As we head toward the solstice
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, we could all use something to alleviate the gloom of increasingly dark winter days. Luckily, Portland breweries have a wealth of wintry beers that will do just that, from Cascade Brewing's Glueh Kriek (spiced mulled sour cherry ale) to Stormbreaker Brewing's award-winning winter warmer Winter Coat. Read on for more festive seasonal brews. For more ideas, check out the Mercury's holiday food and drink guide, including our list of places to get takeout for the holidays
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Baerlic Brewing
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In tribute to their late friend, the legendary Portland craft beer veteran and totcho inventor Jim Parker, Baerlic Brewing has brewed the "Jim Parker's Winter Warmer Holiday Ale," an homage to the first beer Jim brewed professionally over 22 years ago, featuring "candied orange, grapefruit and pine flavors and aromas" from Northwest-grown Columbus, Cascade, and Chinook hops.
Southeast, Northeast
Pickup or delivery
Breakside Brewery
The experimental brewery has brought back their perennially popular salted caramel stout, which was originally brewed as a collaboration with Salt and Straw Ice Cream. This year's brew has been tweaked for a "smoother, slightly sweeter mouthfeel, increased fudgy notes, and lighter roast."
Northeast, Northwest, and Milwaukie
Pickup or in-person
Cascade Brewing
Get cozy on Cascade Brewing's covered and heated patio with a warm cup of their famous Glueh Kriek, a spiced mulled sour cherry ale served hot on tap with an orange slice. DIY kits are also available, so you can recreate the experience at home.
Southeast, Southwest
Pickup or outdoor seating with heated and covered patio
Culmination Brewing
This locally driven microbrewery has released the first brew in their Odyssey series: Nyx, an aquavit barrel-aged stout with flavors of chocolate ganache, licorice, and caraway and aromas of cascara and orange, perfect for "enjoying during the cold, wet Northwest winter" or "pairing with rich desserts and winter comfort food."
Northeast
Pickup, delivery, or outdoor seating with heated and covered patio
Deschutes Brewery
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The award-winning craft brewery's festive Jubelale, described as a "dark, malty celebration ale with layered flavors and beautifully balanced hopping," is a Yuletide classic.
Northwest
Pickup or in-person
Ecliptic Brewing
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John Harris's galactic craft brewing project is currently offering their Filament Winter IPA brewed with tangerine, available in six-packs or crowlers, and Orange Giant, a barleywine ale with Columbus, Chinook and Simcoe hops available in 16 oz cans and on draft.
North
Pickup, delivery, or in-person
Great Notion Brewing
Great Notion invites you to "light your way through the darkness of 2020" with their Nox Illuminate beer, a warm, toasty, light-bodied Schwarzbier (German black lager) brewed in collaboration with Wayfinder Beer
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that they promise will "take the edge off of the winter gloom."
Concordia and Beaverton
Pickup or in-person
Hair of the Dog Brewing
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This brewery focused on new and unusual beers has released this year's batch of "Doggie Claws," a copper-colored, West Coast-style barleywine with "big hops and malt."
Northeast
Pickup or delivery
Level Beer
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Warm yourself from within with two barrel-aged beers from Level Beer: Barrel-Aged Neon Snowsuit, a bourbon barrel-aged version of the brewery's classic winter warmer ale Neon Snowsuit, and Better Stock Up, a traditional English stock ale aged in rye whiskey barrels. They've also just released Chocolate Dynamite, an "explosive stout" with roasted malt flavors and chocolate.
Northeast
Pickup
Modern Times Beer
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Modern Times has released a cheerfully packaged new four-pack of variants for their imperial dessert stout Pharaoh Ascending: cocoa and vanilla; vanilla and raspberry; cocoa & pecan; and cocoa and coconut.
Southeast
Pickup
Pelican Brewing
You'll surely make the naughty list with Pelican Brewing's "Bad Santa," a limited-time holiday dark ale with "toasted malt and roast character" and herbal hop aroma from Fuggle hops.
Cannon Beach, Pacific Brewing, Tillamook
Curbside pickup or indoor seating
Roscoe's
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The neighborhood tavern is currently tapping Potent Potables, a holiday spiced milkshake IPA from Claim 52 Brewing, brewed with milk sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin spice.
Southeast
Heated outdoor seating
Stormbreaker Brewing
Stormbreaker Brewing's winter warmer Winter Coat, available in cans and on draft, just took home a silver medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championship and has won a silver or gold medal in competitions every year 2017. It's brewed slightly differently each year—2020's version features tangerine and cacao nibs. There's also a barrel-aged version.
North
Pickup, delivery, or outdoor seating with covered patio
Threshold Brewing
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Threshold is offering holiday beer packs, featuring their "Holiday Bubble" (a mixed-culture grisette conditioned on cranberries), "Wrapped in Casimir" (an imperial stout holiday blend), or "Jens and Brett" (a grisette fermented with brettanomyces), plus a special Threshold glass.
Southeast
Pickup, delivery, or outdoor seating with heated and covered patio