Happy Friday! Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for Friday and the weekend; as usual I will periodically be updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Tonight is their Barrel Aged Beer Tasting at their Bend Pub from 6 to 9pm, one of the brewery’s signature events. If you don’t have tickets yet there is still time and some available; for $45 you’ll be able to taste six small plate dishes paired with six barrel-aged specialties (including The Stoic, Abyss 2011, and Black Butte XXII). Did I mention it’s all you can eat and drink? Definitely one to try to attend.

Breakside Brewing (Portland): Today at 5pm they are doing a tap takeover at the new BEER taphouse (on SE 14th and  Stark). “Help us welcome John Stewart and his new beer bar, BEER to the Portland scene! We’ll be pouring Breakside beers, including our IPA, Pilsner, Cascadian Dark Ale and a special keg TBD. Plus, we’ll be cracking open some bottles from our library, including a few rare 750s of our Postmodern Lambic. Ben, Jacob, Sam and Andrew will all be on hand to celebrate the opening of this new haven for great brews!”  Good beers on tap, and the bottles should be great, check them out if you’re in Portland today.

Portland’s Brewvana Brewery Tours is doing a “New Year New Brew Tour” this Sunday the 13th, from 1 to 5pm, visiting four different SE Portland breweries and facilities. “The tour begins at Base Camp Brewing with a beer sampling and tour of their facility that includes two lagering tanks. The bus then heads into the Sellwood area of SE Portland to check out Laurelwood’s newest location. After appetizers and beer there, it’s on to Lake Oswego and Stickman Brewery & Skewery. There the tour will sample more beer and snack on an assortment of grilled skewers. The tour finishes up at Breakside’s new 7,700 square feet, 30bbl production facility in Milwaukie with a tour and beer sampling.” Cost is $69 per person and you can sign up online here.

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City) yesterday shared a photo from the brewery bottling line, captioned, “Bottling Imperial Pelican Ale!” They currently don’t have an “Imperial” Pelican Ale listed on their site, so I’d guess it’s an imperialized version of their popular (and tasty!) India Pelican Ale. No idea when this Imperial version will hit the shelves, but it’s one to look forward to.

Worthy Brewing (Bend): Their latest “beer blast” email newsletter went out today, and it’s chock full of tidbits, including this bit about the beer for their February 4th soft opening: “On opening day, Worthy will have on tap four of its own brews, including its inaugural ‘Go Time Ale,’ an extra-pale ale which Chad describes as a ‘super drinkable American-style ale brewed with Crystal, Meridian and Sterling hops.'”  I assume that’s the pale from their first brew I checked in on, along with an IPA and Stout that I know of. Early prediction: they are going to be slammed.

Southern Oregon’s brewing scene is definitely growing: Medford Beer Week posted on their Facebook page today about the new guys in Medford and dropped a new name I haven’t seen before: Portal Brewing. A quick search found their Facebook page, and this MailTribune article that mentions them. The scene is definitely active down there! More to come on this one.

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene) has a couple of tidbits this week: first is the announcement of Hellshire III, their barrel-aged imperial stout, coming out on February 16. (The New School and Brewpublic have more details.) And today, they’ve also released the first Single Batch beer of the new year: “Our first Single Batch beer of 2013 is Verbleek – a hazy orange Belgian Style Pale Ale with aromas of ripe fruit {banana/apple} and hints of bubblegum. The balanced bitterness is offset by the medium malt body. It finishes clean and citrusy with a mild lingering bitterness. #Eugene – on tap in our tasting room today!”