Every time you wanted to roll your eyes in the office this year and didn’t, or found the strength to reply to grating emails with diplomacy instead of honesty, it’s all been working up to this moment: when that glorious stretch of annual leave rolls out in front of you, promising freedom from office-wear, computer screens and fluorescent lighting. We’re planning to spend the downtime lolling about with drink in hand – and we thought there might be a few of you out there dreaming the same sweet dream – so we’ve checked in with our favourite watering holes to find out which seasonal beers and Christmas-themed cocktails have hit the menus.

Brisbane’s own Fortitude Brewing has crafted a special summer pilsner exclusively for South Bank bar Tomahawk, boasting a crisp flavour, light body and a touch of fruit on the nose. The beer hit the taps yesterday and is available to drink in or take away in a growler for Christmas revelry at home. Recently opened Bulimba local The Oxford Tap House will be pouring chilled mulled wine by the glass and jug up until Christmas, with the Black Hops Brewing Eggnog Stout and 4 Pines Christmas Saison also on hand to sate thirsty throats.

Green Beacon Brewing will be blending its Wayfarer USA with sweet brandy and sherry-macerated Christmas cake fruits and spices – think currants, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel – to create the perfect Christmas beer. Swing by the Teneriffe brewhouse for Beerkary Bakery’s Christmas pop-up this Sunday to team the Wayfarer with matched pastries and sandwiches. Byron Bay brewery Stone & Wood will be pumping its 2014 Garden Ale through local taps this Christmas, boasting a citrus aroma, clean malt character and easy bitter finish for leisurely afternoon sessions in the sunshine. Newstead Brewing Co and Melbourne-based Edge Brewing Project have also been working hard to bring a collaborative white stout to your merry mouth.

Capalaba’s Bacchus Brewing Co. is releasing new bottled beers most days during the silly season. Discover what Christmas cake tastes like in a glass, with the Holy Moly amber fruit ale aged in rum barrels and infused with brandy. Popular favourites, the award-winning Sex, Drugs & Rocky Road and the Lamington Dark Ale, are also on hand for a typically Aussie indulgence. The top nine brews from the brewery’s B20 Beerfest will also be available for Christmas and New Year’s swilling. The Charming Squire in South Bank has taken the summer beer to the next level this year by crafting a special range of beer cocktails featuring the James Squire range. Based on the first recorded beer cocktail, The Humble Beginning sees brown sugar dissolved into London Dry Gin, topped with the Jack of Spades Porter and finished with freshly grated nutmeg for a delicious blend of Christmas and summer flavours.

Milton’s Scratch Bar will be tapping a festive Christmas line-up from early next week, featuring the 4 Pines Christmas Saison, Red Hill Brewery Christmas Ale and Bridge Road Brewers Fat Man Red Suit Big Sack India Red Ale. The star of the show, however, will be the fourth version of the bar’s annual Christmas brew, the barrel-aged chocolate cherry imperial stout, Bo Jingles (all the way) Cherry Cherry Christmas. A one-off keg of one-year-old Bo Jingles will also hit the taps during the Christmas season. Get along to the bar’s Christmas shindig next Tuesday evening to sample all of these brews while listening to tunes from Shem Allen (Skinny Jean) and Louis Spoils. While you’re sipping on these sweet seasonal brews, don’t forget to place your vote for the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2014 competition by January 9, 2015, before cheering on at the countdown at Archive Beer Boutique on Australia Day. You can also thank Brisbane’s craft-beer maestros for another successful year by picking up their 2015 calendar Brewed Nude, with all money raised going to local charity, Karuna.

However, if you’ve had a gutful of the hops and are craving something a little sweeter, head to Cobbler in West End for the new Led Zeppelin summer cocktail boasting Bowen mangoes, Pisco, Campari, lemon juice and leatherwood honey, or Sway Cocktail Bar & Lounge for the Spritz blend featuring Aperol, Chandon and a twist of peach, garnished with grapefruit, orange and lime. Fortitude Valley’s Dutch Courage Officers’ Mess will be cooling Brisbane revellers down with a Pimm’s No. 3 liqueur made from gin, aromatised wines and fruit juices, as well as the house Pimm’s featuring one of the bar’s 105 gins and seasonal fruits like melon, stone fruit and citrus. Across the city, South Brisbane’s Hoo Ha Bar will be making locals merry with a special-edition and rather dapper-looking Christmas cocktail, while Alfred & Constance will treat you to a Santa Got Lei’d concoction of house-made gingerbread syrup, spice rum, white rum, dark Jamaican rum, lime juice and Angostura Bitters, served in a tiki-style mug with festive garnishes of mint, cherries and a candy cane swizzle stick.

Take a seat on the upper deck of the recently refurbished Jimmy’s on the Mall and slurp on the Hugo cocktail made from Prosecco, St Germaine elderflower liqueur, fresh mint and soda, or the Queen’s Bramble featuring Bombay Sapphire Gin, blackberries, ginger and fresh lime. Pig ‘N’ Whistle Brunswick Street and Riverside have both just launched new summer cocktail menus, featuring delights like cucumber sangria, alcoholic peach-and-ginger ice tea and spiced apple and honey daiquiris. And of course who could forget the hidden Ashgrove wonder Junk Bar, which has crafted a Turkish Delight in a glass with The Junk Delight, featuring Violetta Violet Liqueur from Tamborine Mountain Distillery, Agwa De Bolivia Coca Leaf Liquor and melted dark chocolate in a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass. Merry Christmas!