. Tart fruit bursting like a hyperspace jump gone slightly sideways. A shadowy schwarzbier moving like a cloaked Imperial presence just off radar. Yakima-grown hops spinning through Retrograde like a navigation glitch that somehow lands you exactly where you need to be — Han Solo shrugging and punching it anyway. Coffee and hops circling each other like binary suns or maybe a Jedi and Sith locked in quiet orbit, neither backing down. Every taster glass a small rebellion, every sip a little bit of story.
So no, the full fleet didn’t arrive on time. But this lineup did.
Peaks & Pints May the 4th Be With You Flight
Great Notion Tart Side Hyperdrive
6.1% ABV | Fruited Sour Ale | Portland, Oregon
Great Notion blasts in bright and unruly, raspberry tang colliding with guava’s tropical glow before a soft drift of vanilla smooths the edges just enough to keep the whole thing from spinning off into chaos, the acidity lively but not punishing, more playful than aggressive, leaning fully into fruit-forward mischief, the finish creamy, tart, and lingering like a hyperspace jump that somehow tastes better than it should.
Rainy Daze Space Punks
4.2% ABV | Schwarzbier | Poulsbo, Washington
Dark without the drama, a soft wave of cocoa and toasted grain sliding in first before a faint whisper of coffee flickers at the edges, the body light, almost deceptively so, carrying just enough depth to keep things interesting without slowing you down, Rainy Daze Brewing keeping it clean and crisp beneath the shadowy exterior, the finish dry, smooth, and quietly rebellious, like a black-clad lager that knows it doesn’t need to shout to steal the scene.
Bale Breaker Retrograde IPA
6.5% ABV | Hazy IPA | Yakima, Washington
Bale Breaker swirls Retrograde in soft and luminous, mango and peach drifting through a haze of ripe melon before a gentle citrus pulse keeps everything from floating too far off, the body plush but never heavy, the hops layered in a way that feels more orbit than impact, drawing straight from Yakima fields to keep the fruit bright and grounded, the finish smooth, juicy, and just mischievous enough to make you wonder if the universe isn’t actually on your side tonight.
Level Beer Revenge of the Sip
7.2% ABV | American IPA | Portland, Oregon
A sharper edge cuts through here, citrus peel and tropical flash riding a clean, dry frame while a faint floral lift keeps everything from tipping too far into brute force, the bitterness firm but controlled, more precision than power, the whole thing humming with that familiar pull toward another sip, Level Beer letting the hops speak clearly without drowning out the structure, the finish crisp, focused, and just rebellious enough to feel like you chose the dark side on purpose.
Fort George Java the Hop 2026
6.5% ABV | Coffee IPA | Astoria, Oregon
Fort George Java the Hop hums with a strange, beautiful energy, bright citrus and pomegranate flickering through before a wave of Ethiopian coffee rolls in, all dark chocolate, soft roast, and cola-like depth, the hops and beans not competing so much as circling each other in a quiet orbit, Waimea keeping it sharp while the coffee rounds the edges. The Astoria brewery lets the whole thing feel a little uncharted, the finish dry, layered, and lingering like a signal sent out into the void and somehow answered.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
