Avista preview: Fall seasonals

This is the first in a series of posts exploring the beer lineup for this weekend’s Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival.

The calendar says it’s officially fall starting Thursday, and brewers coming to the Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival this weekend are getting in gear.

Among the autumn (and later) seasonals scheduled to pour Friday and Saturday at Avista Stadium:

– The event started as Spokane Oktoberfest back in the day, and traditional malty, German-style lagers for the occasion are coming from Perry Street, Silver City, the Steam Plant and Waddell’s.

Diamond Knot chimes in with an Oktoberfest-inspired Fog Bank Fall Ale, while Bellwether’s hoppy Higgelstein, brewed with both American and German yeasts, is described as a cross between a Marzen lager and session IPA.

– Pumpkin fans can look for Big Barn’s homegrown Golden Pumpkin, Elysian’s popular Night Owl, Puyallup River’s Jack O’Lahar, a light, lightly spiced Steam Plant take and Two Beers’ Pumpkin Spice. For something hoppier, there's the Pumpkin Pie PA variation on No-Li's Born & Raised; for a nightcap, try Twelve String’s imperial pumpkin porter aged in Cruzan rum barrels.

– Laht Neppur gets a jump on even cooler weather with Waitsburg Winter Warmer, a big amber ale spiced with sweet orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and allspice plus honey.

Fremont, meanwhile, will serve the bourbon barrel-aged B-Bomb version of its Abominable winter ale on Friday from 5 to 7 and Saturday from noon to 2, followed by a coffee-cinnamon variation from 2 to 4.

– And when the sun goes down, warm up with three big barleywines: Northern Ales’ honeyed Beer Belly Warmer, Wingman’s oak-aged Sawbuck and Twelve String’s year-old Volume 4 Anniversary aged in Woodinville whiskey barrels.