If there’s a silver lining on the holiday gift wrap of this scrooge of a pandemic, it might just be this: You can now order beer from your favorite local brewery, and your delights will soon appear on your doorstep.
That’s no lump of coal in the stocking. And even better, heading out on Christmas shopping marathons might not sound like the best option right now, so having some of your mom’s, brother’s or friends’ favorite beers delivered to their homes is a great solution for your holiday gift giving.
Most Portland and Oregon breweries are doing either to-go beers or delivering within their area, with varying degrees of travel limitations. And while they can’t send beer out of state, some are shipping to all of Oregon. Check their ordering websites for details and boundaries.
And even if your favorite brewery isn’t doing home delivery, many are making a wonderful winter warmer you can find in the grocery or a bottle shop.
So with that in mind, here are 16 winter beers available now, or soon, that might just bring you and yours – and the struggling breweries themselves – a little holiday warmth so welcome in these times.
The Abyss barrel-aged imperial stout
Deschutes Brewery
This winter classic, first released in 2006, is brewed with licorice, cherry bark and molasses then aged in a blend of new oak, bourbon and wine barrels. If your loved one collects for their cellar, consider this year’s The Abyss. And 2020 is so weird that this year it comes in new packaging: a four-pack of cans instead of the traditional 22-oz bottles of yore.
11.7% ABV; 12-oz. can four-packs; $19.99
Available to-go at pubs, 210 N.W. 11th Ave. in Portland and 1044 N.W. Bond St. in Bend; widely available in groceries and bottle shops; no online ordering.
Belgian dark strong (to be named later)
Labyrinth Forge/Gateway Brewing
If your beloved spouse is a beer nerd, they probably enjoy showing off beers not many people know about, so great beers from the smallest of breweries can be real prizes. And these two Portland nanobreweries, Labyrinth Forge and Gateway, plan to release a winter ale in the next couple of weeks. They say it offers a “Belgian dark strong base with a bit of sweet cherry puree added.” It’s so fresh they haven’t named it yet, but it’s fermenting away right now.
ABV (not available); 16-oz. cans, 32-oz. crowlers/growlers, 64-oz. growlers; price not set.
Available for pickup/delivery, order online at gatewaybrewingpdx.square.site and biermi.com/store/labyrinth-forge/store.
BeYOB
Wayfinder Beer
Is that friend you get something for every year a metalhead and an exquisite-beer lover? Well this extra-strong, quadruple-decocted lager from one of Portland’s most respected breweries was spawned in homage to Oregon’s legendary doom-metal band YOB. The deep, intense and nourishing brew is conditioned at below-freezing temps for weeks.
7.7% ABV; 16-oz. can four-packs; $16
Available at specialty Portland groceries, bottle shops and taprooms; check wayfinder.beer for taproom availability because of COVID restrictions.
Druncleweizen winter dunkelweizen
Brewery 26
If you have a favorite uncle who is always the life of the party, this young and excellent brewery is offering a winter wheat beer for him. It has notes of clove and a hint of banana, using a touch of chocolate malt along with crystal malt for body and depth.
5.4% ABV; 16-oz. can four-packs; $14
Available first week of December at the taproom, 5829 S.E. Powell Blvd.; order at brewery26.com for pickup/delivery.
Joy Jammin Pale Ale
Block 15 Brewing
Perhaps you’re quite fond of someone but they’re not into big, malty, warming winter beers — those aren’t for everyone, after all. If that person prefers something a bit lighter, there’s some Joy to be given to them at the holidays, too. Block 15 describes this pale ale as “a pillowy-soft malt profile with a trifecta of tropical, citrus and orchard fruit hop character.”
5% ABV; 16-oz. cans; $3
Available Saturdays at Block 15u2032s south Corvallis taproom’s weekly drive-through, through Block 15u2032s distribution network, which includes select Portland grocery and bottle shops; or order at b15tr.square.site for taproom pickup.
Frankie imperial stout
Migration Brewing
This year’s Frankie has “huge flavors of roast, chocolate and dried fruits coming from a unique combination of Trappist and English ale yeast strains used during fermentation,” Migration declares, so perfect for that person on your gift list who likes their beers full-bodied. “Frankie drinks very smooth with aromas of dried cherry, fruit and Belgian chocolate, and is deceptively easy to drink for a big Imperial Stout.”
11.8% ABV; 500ml bottle; $9
Available to-go at Migration’s locations; order online from the Glisan pub at orderstart.com/migrationbrewglisan or the Gresham pub at orderstart.com/migrationbrewgresham for pickup/delivery. Visit migrationbrewing.com for details.
Hi Viz winter ale
Away Days Brewing
Fun holiday fact: The name of this smooth drinking, West Coast imperial red is inspired by the high-visibility soccer balls used in snowy conditions. What more do you want for a winter beer? And after Toffee Club, Away Days’ sister pub next door, closed earlier this year, they, like so many breweries, could use some holiday love.
7% ABV; 16-oz. can four-packs; $15
Order at awaydaysbrewing.com/shop for pickup/delivery.
Holiday Bubble barrel-aged farmhouse grisette with cranberries
Threshold Brewing & Blending
Part of Threshold’s “Jens in the Woods” series, the brewery describes it as “a delightfully tart and PINK barrel-aged farmhouse grisette matured for 9 months in oak barrels and brightened with cranberry for successful merry-making.” If anyone happens to want to add me to their gift list, this would work.
5.3% ABV; 750ml bottle; $14
Available to-go at Threshold, 403 S.E. 79th Ave.; order at threshold-brewing-pickup.square.site for pickup/delivery.
Lord of Misrule imperial milk stout
McMenamins Edgefield
This imperial milk stout is aged in rum and whiskey barrels at Edgefield, but it’s available across much of the group of pubs and stores. But wait, there’s more: Those barrels also hold rum-soaked cinnamon sticks and Aji Colorado peppers, which are grown in the Edgefield garden. Milk stout? Rum? Cinnamon? Peppers? That has winning gift written all over it.
12.8% ABV; 500ml bottle; $12
Available Friday, Nov. 20, at shopmcmenamins.com/beer for online ordering for pickup, then at select McMenamins to-go locations starting on Black Friday.
Maccabeer winter IPA
Leikam Brewing
Maccabeer, described by this kosher brewery as an herbal and piney IPA with some fruity notes, is being canned for the first time in 2020. And Leikam adds something even better for the holidays: Proceeds will help support the House That Beer Built, a partnership between Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East and local craft breweries to fund affordable homeownership opportunities in Portland.
6.3% ABV; 16-oz. can four-packs; $15
Available at specialty Portland groceries and bottle shops; or order online at leikambeer.com for pickup/delivery.
No. 13 Stout
Ferment Brewing
The 13th installment in Ferment’s Farm-to-Market lineup, No.13 Stout is a barrel-aged beer, aged in both whiskey and wine barrels. Ferment describes thusly: “Decadent layers of dried fruit, leather and tobacco with a black-strap molasses and bourbon linger on the palette with each sip of this bold and rich, roasty yet fruity, stout with a wild twang.”
11% ABV; 500ml bottles; $13.99
Available at Zupan’s Markets; order online at zupans.com for curbside pickup.
The Cat Ate My Stash & Pissed on the Xmas Tree IPA
Gigantic Brewing
Hey, I didn’t name it, so don’t complain to me. But if you order it for that special someone just because the name makes you laugh, they’ll have a happy holiday anyway. Gigantic describes TCAMS&POTXTIPA as “loaded with the dankest, stickiest, drippiest, piniest hops we could get our hands on.”
7.5% ABV; 16.9-oz. bottle; $6 Available to-go at the taproom; order online at giganticbrewing.com/collections/delivery-beer for pickup/delivery.
Third Bird oatmeal stout
Little Beast Brewing
The beer gods — and make no mistake, co-founder Charles Porter is a beer god — at Little Beast say Third Bird is inspired by oatmeal stouts from England – delightfully dark, with a moderate bitterness, rolled oats providing a unique mouthfeel and flavor.
6% ABV; 16-oz. can four-packs; $16
Available Dec. 2 at the taproom, 3412 S.E. Division St.; order online at little-beast-brewing-llc.square.site for pickup/delivery.
Winter Coat 2021 barrel-aged winter warmer ale brewed with raspberries
StormBreaker Brewing
Founders Dan Malech and Rob Lutz, who raked in the awards in 2020 for StormBreaker, say this annual offering and multiple award winner is even better this year, as “Winters change and so do the coats. This one offers the same great taste with new features including tangerine and cocoa nibs.”
7.5% ABV; 16-oz. cans $4; four-packs $15
Available to-go at StormBreaker’s Mississippi pub, 832 N. Beech St., and St. Johns pub, 8409 N. Lombard St.; visit stormbreakerbrewing.com for delivery or for curbside pickup.
Kind Spirit IPA
Montavilla Brew Works
For the person on your list who like to keep their IPAs traditional and not all wintery, Montavilla founder Michael Kora, who is rarely wrong about these things, says this just-released beer features intensely tropical and fruity New Zealand hops, Moutere and Waimea, and has assertive grapefruit and orange citrus flavors that intermingle with bold aromas of passionfruit, resinous pine and tangelo.
6.5% ABV; 16-oz. can four packs; $16
Available to-go at the taproom, 7805 S.E. Stark St.; order online at montavillabrew.square.site for pickup.
Yippee-Ki-Pa winter IPA
Baerlic Brewing
Baerlic co-founder Ben Parsons says Yippee-Ki-Pa, “brewed in honor of the greatest Christmas film of all time, is loaded with notes of resinous pine, candied citrus and grapefruit zest with enough malty sweet character for a really balanced and clean holiday IPA …Yippee Ki Yay Mother Gruber!” Sounds like Christmas movie and a beer night.
7.2% ABV; 16-oz. can four-pack; $16
Available to-go at the Southeast Portland pub, 2235 S.E. 11th Ave., and Northeast Portland Baerlic at the Barley Pod taproom, 6035 N.E. Halsey St.; order online at baerlic-brewing-company-llc.square.site for pickup/delivery.
