We are halfway through the month of November, and exactly one week from Thanksgiving; have you picked out the beer(s) you’ll be enjoying with turkey yet? Today also happens to be Beaujolais Nouveau Day in France, where this year’s Beaujolais nouveau is released, so if you’re into wine instead, that’s one to consider. Otherwise here’s today’s Oregon beer news for this Thursday the 15th; as usual I’ll be updating throughout the day so keep checking back for the latest.

McMenamins Kennedy School (Portland) has its monthly limited-edition beer tasting today from 5 to 7pm, featuring Thanks For Nothing! Double IPA: “This is a Double IPA. Simple malts give thanks to a veritable cornucopia of hop flavors. Tropical fruit aromas give thanks to flavors of cirtrus, ripe berries, and stone fruits. Everyone’s two favorite Concordia Brewers give thanks to the recent downward spiral in beer clarity for allowing them dry-hop this beast at a rate of five pounds per barrel. The drinker needn’t give any thanks at all!”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting a holiday pie pairing featuring Deschutes Brewery and Noisette Pastry Kitchen: “Get a jump start on the holiday season by enjoying a flight of specialty beer from Deschutes Brewing paired with miniature pies from Noisette Pastry Kitchen on Thursday, November 15th! This is a great time to start stocking your beer cellar for holiday festivities, and while you’re enjoying your flight, you can pre order your Noisette pie(s) for the holidays.
The Abyss 2018 + Chocolate Pecan
The Dissident Brett + Pumpkin
BA Black Butte XXV + Pear Custard
PNWonderland + Apple”

Boneyard Beer (Bend): Today is the release of Boneyard’s Skunkape IRA, with a release party starting at 5pm: “It’s time to unleash the beast! Skunkape IRA, our collaboration with Lib Tech, will be released at 5PM Thursday, 11/15 at Boneyard Beer. Pints of Skunkape will be $4.50 from 5PM – 9PM. With every purchase of our IRA, receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win Skunkape merch and beer! Raffles will be drawn at 6PM, 7PM & the grand prize at 8PM. New Skunkape merch will be available for purchase. Skunkape – India Red Ale, 6% ABV, 40 IBU, Hops: Cascade, Bravo, CTZ, Eureka, Simcoe, Super Galena”

Portland’s Loyal Legion is hosting a massive tap takeover with pFriem Family Brewers, calling it “Pfriemsgiving” which will run through next Wednesday the 21st: “It started as Thanksgiving, then it became Friendsgiving, and now it’s pFriemsgiving! All the pFriem beers we can get(50+), all on tap as long as they last. Kick off party Thursday 11/15, then goes all week right up to the day before Thanksgiving(We are closed Thanksgiving day). Specials on pFriem beers the whole week. Join us in giving thanks for friends, family, and pFriem.”

Oregon City Brewing is hosting a Portland Cider Nite with Portland Cider Company, featuring a cider tap takeover: “Portland Cider is taking over the cider taps at Oregon City Brewing Company, featuring our annual PDX community cider “Oregon Wild,” which benefits the non-profit Oregon Wild! One of the select spots around town to get this cider outside of the pubs, the 2018 batch is the best yet with community donated blackberries & pears. Portland Cider will be onsite giving out swag & samples from 5-7pm – come see us!”

Baerlic Brewing (Portland) has a beer release today for its Expat Dortmunder Export Lager: “Expat is a Dortmunder-style Export Style Lager that lies somewhere in between a German Pils and a Helles. The term “Export” is a beer strength category under German beer tax law and denotes a slightly higher ABV. Expat is brewed with Weyermann Pils, Munich and a touch of wheat with the spicy and noble-like herbal spiciness and dry hay we get from Oregon grown Santiam and Sterling hops.”

Migration Brewing (Portland) is opening a pop-up burger shack in Lloyd Center Mall, and today is the soft opening: “We are stoked to be taking over the former Billy Heartbeats diner until the end of December, and if all goes well maybe longer. So we invite you to come see us on our soft opening this Thursday the 15th. We still have to get through health department but at the very least we will have beer, Wine from Underwood wines and cider from Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland) has a tie-in to Beaujolais Nouveau Day after all: “Our newest release commemorates France’s Beaujolais Nouveau Day. Cerise Nouveau 2018 is a lightly-carbonated blend of sour red ales aged in Pinot Noir barrels for nine months before adding fresh Bing cherries and aging for an additional four months. Like a classic Beaujolais wine, Cerise Nouveau exudes aromas of fresh cherries, dark summer fruits and gamay grapes. A bientôt! On tap upstairs and down today.” (On tap at the Lodge, that is.)

Rock Bottom Brewery (Portland) is tapping a new (big!) beer tonight: “TAPPING TONIGHT: the Naughty Scot. Our Scotch Ale that has been aged in a Rose City Distilling whiskey barrel! Watch out for his naughty side as this beer is 10% ABV.”

Hood River’s pFriem Family Brewers just won some bling from Europe! “The European Beer Star awards are officially announced and we are extremely honored that our Barrel Aged Saison II won Gold and our Oud Bruin won Bronze! There were 2,344 registered beers from 51 countries across all continents, which amounted to a new record level of participation at this highly competitive tasting competition, organized by the Private Brauereien association since 2004.” Congratulations!

And a quick scan through the European Beer Star winners reveals also that Pelican Brewing won Bronze for Kiwanda Cream Ale in English-Style Golden Ale, and Rogue Ales won Silver in Smoke Beer for St. Chuck’s Smoke.

Lookingglass Brewery (Winston) has a new beer release today: “We won’t have a food truck tonight BUT I’ll do you one better – we are rereleasing our FestivAleTime CDA today! It’s that time of year again, so be sure to come in and get it while you can!!”

The Thirsty Monk Pub in Portland (formerly Bazi Bierbrasserie) is raising money with a special IPA: “We’re donating $1 of every full pour of our Trail Monk IPA to @Trailkeepersoforegon as part of our rotating karma series! Help maintain our state’s gorgeous trail system by drinking great beer!”