Happy holidays, boils and ghouls, this month, the festive freaks and gluttonous geeks down here in the Masters of Brewtality crypt are bringing you the definitive guide to drinking up December. There’s all sorts of wholesome stuff going down in our fair little mountain town, but seeing as we’re all raging degenerates, we’re going to be adding our own boozy recommendations to pair with them. First off, is the Lights at the Station, a quaint light display put up every year on the 1911 Baldwin Steam engine on the corner of Route 66 and San Francisco. It’s located right on the main drag and we’d never recommend throwing peppermint liquor and hot chocolate into a to-go Thermos because that would be totally illegal, but it does sound nice, doesn’t it? Instead, we’re going to recommend wine as a classy pairing to this quaint display. With Flag Terrier and Drinking Horn Mead Hall right across the street, it’s easy to catch a good buzz before wandering over. Flag Terrier has a bit of class that you don’t find in most downtown spots and the upstairs location makes it feel like you’ve found some sort of chic speakeasy. Crowds are usually low there and the food is criminally underrated with one of the best charcuterie boards in Flagstaff. We’d like to recommend a good wine, but if you’ve been following this column at all, you know we don’t know cork from cup, but we’ve never been steered wrong by the knowledgeable staff. Drinking Hown, on the other hand, with its floor to ceiling Viking decor feels like a Yule celebration year round anyways so it’s perfect for a December evening out. The root beer mead is always our go, but the lime, cherry, and classic meads are all stellar. They even sell drinking horns at the hall so you can get the pillaging spirit like the raiders of yore. Drinking Horn remains our favorite meadery in the state, with its emphasis on local honey and all natural ingredients, they’re offerings avoid that classic pitfall of being too sweet, allowing you to actually have a couple glasses without immediately developing diabetes. The downtown skating rink by the train station is also part of the Lights at the Station experience; however, would probably be best done before hitting the bottle.Â
Next up is Nordic Village. They offer cross country skiing, snowshoeing, cabins, and yurts plus campsites and wedding rentals. Located about 15 miles west of downtown Flagstaff, the only complaint is that they don’t have a bar, so you’re in total BYOB mode. We’re not sure if it’s allowed, but we did it anyway. One of the upsides to any snow activity is that you don’t need a cooler as Mother Nature has your back with the chilliest refrigerator known to humanity. On the way out, though, there is The Station and the Basecamp at Snowbowl. The Station offers some great deals on beer, wine, and mead as well as solid gourmet food and a hip atmosphere to get you geared up for a trek through the snowy woods. And Basecampâ€�. That place makes some of the most insanely strong and epic cocktails we’ve found in town. The staff is as classic a group of fun skiers and snowboarders as you can find and the wood-cabin ambiance compliments a winter’s day perfectly. Â
