The United States and Belgium meet tonight at Seattle Stadium in a World Cup Round of 16 match that feels less like a soccer game and more like a civic fever dream wearing cleats. Kickoff is 5 p.m. Pacific, and the U.S. arrives after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the Round of 32, with striker Folarin Balogun available after FIFA lifted his red-card suspension. Belgium, meanwhile, survived Senegal 3-2, because apparently waffles, surrealism, Trappist beer, and knockout-round drama are all part of the national export package. Watch for the U.S. to press, run, and attempt to turn Seattle into one giant caffeinated counterattack, while Belgium leans on experience, technical calm, and that infuriating ability to make danger appear out of a passing triangle.
Naturally, Peaks & Pints built a flight for the occasion. Seattle gets Mirage Beer, because Mirage is modern, strange, fast, hop-wired, lager-capable, and just experimental enough to feel like a home-side attack launched through a fog machine. Belgium gets Chimay, because when your opponent has centuries of Trappist patience, yeast sorcery, and monastery-grade composure, you do not overthink the obvious. We’ll have USA vs. Belgium on all four TVs, including the giant screen above the cooler, while the all-day Peaks & Pints USA vs. Belgium World Cup Flight moves from Mirage’s black-metal Helles to Chimay’s iconic Trappist Dubbel, back through Seattle IPA voltage, and finally into Chimay’s dark, contemplative thunder. Match on. Beer in hand. The cooler remains undefeated.
Peaks & Pints USA vs. Belgium World Cup Flight
Mirage Beer Hexengrube
4.6% ABV | Helles Lager | Seattle, Washington
An eight-week Helles brewed in collaboration with the wonderfully unhinged Lookout Tripping Hazard art venue for the That Devil Music festival shouldn’t feel this effortlessly graceful, yet here we are, dancing somewhere between alpine sunshine and a blast beat. Delicate bread crust, fresh-cut hay, and soft floral honey glide across the palate before Barbe Rouge hops whisper hints of red berries and citrus peel, all wrapped inside a feather-light body built, as Mirage Beer proudly declares, “for speed.” The name may conjure witches’ caverns and midnight rituals, but the beer is brilliantly restrained—a crisp, deceptively simple opener that proves even the darkest soundtrack can begin with a golden ray of light.
Chimay Première (Red)
7.0% ABV | Belgian Dubbel | Chimay, Hainaut, Belgium
Before Belgian ales became global celebrities, this quietly magnificent dubbel was already writing the script. Ruby-brown beneath a creamy tan head, it unfolds with notes of toasted bread, caramel, dried fig, ripe plum, cocoa, and a gentle flourish of orchard fruit, while the expressive Trappist yeast threads in whispers of spice and earth. The body is supple without excess, finishing remarkably balanced, where malt sweetness gracefully yields to a dry, satisfying close.
Mirage Beer Signal Collapse
6.9% ABV | West Coast IPA
Some signals deserve to fail, especially when they give way to a far more interesting frequency. Bright blasts of pineapple, mango, ruby grapefruit, and orange zest crackle through the glass before dank pine resin and a pleasantly assertive bitterness seize control, the whole experience humming with the electric energy of an overdriven amplifier. Built from an arsenal of modern hop expressions, this West Coast IPA feels simultaneously razor-sharp and gloriously untamed, finishing crisp enough to demand another sip before the static has completely cleared.
Mirage Beer Spillway
7.2% ABV | Double IPA
The floodgates don’t so much open as dissolve into a delirious torrent of hop expression. Juicy peach, passion fruit, grapefruit zest, ripe citrus, and flashes of white grape surge forward on waves of Nectaron, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Citra Lupomax, and a supporting cast that seems determined to prove restraint is overrated. Beneath the lush canopy, a firm current of resinous bitterness and soft malt keeps everything moving with purpose, never allowing the haze to drift into excess. It’s a Northwest spectacle that charges across the palate with the confidence of a match-winning breakaway, equal parts precision, exuberance, and controlled chaos.
Chimay Grande Réserve
9% ABV | Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Patience has always been Belgium’s secret weapon, and nowhere is it more deliciously evident than in this Trappist masterpiece. Layers of fig, raisin, dark cherry, toasted caramel, bittersweet chocolate, and warm baking spice unfold with unhurried confidence, while the monastery yeast contributes earthy complexity and a whisper of pepper beneath the rich malt. The texture is luxuriously full without ever becoming heavy, finishing dry enough to invite quiet contemplation before the next sip.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
