Peter B’s barley wine honors the tradition of hearty holiday beers.

Celebrating the season with a strong holiday beer is tradition at many breweries. Consider Delirium Noel and St. Bernardus Christmas Ale from Belgium, or the coveted Samichlaus, brewed annually on Dec. 6 by Schloss Eggenberg in Austria.

These are not casual beers. With bold flavors and a wallop of alcohol, they are meant to warm a person on an evening blanketed with newfallen snow, perhaps easing them into a long winter’s nap. The Donna Draper barley wine at Peter B’s in Monterey fits this seasonal custom, weighing in at 12.2-percent alcohol – enough of a punch that it’s poured as a half pint.

But patrons are not slighted by the smaller portion. On the contrary, it’s something to savor, offering a sensation of late December gloaming – settling into a comfortable old chair, lighting a pipe and watching wisps of smoke curl toward the ceiling through the flickering glow of a fireplace. Rich notes of coffee and chocolate, the bittersweet savor of dried orange peel, warmed pumpernickel and cherry-scented tobacco flow from the glass. It’s as if brewmaster Natalie Mika was inspired by those old Thomas Nast sketches of Santa Claus, a jolly old man nestled in comfort with a yellowed meerschaum resting on his teeth. It’s a contemplative beer.

But heed the warning of the half-size glass. Don Draper may have made the three-martini lunch a routine, but Donna Draper is one – maybe two – and done.

Peter B’s Brewpub, 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey. 649-2699, portolahotel.com