Blog Tag: Holiday Ale Festival

Holiday Ale Festival Wednesday, Nov. 28th: 12pm-10pm Thursday - Saturday: 11am-10pm Sunday, Dec. 2nd: 11am-5pm The 2012 Holiday Ale Festival is upon us once again—for its 17th year! This will be our 10th year attending the festival, so we can provide you with some details on how to make the best use of your time while attending this great festival. According to festival manager Preston Weesner, "It's really special to be able to hold this event... Read More »

The portlandbeer.org team has come out of the other side of opening day of the 2011 Holiday Ale Festival in tact. Mostly. Perfect day: 50° and sunny for a 2pm kickoff. I was eager to work my way through the beers I mentioned in the "Must Try Five" List of Six Beers article. Very eager. Our pre-festival list held up very well under plenty of drinking scrutiny. It can be hit or miss coming up with... Read More »

#haf2011 Kickoff is just hours away!  We will be sending out info during the opening hours of the fest, so keep your eyes here: #haf2011 for news from everyone tweeting from the festival, on our Twitter account for news from us, and on our Facebook page.  Don't forget, you can (and should!) also rate the Portland entries in the Holiday Ale Festival by going here and logging in with your Facebook account. Let the games begin! Read More »

The idea for this exercise was to pick out some must try beers for this year's Holiday Ale Festival. On the first try, I almost recreated the whole list. On the second try, I narrowed it down to 19. Still a bit much for the purposes of this article. So, my goal is to narrow the list down to five beers, with a bit of cheating. The first cheat is obvious: my list of five beers contains, well,... Read More »

For obvious reasons*, this is a photo from the Holiday Ale Festival. This is one of my top three favorite Portland beer events of the year. First of all, it's cold and rainy: my favorite kind of weather. Second, these beers are big and unique: my favorite kind of beer. And third, I can hop on the Max to get to and from the festival: my favorite kind of festival mode of transportation. This is... Read More »

Of the 42 beers listed below, this year's Holiday Ale Festival is made up of some big beers weighing in at an average of 7.9% ABV! Over the upcoming days, we'll be talking about some of the beers that we're looking forward to and hoping that you can chime in and give us your opinion as well over at our Facebook page.  Our team will be in full force at the fest this year for... Read More »

Well, here we are again.   It's time for another great Holiday Ale Festival here in Portland.  It's also time for us to wimp out and not tell you exactly what to expect.   But that is part of the draw of the festival: expect to be surprised.   Of course, we've posted the beer list and the Rare Beer tapping schedule, but words are only 2% of the fun. Last night, some of us were... Read More »

OK, here's the somewhat finalized list of regular beers and special tappings happening at this year's Holiday Ale Festival.  While it's not set in stone, this should be a very accurate list of what to expect later this week.  Notes from last night's Media Preview up next. Rare Beer Tapping Schedule: Wed. 2 pm 2005 Samichlaus 2009 New Belgium Love 2008 Oskar Blues Ten-Fiddy Firestone 14th Anniversary Thurs. 2 pm Lompoc Brewing 8 Malty Nights Deschutes... Read More »

According to the Holiday Ale Website: "Shifts are filling up fast! If you want to be part of the 2010 HAF and get cool free swag and beer tickets, you better sign up before it's too late!"  Sure, you can support the festival by drinking beer, but why not meet some cool people and help the cause that you love so dearly? Though not finalized, this year's event is shaping up to be another great... Read More »

Well, it is the end of 2009 and, as is customary at the end of any year, the media has thrown at us 2009 year in review after 2009 year in review. Recaps of the past year's events fill almost every television station, every website and every newspaper. Covering everything from the year in celebrity gossip to the year in natural disaster gossip, these 365 day highlight reels come at us with almost punishing frequency.... Read More »

In years past I have taken the Holiday Ale Festival for granted.  Sure, it has always had a phenomenal selection of beers and I always enjoy myself, but for some reason in my mind it was always overshadowed by the plethora of summer festivals.  I have often unfairly equated "summer" with "better" and this notion probably stems from my school days when summer actually meant something. Hundred degree temperatures and hay fever did not matter... Read More »

2009 Holiday Ale Festival In a bout of uber-lazy journalism, I could merely remind everyone that the 2009 Holiday Ale Festival starts tomorrow and point to my beer blogging brethren's pregame coverage over at Beervana, Brewpublic, and Beer Around Town.  Hmm, looks like I just did that. Oh well, not much to say that the official beer list doesn't say itself. Don't worry, this isn't all you'll get out of us.  We'll be there tomorrow... Read More »

2008 Holiday Ale Festival Ah, the 2008 Holiday Ale Festival is but a hazy memory in the minds of those who attended--and many are already anticipating next year's lineup! As we wrote earlier, we sampled a lot of different beer. Many were brewed exclusively for this event--never to be seen, smelled, and tasted again. Luckily, while we were paying attention to the beer, someone else was paying attention to the event. The following is a... Read More »

Festival organizer Preston Weesner talks to Firestone Walker's Matt Brynildson about the amazing 2006 Jim. There are obvious perks for covering the beer scene here in Portland. I get to meet a lot of great people, I get a free beer once in awhile, and chicks, chicks, chicks! The girls are great, but it's actually not the best part. The part I love most about this job is being involved in a community that knows... Read More »

Portland Holiday Ale Festival! PORTLAND, Ore. – Nov. 1, 2008 – The Holiday Ale Festival is giving beer lovers a gift by opening one day early, and rewarding those who come with a selection of rare and vintage kegs. The 13th annual Holiday Ale Festival will take place Dec. 3 through 7 at Pioneer Courthouse Square, located at 701 SW Sixth Ave. in downtown Portland. Hours for the event are 3 to 9 p.m. Wed.,... Read More »

During last year's Holiday Ale Festival setup, I helped by drinking beer. PORTLAND, Ore. - Sept. 9, 2008 - The winter season holds many gifts for beer lovers in the form of big, bold ales designed to fend off the cold chill of a long winter night. The Holiday Ale Festival has gathered together 40 of these winter warmers, most of which cannot be tasted outside of the event, for a joyous weekend celebration. The... Read More »

Photos from the 2007 Holiday Ale Festival Media Preview. Check out the rest of the photos here. Read More »

Most likely, it will be cold. And yeah, it'll probably be rainy. But under the big white tent in Pioneer Square, the heaters and strong beers will warm you plenty. It's time again for the annual Holiday Ale Festival! 2007 Holiday Ale Festival mug. "The 12th annual Holiday Ale Festival will begin on Thursday, Nov. 29, and continue through Sunday, Dec. 2 at Pioneer Courthouse Square, located at 701 SW Sixth Ave at the intersection... Read More »