Holiday Ale Festival: An exclusive showcase of rare, one-off winter craft beers

Across the country, there is basically a craft beer event every day (here are some tips for making the most of your event participation). Because there are so many, we usually only run news on events that have a certain notable, cool spin. Like this one:

Known for assembling a prestigious lineup of winter beers, the 20th annual Holiday Ale Festival will take place Dec. 2 – 6 at Pioneer Courthouse Square in the heart of downtown Portland.

Notable: In a place like Portland, there has to be a bigger hook than, “Hey, here’s a bunch of craft beer” because everyone’s probably tried it all. So, the festival works with every brewery involved to make sure they send a beer that has either been made or blended specifically for the event or is a rare or vintage beer that isn’t commonly tapped in the state. The popular festival will feature more than 50 specialty ales that have either been crafted specifically for the event or are hard-to-fine vintages, underscoring the event’s reputation as one of finest gathering of winter beers anywhere in the nation.

Cool: The Holiday Ale Festival is held outside in December. As dedicated Northeast Ohioans, we appreciate any event that embraces the outdoors during colder winter months. Sure, gas heaters create a cozy ambiance beneath the boughs of the region’s largest decorated Christmas tree, but still…

In addition to beer tasting, the festival also features meet the brewer events, a root beer garden, food vendors, self-guided beer pairings with cheese, event merchandise and a coat/bag check and raffle that raises funds for the Children’s Cancer Association.

To enter and consume beer, the purchase of an entry package is required. Advance general admission packages cost $35 and include the 2015 tasting cup and 14 taster tickets, plus expedited entry all five days. General admission at the door is the same price, but includes only 12 tickets and no expedited entry. Advance VIP packages cost $80 and include the tasting cup, 30 taster tickets, special VIP beer lines with little to no waiting, exclusive VIP only vintage beers, bottled water, and express entry all five days. VIP tickets are limited to 250 and are not available at the door. All advance packages will go on sale at the end of September.