Beers with names such as Old Saint Chongo, Cranberry de Table and HOLLA-Day Ale will be in the Rose City December 3rd through December 7th to help Portlanders celebrate the beginning of the holiday season at the annual Holiday Ale Festival.

Holiday Ale Festival Logo

For nineteen years Portland’s Living Room has hosted the five-day Holiday Ale Festival. This gathering of brewers and their beers will take up residence in Pioneer Courthouse Square with fifty of their best winter ales. Many of these ales are brewed exclusively for this event.

This is a quintessential Portland affair and is the West Coast’s premiere venue for tasting winter beers. This very popular occasion celebrates the tradition of brewing special beers created for the express cause of holding the chill of a long winter’s night at bay.

Holiday Ale Festival Revelers Timothy Horn Photography

These winter brews are not the typical beer you’d find at your local supermarket. These are rich, robust and complex, Belgians and Barleywines, Stouts and Sours designed and brewed to introduce that characteristic cheer to the holiday season.

The festival begins at 11 A.M. each day and continues till 10 P.M. each evening save for the final day, Sunday, when the event will close at 5 P.M. There are few things to keep in mind about this event. First, it is only for those folks 21 years-of-age and older. No minors or infants are allowed. Second, no pets are allowed with the exception of those animals qualified for ADA service.

Sponsored by Pioneer Courthouse Square, Crater Lake Soda, the Oregon Lottery, Yelp and Showcase Music & Sound, the Holiday Ale Festival proudly supports the Children’s Cancer Association. Based in Portland, the CCA works to improve the quality of life for children and teenagers suffering from cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

The very popular “Need Not Be Present To Win” raffle will be returning for the 2014 festivities. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Children’s Cancer Association. Tickets for the raffle will be $5. 2013 saw winners claim such prizes as gift cards for a number of local breweries and restaurants, branded clothing, a grill, and a signed jersey from Kenny Cooper recently of the Portland Timbers.

Holiday Ale Festival Tent and Portland's Christmas Tree — Timothy Horn Photography

Because you know the weather gods wouldn’t miss this event either, wassailers at the Holiday Ale Festival will find a very large heated tent providing shelter from the elements. The tent is clear allowing a panoramic view of Pioneer Courthouse Square and the lights of the city as well as Portland’s Christmas Tree.

Listen now as Steven Shomler and Ken Wilson talk with Preston Weesner, Chris Crabb and brewer Joel Gregory of Ex Novo Brewing about the Holiday Ale Festival. Joel brought his festival ale Moonstriker, a Mexican Chocolate Baltic Porter brewed in collaboration with Portland’s own Moonstruck Chocolate.

PRP