Happy Thanksgiving week! Since it’s the holiday I’m not going to publish daily news posts but I’ll round up the week’s news in this one, and keep it updated as the week progresses. It’s a bit of a slow week but if there is any news you have to share, feel free to contact me as always. And have a great holiday! If you’re looking for beer suggestions to pair with your holiday meal, check out my article from a couple of years ago for ideas.

Jump to: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, General news

Monday, Nov. 19

Leikam Brewing (Portland) is releasing a Chanukah beer, its 2018 Maccabeer IPA, at John’s Marketplace in Portland with a festive release party from 5:30 to 7:30pm Monday. “The Maccabeer will be available by appointment for pick up at the SE Portland Brewery and throughout the Portland area at fine beer establishments such as Market of Choice and Belmont Station. This year Chanukah begins Sunday, December 2nd at sundown. Leikam Brewing is committed to giving back and the principle of tikkun olam. This Winter IPA will generate funds to support the House That Beer Built, a partnership between Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East and local craft breweries. Together, we’re celebrating the strength and creativity of Portland’s community-minded craft beer industry while funding affordable homeownership opportunities in Portland.”

Monday is the 33rd birthday of McMenamins Terminator Stout! All locations are celebrating with $4 pints of Terminator, $9 growler fills, and food specials all day long. Terminator is a classic from one of the oldest brewers in the state, and still going strong, so make sure to head out and grab a pint or a growler!

Tuesday, Nov. 20

ABV Public House (Portland) is hosting Portland’s Ex Novo Brewing for the release of its 2018 Nevermore: “Join us and our friends from Ex Novo for the release of the 2018 vintage of Nevermore! We’ll be tapping a very rare keg of this smoked fig and cocoa bean Barlywine and celebrating with other special holiday treats. Don’t miss out on trying this elusive beverage on draft and grab a bottle or two for the perfect Thanksgiving pairing!” The party takes place from 5 to 8pm.

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting a holiday beer release party with Gigantic Brewing on Tuesday from 5 to 8pm: “Join us for the psychedelic bottle release of ‘The Cat Ate My Stash and Pissed on the Xmas Tree’ IPA. This beer first made its appearance at last year’s Holiday Ale Fest. Getting it’s inspiration from hoppy winter offerings of the west coast this tasty little bugger is sure put a smile on up any scrooges winter day. “The Cat” will be on draft in the Biercafe along with bottles in store. For all of your drinking pleasure we will also be pouring End of Reason Belgian style Quad. Wade the Gigantic beer guy will be in the bottle shop performing a tasting of everything Gigantic has to offer, which is 10 plus beers right now. Ben Love, founding brewer, and all around great guy will be co-hosting in the Biercafe.” Possibly the most, errr, unique holiday beer name that I’ve seen…

Tuesdays are Community Pints days at Deschutes Brewery, with each Deschutes location donating $1 per pint sold to a local non-profit. In Bend, this month’s beneficiary is the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), and in Portland the beneficiary is the Oregon Brewshed Alliance. A pint or three would help go a long way.

Portland’s Wayfinder Beer will be at Beer for the release party for Wayfinder’s “brut IPA” (sort of): “Our good friends at Beer will be having a release party for our Relapse IPA [Tuesday] night from 6PM – 8PM. A lager-brewery’s answer to Brut IPA What? Wayfinder make a beer to emulate wine? That’s a big nope. How about instead we have a marriage between American adjunct lager and hoppy AF west-coast IPA? We dreamt up a cold 16oz of Vitamin R stuffed full of those fruit-forward hops you’ve come to love. Bright, clear yellow and hopped up, but it’s still beer. Serve cold and scarf it down.”

Viking Braggot Company (Eugene) is holding a fundraiser to raise money for those affected by California’s Camp Fire: “We are hosting a fundraiser for our friends in Paradise, CA tomorrow (Tuesday) with $1 of every pint from our Southtowne Pub going directly to North Valley Community Foundation, a Chico, CA based non-profit helping with the displaced families from the Camp Fire. Plus we’ve got the love of our local business friends who have generously donated amazing gift prizes for raffle (tags once our list is finalized tomorrow). Hope you can make it! SKOL!”

Wednesday, Nov. 21

Saraveza (Portland) is hosting a Founders Brewing barrel-aged experience on Wednesday from 6 to 9pm: “Our mouths are watering and our taste buds are tingling to have a select few Founders Brewing Co. barrel-aged beers on tap. Just in time for the day before Thanksgiving we’ll have the perfect place to bring the out-of-towners (or in rare instances escape them) and have some big, rich, stout-y beers to get you in the holiday spirit!”

McMenamins Murray & Allen (Beaverton) hosts its limited-edition beer tasting from 5 to 8pm, featuring Torque Twist Red Ale: “This Irish-Style Red begins with roasty notes and flavors of toffee and bread. It’s carefully balanced with Chinook Hops as the bittering addition and Meridian Hops for mild tea-like flavors and aromas. The classic red hue with off-white head will clearly indicate that you’re drinking the Irish Red.”

Oregon City’s Coin Toss Brewing is celebrating TANKSgiving on Wednesday: “Join us for our annual day-before-Thanksgiving celebration. It’s your chance to drink our beer right from the fermenter. This is as fresh as beer gets. Naturally carbonated with a ton of personality and aroma. A great way to pre-funk Turkey Day! Big Fat Weiners will be here starting at 4 p.m. serving up their entire menu of delicious dogs and burgers…. and we’ll be ready to take care of all of your Thanksgiving Crowler and Growler needs.”

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend) is releasing its latest barrel-aged two pack, Contrarium, just in time for Thanksgiving: “With the holidays right around the corner we have a very special beer release that is sure to make your family gatherings extra special. Introducing our Contrarium brett blonde ale two packs. We split this beer up and aged half of it in red wine barrels and the other half in white wine barrels. The result is two very delicious and unique beers that highlight characteristics of the beer and wine together. Try them separate or blend together for even more unique flavor possibilities. Join us on Wednesday, November 21st for our official release of the two pack in our pub in Bend OR! Stop by for a taste and take a two pack home with you just in time for Thanksgiving dinner!”

Second Profession Brewing (Portland) is hosting a Thanksgiving Eve Ale Fest on Wednesday starting a 6pm: “Come join us for the first annual: Rose City Park Thanksgiving Eve Ale Fest! We will be featuring beers from 5 neighboring breweries: Baerlic Brewing, Laurelwood Brewing, Fire on the Mountain Brewing, and Montavilla Brew Works. Each brewery will be sending a festive beer for you to try! Celebrate the official start of the holidays (no, its not Halloween) with all of our brewing friends from the neighborhood! Tickets to try all 5 beers will be $10. Event begins at 6pm and runs until 10 or whenever the beers run out!”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting a holiday aged bottle sale — A Cellared Affair — on both Wednesday the 21st and Friday the 23rd, which you’re going to want to check out: “Grab a beer and get some of your holiday shopping done! On November 21st & 23rd we will be stocking our shelves with a number of exceptional offerings from our beer cellar. Select bottles dating back to 2012 from Deschutes, Firestone Walker, Fremont, and several more breweries have been stored in our temperature controlled cellar and are just waiting to be enjoyed this holiday season!”

Thursday, Nov. 22

Happy Thanksgiving! Stay safe, eat and drink well, and enjoy time with your family!

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving out, The BeerMongers in Portland is hosting a Thanksgiving Day Potluck: “Join us at The BeerMongers for our annual Thanksgiving Day Potluck. We have been open every day since September 5th 2009 and we keep the tradition going this holiday season. We know not everyone has a place to spend Thanksgiving so spend it with us! We are happy to host one and all for our Potluck. We will provide the turkey, ham, potatoes and rolls. Please bring side dishes that you enjoy and desserts, or you can contribute to our fundraiser for The Sisters of the Road. Cheers!” It starts at 2pm.

Friday, Nov. 23

It’s Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year! A number of places are hosting Black Friday (by way of black beer) themed events, including:

• Pitch Black Friday at McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop (Portland)
• Black (beer) Friday at Monkless Belgian Ales (Bend)
• Black House Black Friday 6(66): The Number of the House at Modern Times Beer (Portland)
• Block Friday 2018 at Block 15 Brewing (Corvallis)
• pFriem Black Friday at pFriem Family Brewers (Hood River)
• Pelican Black Friday Bash at Belmont Station (Portland)
• Black House Friday: A Modern Times Production at The BeerMongers (Portland)
• Black Friday Brunch at Crux Fermentation Project (Bend)
• Beerworks Black Friday at Beerworks (Medford)

The Bier Stein, in addition to continuing its holiday aged bottle sale, will have Goose Island Bourbon County Stout in stock: “This coming Friday, November 23rd, marks the highly anticipated annual release of Goose Island’s Bourbon County. In addition to the original Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout you know and love, we were one of the lucky few able to acquire four highly limited variants. With only 12 bottles of each, these bottles are sure to disappear as soon as they hit the shelf, so make sure you come in as soon as we open if you’d like to snag one of these rare gems. We’ll also have Bourbon County and one variant on tap, so take advantage of the holiday and join us for a glass of this luxurious beer!”

Fort George Brewery (Astoria): Tickets for the 2019 Festival of Dark Arts go on sale Friday at sunrise—7:27am! “These are limited and will sell out quickly. You must be 21+ and have a ticket to attend the festival. Tickets are transferrable but not refundable. Darkness is coming.” They will sell quickly so be ready.

10 Barrel Brewing (Bend) is raising money on Friday for one of their own: Drinks for Drea. “Come down to the pub on Friday and help fundraise for one of the most adventurous and strong souls around. Drea, one of our own, was in a terrible car accident on November 17th in Utah. She sustained multiple injuries and lost her best friend Theo, one of the “goodest” boys any of us have ever met. We are so incredibly happy to hear Drea had made it out of the accident and is currently in recovery. We want to help get her back on her feet and return to being that carefree, outdoors, butt-kicking woman we all know and love! $1 of every pint sold Friday, November 23rd will be donated to Drea, to help her with her medical bills, and to celebrate the life of Theo!”

Saturday, Nov. 24

Evasion Brewing (McMinnville) celebrates its first anniversary on Saturday: “Come celebrate 1-year of great gluten free beer in McMinnville!
– 9 Beers On Tap, Plus Our House Made Non-Alcoholic Root Beer
– GF Food Catered By RNR Culinaire
– Live Music with Timothy James and his band
– Games
– Family and Pet Friendly
– Merchandise Raffle at the top of every hour.”

Uptown Market (Portland) is hosting a Black Saturday Dark Beer Fest starting at 6pm: “Join us for our 2nd annual Black Saturday Dark Beer Fest. Featuring over 20 different dark brews, rare bottle raffles, live music and killer food by Flying Barracuda. Festivities start at 6 and we hope to see you there!”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting a sparkling wine tasting from 2 to 4pm on Saturday. “New Year’s Eve, Christmas Eve, Thankgiving, Solstice…you’re going to need some sparkling wine. Sample a selection from the Young’s Market portfolio. We will be offering 10% off on all to-go bottles of sparkling wine during the event.”

General News

Santiam Brewing (Salem) has a new sour beer out: “Framboise de Willamette is our new Brett and Sour Beer. On tap now at the tasting room. As many of you know, our last released sour, a Flanders Red called Vlaams Rode, took a silver medal at this year’s Oregon Beer Awards for Sour and Brett Beer. Our independent and highly critical tasting panel declared Framboise de Willamette more than worthy to follow in its footsteps.”

pFriem Family Brewers just keeps winning awards… the Hood River brewery just picked up five more awards from the Brussels Beer Challenge! “This international competition was held in Mechelen, Belgium and over 1,600 beers were judged in three days. We are thrilled to wrap up the year this way and excited for what’s to come in 2019!
Pilsner – Certificate of Excellence
Brett Saison – Certificate of Excellence
IPA – Gold
Barrel Aged Saison II – Silver
Sauv Blanc Barrel Aged Golden Ale – Silver”