The Holiday Ale Festival up in Portland (Oregon) kicks off this week: from Wednesday, December 2nd through Sunday the 6th, Pioneer Courthouse Square will be overrun by beer seekers anxious to try out 50-plus wintertime beers. This is one of those festivals I’ve never been to (the timing isn’t so great for me) but I really want to go; in recent years this has grown to be one of the Oregon beer fests to attend.

In addition to the “standard” taps that will be pouring—most of which look frankly incredible—they also offer special “limited release” pours which are always the talk of the Fest:

In addition to the 45+ winter seasonals at the event, each year we go deep in to the cellar to bring out a few rare kegs. In most cases, these are rare or vintage brews typically limited to just a single keg, so timing is of the essence if you want to get your tastebuds on these. We hope you are here for them all.

These limited release beers are only tapped at set times each day and when they’re gone, they’re gone. And “limited release” means just that—some of these, like Hair of the Dog‘s Commemorative Jim blend is made exclusively for the Fest and is simply not available anywhere else.

The Holiday Ale Festival will cost an initial $20 for the required tasting package: commemorative mug and 10 taster tickets. Additional tasters are $1. Pretty standard pricing for Fests these days—and note, the limited release beers will cost two tickets for a taste instead of one.