Calling Agent Michael Scarn! 3 ‘Threat Level Midnight’ Beers

“It’ll take a lot more than a bullet to the brain, lungs, heart, back and balls to kill Michael Scarn.”

The Movie: Action! Romance! Drama! / 2011 / Great Scott Films International (Okay, it’s actually a movie-within-a-show that aired in an episode of NBC’s The Office).

The Beers: Brews that would make Michael Scott proud. They’re all Threat Level Midnight themed!

The Office ended in 2013 after nine seasons, and it’s still among the most streamed TV shows in the world. And while any day is a good day to pop open a beer and enjoy some episodes, there’s an extra-special one that is so beloved, it even has a few beers named after it. It’s an episode that overflows with action, intrigue, ill-placed moments of romance and even a robotic manservant. I’m talking, of course, about Threat Level Midnight.

For the unfamiliar, the movie-within-an-episode follows the exploits of Agent Michael Scarn, a recurring character played by office boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell). The movie is Scott’s own making, using his employees as cast members. There’s Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) as Scarn’s loyal butler, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) as the nefarious Goldenface, Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) as the President of the United States, the list goes on. My personal favorite casting is the usually stern Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) actually sounding like he’s having fun as the narrator.

It’s always fun when good actors play bad ones, and the plot is hilariously dumb. After the death of his wife, Catherine Zeta-Scarn at the hands of Goldenface, Michael Scarn finds himself forced back into action when his nemesis takes several hostages and threatens to blow up the NHL All-Star Game. Along the way, there’s James Bond-style vixens (played by Scott’s own former girlfriends), plenty of uncomfortable dialogue, and even a dance scene where everybody “does the Scarn.”

By the way, the episode called “Threat Level Midnight” only shows snippets of Michael Scott’s movie. Turns out the cast and crew actually made a full movie (well, a full 24-minute, 44-second feature) with extra scenes that you can watch straight through without any episode clips here.

And while you’re at it, here are three Threat Level Midnight beers worth checking out:

Threat Level Midnight – Barrel Theory

Minnesota’s Barrel Theory first brewed this beer in 2018 and keeps bringing it back, assumedly due to its popularity (doesn’t take long to find locals asking about it online). They’ve released it in a couple different versions, including a cognac barrel-aged one, but the original is awesome as it is.

Dark as midnight and Goldenface’s sordid past, this 10.7% ABV Stout contains decadent portions of maple, coffee and vanilla. And just like Michael Scarn, this beer’s a winner — It’s got a ridiculously high score from the fan rating site, Untappd (4.38 after almost 1,500 reviews, as of publication).

Threat Level Black – Sapwood Cellars

For the Maryland-based Sapwood Cellars, it all began with their first-ever Stout, Threat Level Midnight. Like Michael Scarn, the beer was unique. All of its ingredients come from the UK, including the Golden Promise pale malt and roasted barley in its base. In face, the base beer is essentially a Scottish Wee Heavy Ale that the brewers transformed into a Stout. Neat, huh?

It turned out to be so popular, that it spawned a whole series of sequels. There’s Threat Level Morning, Threat Level Noon, and today’s beer and TV pairing of choice, Threat Level Black. The brewers added loads of coffee to this rendition, weaving in nice roasty espresso flavors around the dry base.

Superstition Mead Barrel-aged Goldenface – O.H.S.O. Brewery

And now for something completely different! It’s a Barleywine meets Mead, meets The Office, meets… zombies?

To make this totally crazy fun, overly complex sipper, Arizona’s O.H.S.O. took one of their Barleywines and aged it in barrels from their neighbors over at Superstition Meadery. The barrels themselves are pretty special — they previously housed a Pyment Mead made with made with Arizona Mesquite honey and California Syrah grapes. With those lingering flavors infused into the Barleywine, the final result is pretty darn tasty. Oh, and the ABV is over 14%!

Now, this one did come out last year and is a bit tough to find currently. But considering both Barleywines and Meads have super long shelf lives, it’s totally possible that some of those original cans could turn up and still be totally delicious. At the very least, you have to see the amazing can art:

I don’t really know what’s up with the undead theme, but I still think it’s awesome. Almost as awesome as repeat viewings of Threat Level Midnight. The world may be a very different now than when The Office was in its prime. Certain jokes would never be made on TV today, but the wrongness is precisely what makes it so darn funny. Though if you’re among the millions of people still watching old episodes, you already know that.

There might be some other Threat Level Midnight-themed brews out there in the ether (Brix City Brewing did an Agent Michael Scarn dark IPA a while back that was delicious. I hope they re-brew it). But in the meantime, below are some bonus beers with general Office references.

*Bonus Beers*

• Jim Hopert / NEIPA with kveik yeast / 6.6% ABV / Third Street Aleworks – Santa Rosa, CA
• Pam Beasley And Jim / Pastry Stout / 10% ABV / Beer is Good Brewing Co. – Norman, OK
• Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica / NEIPA / 7% ABV / Evil Genius Brewing – Philadelphia, PA
• Pears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica / Fruited Gose / 6.5% ABV / Precarious Beer Project – Williamsburg, VA