Today is World Water Day, an observance to highlight the importance of freshwater as well as sustainable management of freshwater resources. Water is, of course, arguably the most important component in beer—it makes up roughy 90% of a beer, after all—so raise a glass today to toast the fresh water many of us take for granted! Here’s the Oregon beer news for this March 22 as well; as usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back from time to time. And if you have news to share, please feel free contact me and I can get that updated also.

The Platypus Pub (Bend) is hosting Deschutes Brewery and Crux Fermentation Project for the beer tasting of the first of the Deschutes 30th anniversary collaboration beers, Fresh Chair NW Pale, tonight from 5 to 7pm: “In celebration of Deschutes Brewing 30th year they are collaborating with past brewmasters to release some more great beers! The Platy will have Fresh Chair NW on tap along with some other favorites from Deschutes and Crux. All profits will be donated to the Deschutes River Conservatory.”

Waltz Brewing (Forest Grove) is hosting Hillsboro’s Vertigo Brewing for a meet the brewer event from 6 to 8pm tonight: “Featuring 4 Vertigo beers on tap: Stir CrHazy IPA, Razz Wheat, Vanilla Porter, and Habanero Hefe. Brewer Mike Kinion will be down at Waltz from 6-8 to talk about the beers and answer any questions. Samples, giveaways, free stuff. It’s gonna be great.”

Walkabout Brewing (Medford) is holding a Brewer’s Dinner tonight at 6pm at Elements Tapas Bar in Medford: “Join us on Thursday, March 22nd, 6:00pm at Elements Tapas Bar & Lounge for a four-course meal and beer paring event in partnership with Walkabout Brewing Co. Tickets for this event are $50 per person and are only available in advance. To RSVP please call Elements @ 541-779-0135”

Portland’s Imperial Bottle Shop is hosting a fundraiser for Portland’s Hosford School with StormBreaker Brewing today from 4 to 9pm: “We are donating 100% of Stormbreaker Brewing draft beer sales to the Hosford Middle School Foundation to help the school keep their library open during all school hours. Current funding doesn’t allow them to hire a full-time library assistant, so they need our help! We’ll have Stormbreaker Cloud Ripper IPA and When I Froot, I Froot (blonde w/ mango and guava) on tap, and 100% of all pint, glass, and growler purchases are going straight to Hosford. You’ll also get a raffle ticket with every draft purchase with a chance to win fun merch from Stormbreaker or Imperial!”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) and Ninkasi Brewing are teaming up for Ninkasi’s Pints for a Cause today from 5 to 8pm: “We are honored to partner with Ninkasi Brewing in support of McKenzie River Trust on Thursday, March 22nd! McKenzie River Trust is an amazing organization who help people protect and care for the lands and rivers they cherish in western Oregon. We will be pouring:
Prismatic
Believer
Yours Truly
Dry Irish Stout
$1 from every Ninkasi Pint sold throughout the day will benefit McKenzie River Trust & The Bier Stein will match up to $500! There will be many opportunities to win swag and for a $5 donation you can get a custom hat with a Ninkasi patch of your choice!”

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting the release party for a collaboration beer from Allegory Brewing and The Commons! “Allegory Brewing opened during the summer of 2017, in McMinnville, Oregon. Head Brewer Charlie Van Meter, whose resume includes work at Yachats and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales has been collaborating with brewers from all over Oregon. Charlie and the Allegroy team along with Mike Wright from The Commons worked together for this very special offering. The collaboration beer is a mixed culture saison, fermented in freshly emptied Maybell barrels. The rest of the tap list will include 2 beers from Allegory, Kiwi Berry Sour, and a Hazy IPA (not finalized)”

IPA Madness continues at The Civic Taproom in Portland today, pitting a number of Oregon IPAs against each other to find the best: “Help us find your favorite IPA! On March 15th we will be tapping eight IPA’s to be tasted blindly and then voted on all weekend. The winners will be announced the following Monday (19th) and will move on to the second round which will start on Thursday the 22nd. The winners from that round will face off in a final round to be tapped on Thursday the 29th and can be voted on until Saturday the 31st. The winner will be announced Monday April 2nd.”

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): The brewery is releasing a new beer, Citrus Maxima Pale Ale, brewed with pomelos: “In case you were wondering, Citrus maxima comes from the scientific name of the pomelo, one of the three primary ancestors of citrus fruits. Playing on this, as well as the unique grapefruit-like character of pomelo, Citrus Maxima is an easy-drinking pale ale that’s well stocked with Simcoe and Citra hops, while fresh pomelo and grapefruit peels lend citrus and grapefruit notes. The greatness of tart and juicy, fresh-squeezed citrus cannot be contained but it can be canned. Full Sail Citrus Maxima Citrus Pale Ale is available year-round in 12 oz. can 6-packs and in the Full Sail Grab ‘n’ Go-Go variety 12-pack. 5.7% ABV, 38 IBUs.”