A Guide to the St. Johns Winter Beer Fest at StormBreaker Brewing

Jan 17

The St. Johns Winter Beer Fest is returning to it’s original home on Saturday, January 28th for a late celebration of the seasonals and boost to small Oregon breweries and events since both the Holiday Ale Festival and Oregon Brewers Festival are not happening. StormBreaker Brewing hosts the St Johns Winter Beer Fest at their St. Johns location, that was formerly Plew’s Brews and the host of the first winter beer fest in 2011.

Former Plew’s bartender Trevor Thurston founded the St. Johns Winter Beer Fest and ran it off and on at a few different venues for 9 years before he moved to Wisconsin and handed the fest off to StormBreaker. The last festival was held in January 2020 and was a rousing success just a few months before the pandemic prevented it’s return for the last few years.

“Our St. Johns community has been asking us for months if we were going to host the fest again this year. We took that as a great sign that people wanted to get together and celebrate beers again. We certainly felt like it was the right time and something that we all want and needed,” says StormBreaker co-owner Dan Malech. “Like most people around town, we were saddened to hear that the Holiday Ale Festival was once again cancelled. We would have held our festival regardless, but we hope it will fill a void left open for winter beer lovers in the city.”

At this year’s fest, StormBreaker is trying out a different format with two different sessions so that they can better manage the flow of the festival attendees and improve the experience. The layout will be similar to the 2020 event with beers in the back warehouse area behind the bar where there are also Portland Axe Throwing lanes open during the fest. The restaurant side will have open seating and a full menu and bar, and the covered and heated pub patio will be open for attendees as well.

The first session Winter Beer Fest session is 1-4pm and the second session is 5-8pm, entry to either is $25 which includes a 5oz souvenir taster glass and 8 drink tickets. Most beers will be one ticket for a 4oz pour, some beers could be higher depending on their keg cost. The festival and brewpub are all-ages, so you can bring your kids but of course they cannot partake in the festival part of the event but can enjoy NA drinks and food from the restaurant.

StormBreaker will have commemorative St. Johns Winter Beer Fest T-shirts and branded beanies from Big Bobble Hats available for sale. Quantities are limited and can be purchased in advance with your tickets.