Tap Handle #701: Parallel 49 - Ugly Sweater

Tap size:  10"
Rarity:  less than 10 seen
Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

Ugly Sweater features a homely looking guy wearing what the brewery describes as "a sweater only Grandma would love." He is giving a thumbs up with his right hand, and his left hand is behind his back with his fingers crossed. It is the first Parallel 49 tap that had me guessing about what some of the design features mean. To help satiate my thirst for solving the mystery, the brewery directed me to Steve Kitchen of Combination 13, who is the artist and designer of all of Parallel 49's labels, characters and taps. Mainly I wanted to know why the character's fingers are crossed and what exactly the white figure on the front of the sweater is. Steve's response was:

"Originally when I drew the Ugly Sweater character for the label, I put his hand behind his back and thought nothing more of it. When it came to the tap handle designs later, I decided to cross his fingers just to generate more ’character’ and keep people guessing...it really doesn’t have any meaning beyond that and emphasizing his goofiness. On the front of the sweater it’s an ugly design of a Sasquatch in a snowy forest."

Many thanks to Steve for providing this insight behind the tap design!

Like other Parallel 49 taps, this has rarely hit the secondary market and has commanded prices of $300+ when it does. It's another Parallel 49 tap that I'm excited to have & display.

For more about Parallel 49 Brewing, see this post.

Click through to read more about Parallel 49's Ugly Sweater Milk Stout and to see more photos of this fool-headed tap...

Parallel 49's Ugly Sweater is a sweet, creamy, dark milk stout, a North American take on a classic English style of beer. Ugly Sweater is brewed as a smooth tasting stout and sweetened using milk sugar (lactose). The sweetness plays an integral part in balancing the roasted malts that give the beer it's dark color.

Ratebeer:  3.34 out of 5

Beer Advocate:  3.7 out of 5 (good)