Warm Up at Winter Beerfest

Guess what, my Philadelphia friends? It’s going to snow. Again. Because, apparently, it wouldn’t be January in Philly if there wasn’t snow on the ground every single day.

As you can tell, I’m already over the white stuff. But there are other aspects of winter that I can still get behind. Fireplace. Fuzzy slippers. And spice-spiked winter beers. I can’t imagine this year’s host, the Starlight Ballroom, is going to allow anything to be set on fire or that anyone will be showing up in their favorite fluffy footwear, but this Saturday’s Winter Beerfest will have plenty of that third lovely item on tap.

Grab a ticket to one of the two sessions (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and get unfettered access to a wide variety of brewers from around Philly and beyond. There will also be a serious stock of spiced winter ales, many of which have never been available in Philly before. Browse the tables and taste some new pours, or chat a bit with the brewers on-site to learn a thing or two about your favorite pour.

The current list of attendees includes:

• Dog Fish Head
• Boulder Brewing
• Philadelphia Brewing Co.
• Dark Horse
• Ballast Point
• Coronado Brewin
• Sprecher
• Furthermore
• Williamsburg
• Six Point
• Eel River
• Central Waters
• Copper Crow
• Allagash
• Sierra Nevada
• River Horse
• Dock Street
• Great Divide
• Harpoon
• Saranac
• Sly Fox
• Weyerbacher
• Elysain
• Langunitas
• Stoudts
• Yards
• 21^st Amendment

Not a bad way to escape from the third (or is it fourth) snow of 2011.

The Starlight Ballroom is located at 460 North Ninth St. Tickets are $40 in advance, $50 at the door. Visit www.winterbeerfest.com to order.