PowderKeg hounds

It’s almost time for another ski season (snow spirits willing), which must mean it’s time for another PowderKeg.

The festival, today from 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in conjunction with the Snowlander Expo at the Spokane Convention Center, will feature two dozen breweries, cideries and a meadery.

Each brewery was asked to bring a winter seasonal plus another beer of their choice. Those include the likes of:

Bennidito's: Station 7 winter warmer, Checkerboard Pale

Big Barn: Mountain Smoke Porter, Dirt Road Rye

Northern Ales: Smelter's Ash imperial stout, Okanagan Highlander Scotch ale

Orlison: Swedish Ninja cardamom vanilla winter warmer, Suspended Cascadian dark lager

River City: Midnight Marmot imperial stout, Huckleberry Ale

Waddell's: Lost Woods winter ale, Shattered Glass imperial IPA

10 Barrel: Pray For Snow winter ale, Joe IPA

Alaskan: Winter Ale, Icy Bay IPA

American: Fireside Farmhouse

Deschutes: Jubelale, Chasin' Freshies IPA

Icicle: Dark Persuasion German chocolate ale, Bootjack IPA

Iron Horse: Mocha Death, IPA

Lagunitas: Brown Shugga' winter ale, IPA

Sockeye: Winterfest, Power House Porter

Other breweries pouring are Black Label, No-Li, Trickster's and Elysian. There also will be local ciders from Liberty, One Tree and Twilight as well as offerings from D’s Wicked and Finnriver, and mead from Green Bluff’s Hierophant.

You can choose from three tasting packages: Polar Sampler ($15), with a souvenir 5-ounce sampler glass and four taste tokens; Frostbite Pint ($20), with a logo pint glass and six sampler tokens or two pint tokens; and the Yeti Pint ($25), the same as Frosbite but with a stainless steel glass. All also include a spin on the prize wheel.

Prices are in addition to the $8 Snowlander admission (discount coupons available through Papa Murphy’s). The expo features a ski and snowboard sale, discounted season passes to area resorts, vendor booths, educational seminars and a Rail Jam competition in the Convention Center breezeway on Saturday with winter athletes from around the region.