Hazy shade of kegger

There’s no denying now that winter is on the way, which means two things: fresh powder, and a new round of winter seasonal beers.

The former hasn’t arrived yet, but plenty of the latter will be pouring at the Powder Keg brew festival, part of the winter sports Snowlander Expo on Friday and Saturday at the Spokane Convention Center .

Seventeen local and regional breweries are on board: Alaskan, Bale Breaker, Deschutes, Elysian, Hopped Up, Icicle, Iron Horse, MickDuff’s, Ninkasi, No-Li, Orlison, Perry Street, Ramblin’ Road, River City, Sockeye, Trickster’s and Waddell’s.

Not all are bringing winter beers, according to the online listings. But several of the usual suspects will be on hand, along with a few newer twists.

Perry Street is serving a sneak peek of its barleywine, more of which is headed to barrels for further aging. Orlison offers its Two Finger Pour (aka O “F” It), an imperial pilsner that mimics an Old Fashioned cocktail after conditioning on whiskey barrel chips with orange peel and bitters.

Ramblin’ Road is introducing its Smoked Molasses Saison, brewed with applewood-smoked Munich malt, while Leavenworth’s Icicle Creek is bringing its coconut-accented Dark Persuasion German Chocolate Cake Ale, a former winter seasonal that’s now going to be available year-round.

Also on tap will be ciders from Spokane’s three producers – Liberty, One Tree and Twilight – along with Finnriver from the Olympic Peninsula.

Three tasting packages are available: the Polar Sampler for $15, with a five-ounce glass and four sample tokens; the Frostbite Pint for $20, with a pint glass and either six sample tokens or two pint tokens; and the Yeti Pint for $25, which upgrades the glass to stainless steel.

That’s in addition to the $7 regular admission to the Expo, which also will include an equipment sale, season pass sales by area resorts, vendor booths, ski and snowboard films and a rail jam in the Convention Center breezeway.

Pray For Snow: Diehards can get a head start on their winter worship with the Pray For Snow party today starting at 5 p.m. at Perry Street Brewing .

There’ll be beer specials, raffle prizes and merchandise giveaways, classic ski films playing all evening and awards for the best vintage ski attire.