Quick Pours: White Elephant Bottle Share at NoDa Brewing, another musical beer, and latest craft beer releases as Christmas ideas

Here’s a quick look at some things going on in the local beer scene. Also, as expected, Black & Blue has officially sold out but there’s still time to get tickets for Queen City Brewers Festival. Both the afternoon and evening sessions are still available, and you can purchase tickets here.

• This coming Monday, Dec. 16, NoDa Brewing is having its annual White Elephant Bottle Party. Just like the ones you go to with family and friends, except this white elephant is a 22 oz. bomber of your choice. And the brewery (along with myself) insists on no gag beers; this isn’t that kind of party. NoDa has done a few of these over the past year, and there have been some really great offerings. The party starts at 6:45 p.m., and the brewery will even have a white bag for you (in case you forget or aren’t the wrapping type).

• Speaking of NoDa, last year the brewery released Woody & Wilcox IPA, named after the morning DJs of radio station 106.5 (The End). Well, now their evening DJ, DZL, wants in on the action as well. As part of the pre-party for tonight’s Not So Acoustic Christmas at Neighborhood Theatre, Heist is releasing DZL Double IPA. This DIPA comes in at around 9.5 percent and is described online by Heist’s small batch brewer Eric Mitchell as “super citrusy, super hoppy (and) in your face.”

The release begins at 4 p.m. at Heist, where The 1975 (one of the bands performing at the sold-out concert later this evening at Neighborhood Theatre) will also be playing an acoustic set.

• If you’re still stuck on Christmas ideas for your favorite craft beer fan, I encourage you to check out Charlotte Beer’s gift guide. Daniel did a great job highlighting some potential presents. And with a huge influx of great beers that have come in recently, I wanted to highlight a couple if you’re looking for stocking stuffers or Christmas party gifts.

–Of course, we’ll start with offerings from the local scene. Triple C just released the bourbon barrel-aged Up All Night, stop by Olde Mecklenburg for some Yule Bock and Birdsong still has some bottles of Puppies on Penguins. And you can never go wrong by getting a growler from any of Charlotte’s breweries.

–Yes, Virginia, there is still some Cold Mountain left in the Queen City. As is usually the case, more bottles from the second go-round have begun popping up after the first rush/onslaught. Check with any of the local bottle shops but hurry, it won’t be around for too much longer.

–One of my favorite non-local beers just landed in Charlotte as well: Lagunitas Sucks. This is a great story, if you haven’t seen it already. A few years ago, the California-based brewery wasn’t going to be able to brew enough of its annual winter beer, Brown Shugga’ due to waiting on a new brewhouse. So with hat in hand, they called themselves out and offered Sucks as an apology/substitute ale.

Fast forward to the present, and I’d venture that more people are fans of Sucks than Brown Shugga’. It was a great marketing mea culpa, and beer fans across the nation are thankful. I can’t say enough about this beer, which comes in at 7.6 percent ABV. Brawley’s, Good Bottle and Salud all currently are carrying Sucks, which comes in 6-packs and (new this year) 32 oz. quarts (or half growlers). It’s worth getting one as a present and one for you.

–Other On Tap-approved beers that have recently come into the market and would make for great gifts include Olde Hickory’s Event Horizon, Terrapin’s Wake ‘n Bake and Victory’s DirtWolf. Or if you’re looking for another recommendation, the folks at Brawley’s, Good Bottle, Salud and Vintner will never steer you wrong.