There’s nothing like celebrating the holiday season by grabbing some local seasonal ales and kicking back with friends. One event that every beer enthusiast should try to attend is the Holiday Ale Festival held in Pioneer Square from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. This event is considered the premiere winter beer tasting venue on the West Coast and will have more than 40 breweries in attendance.
For those who can’t make it (and those who aren’t satisfied with a five-day ale fest), here are some brews you can find at the local market to keep your holiday spirit high:
HumBug’r by MacTarnahan’s Brewing Co.
This porter is dark brown with a tan head. This beer doesn’t have much in the aroma department, but it has a nice malty flavor with underlying hints of chocolate, coffee and roasted nuts. It is a medium-to-heavy beer without much carbonation, which makes it easy to enjoy. It uses caramel, black roast, wheat and oat malts.
Bitterness: 27 International Bitterness Units (IBU)
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.3 percent
Ill Tempered Gnome Winter Ale
by Oakshire Brewing
When poured, this has a dark mahogany color with a light head that disappears quickly. The scent is of roasted malts with traces of toffee and molasses, as well as a mild green hop smell. While the taste certainly has defined malty flavors with sweeter undertones of molasses, this ale finishes off dry and bitter. It has a mild taste and light carbonation, making it creamy to drink.
Bitterness: 65 IBU
ABV: 6.8 percent
Sleigh’r Dark Doüble Alt Ale
by Ninkasi Brewing Company
Much like the Ill Tempered Gnome, this ale is deep in color, but with hints of red. It’s accompanied by the scent of dark fruits, seasonal spices and good old-fashioned malts. It tastes bitter and earthy, followed by hints of dark fruit. The amount of carbonation makes it exciting to drink and fills the mouth with flavor. This is an overall good winter ale to keep around during the cold months.
Bitterness: 50 IBU
ABV: 7.2 percent
Ebenezer by Bridgeport Brewery
This Ebenezer has a lighter brown color, with hints of red. Holiday spices and bread are the two dominant scents that arise from this ale, but it finishes with traces of something light and sweet and fruity. It tastes good, but there’s nothing too bold or memorable about it. Hops and spices are what hit first, and then a strong floral aftertaste lingers for a while after. It’s a light-to-medium beer that goes down easily.
Bitterness: 40 IBU
ABV: 6.4 percent
Raven Mad by Bridgeport Brewery
This ale is a dark imperial porter. When you smell it, there is definitely a strong aroma of wine with hints of malts, dark chocolates and coffees. The taste is has all those flavors with some added bitterness, which helps to round this beer out. Overall, the drinkability wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t overly carbonated either.
Bitterness: 70 IBU
ABV: 7.8 percent
Yellow Snow IPA by Rogue
Originally created by Rogue as a tribute to snow sports and introduced during the Salt Lake City Olympic games, this IPA is completely unlike other ales introduced during this season. It’s light brown with golden hues. The aroma is of pine, citrus and hints of something sweet. It tastes of hops, but also present is a hint of citrus and some sweetness, which give way to bitterness. This brew is crisp and full of carbonation, yet has a surprisingly smooth finish.
Bitterness: 75 IBU
ABV: 6.5 percent
King Size Snickers Bar by Rogue
This brilliant concoction is comprised of a mixture of Double Chocolate stout and Hazelnut Brown Nectar. It’s also one of the darkest ales you’ll ever see, with a faint scent that includes slight undertones of chocolate and nuts. These slight tones come out in the flavor on full blast. The combination of tastes makes it seem like one isn’t drinking a beer, but rather a carbonated and alcoholic candy bar. And it is certainly alcoholic; one can feel rosy cheeks setting in by the end of this beer. Overall drinkability is great; it isn’t heavily carbonated, but it has enough to it to fill the mouth and make it exciting.
Bitterness: Stout is undetermined; Hazelnut 33 IBU
ABV: Stout portion 10.5; Hazelnut 5.5 percent