I love a good winter beer festival and the 2019 Brew Ho Ho delivered. This past Saturday about 2500 patrons converged at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim to taste some deliciously naughty craft beers and celebrate the winter holiday season.

Dressed in festive outfits, the guests were treated to a winter wonderland of over 110 different craft beers and ciders by more than 50 different breweries. Many of the beers were special seasonal offerings, but a wide range of styles (IPAs, lagers, sours, etc.) were available to accommodate all taste preferences. Each guest was provided a small enameled tasting cup that was either red, green, black or blue.

My Favorite 2019 Brew Ho Ho Beers

I chose to be extra naughty for this festival and just focus on special seasonal offerings. Here are six remarkable beers that I now have on my list for Santa to place under my Christmas tree this year.

Artifex Brewing Infinite Layers – Aged in Heaven Hill whiskey barrels, this milk/pastry stout delivered delicious lactose, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla and bourbon flavors. Rolling in at 9.5% ABV, this amazing craft beer will definitely get Santa’s sleigh started and going.

Bottle Logic Darkstar November – Bottle Logic is renowned for their barrel aged stouts and this special, limited tapping at Brew Ho Ho went as fast as St. Nick’s reindeer. With good reason, Darkstar November won a Silver Medal at the latest World Beer Cup competition. This barrel-aged, boozy Imperial Stout is packed with perfectly proportioned, complex flavors of molasses, spicy rye, vanilla, bourbon, and oak. At 13.5% ABV, you definitely want to have a Designated Sleigh Driver take you home after enjoying this remarkable beer.

Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops – Aged in bourbon barrels, this intense and boozy Russian Imperial Stout delivered excellent coffee, vanilla and bourbon flavors.

Firestone Walker Old Man Hattan – This strong ale features a blend of five different Firestone Walker beers aged in cherry, orange and aromatic bitters barrels. With some artful blending, Firestone Walker has created a remarkable beer with whiskey notes that is reminiscent of Old Fashion and Manhattan cocktails.

Green Cheek Immaculate Confection – Made using caramel and chocolate malts, Madagascar vanilla beans and roasted hazelnuts. This creamy beer is chewy and packed with sweet flavors of vanilla, nuts and chocolate. Share this 12.5% ABV beer with close friends for a wonderfully delicious holiday celebration.

The Bruery 11 Pipers Piping – This beer is one of The Bruery’s limited “12 Days of Christmas Series” releases created over the last 12 years. 11 Pipers Piping is a Scotch-style ale brewed with candi sugar and coriander and then aged in Scotch whisky barrels. Peaty, smoky and spicy, this amazing beer made me quiver under my kilt.

Chocolate and Craft Beer Pairing

The festival provided numerous food vendors, but my attention was totally drawn to a booth featuring So Rich! Chocolates. This San Marcos-based small business makes hand-crafted, artisan chocolates. In addition, So Rich! Chocolates specializes in pairing their chocolates with craft beer, wines and spirits. And festival patrons could take their craft beer sample to the booth of So Rich! Chocolates for a complimentary craft beer and chocolate pairing.

Music

In addition to the amazing craft beers, guests were treated to live music from Elton – The Early Years, a tribute to Elton John, and Twisted Gypsy, a tribute to Fleetwood Mac. The dance floor rocked with happy feet during the live sets.

Final Thoughts

The 2019 Brew Ho Ho Festival was everything you could want for a winter beer festival. Even better, a portion of the proceeds benefited the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and Inland Empire. Amazing craft beer coupled with the spirit of giving brings out the best in holiday cheer.

A huge thank you to The ACE Agency for providing me the opportunity to review this festival!