Welcome to the first weekend of February! It’s a busy one too, with Groundhog Day tomorrow and something I heard about sports on Sunday… Here’s the news in Oregon beer for this weekend, which I’ll be updating throughout the day on Friday.

Friday, Feb. 1

Migration Brewing (Portland) is releasing an anniversary beer to celebrate its birthday month, Frizzante Brut IPA: “February marks 9 years of business and we want to celebrate in Champagne style. With Trever Bass helping lead the way on Brut IPA’s we dialed in the recipes and created one worth putting in a can. This beer will be released at all of our locations, New Seasons Market, and other retailers February 1st kick off the celebration for all February Anniversaries.” The brewery will be celebrating its 9th anniversary on the 16th.

Side A Brewing (La Grande) is hosting its Dead of Winter Festival beginning at 3pm: “First annual Dead of Winter Festival! Tickets are $25 pre-sale and $30 day of. Available at the pub. This will be an exclusive event with access to many different specialty beers, including some new releases from Side A Brewing.” You’ll also get access to purchase Side A’s first limited bottling of its Imperial CDA.

pFriem Family Brewers (Hood River) is hosting a meet the brewer event for its collaboration release, Landbier Hell, with Wayfinder Beer: “Join us Friday, February 1st starting at 5:00pm for our monthly Meet the Brewer PLUS our official Hood River release of our pFriem + Wayfinder Landbier Hell! We’ll be chattin’ it up in our Bear’s Den and offering complimentary samples of four different pFriem beers. Free to attend!”

Portland’s Hawthorne Hophouse is revealing the winner of its January IPA Challenge Friday with a $4 pint night. “We will reveal the most voted for IPA for the month of January. Part of the party will be a keg blow out from the remaining IPA’s we have on tap.”

Imperial Bottle Shop (Portland) is saying “FFS: For Fremont Stouts” all day Friday: “For the First Friday in February, we’ll be pouring Four Fremont Brewing barrel-aged imperial stouts. Kick off stout month right by drinking: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Star, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Star: Coffee Edition, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Star: Spice Wars, and The Rusty Nail bourbon barrel-aged w/licorice and cinnamon bark. By the glass or as a 4-beer flight.”

Bend’s Broken Top Bottle Shop is hosting a Celebration of Flanders with pFriem Family Brewers from 5 to 7pm: “Join us all winter long for pFriem’s Celebration of Flanders. Our team will be out at some of your favorite spots to introduce you to our Flanders inspired program. Enjoy a variety of our Flanders-style beers along with great conversation with the pFriem team!”

Heater Allen Brewing (McMinnville) is re-opening its taproom on Friday, after being closed all January. “After a month off we will be reopening the Heater Allen Tap Room and to celebrate we will be offering $3 beers. This offer is only good the first weekend of February after which we will go back to our usual pricing.”

Kobold Brewing will be in downtown Bend at Velvet Bar for First Friday, talking up Kobold and offering beer samples from 7 to 9pm.

The Salem Winter Brewfest continues through Friday and Saturday, with hours of 4 to 11pm and 11am to 11pm, respectively. Tickets are on sale for the (full) price of $25 at the door (or $20 in advance here) so there’s still plenty of time to head over to the Capitol and enjoy a wide range of beers and ciders.

The BeerMongers (Portland) is hosting the collaboration beer release of Hazy IPA from Culmination Brewing and Three Magnets Brewing: “Three Magnets has teamed up with Culmination to create Classy Work Shirt Hazy IPA with Galaxy and Vic Secret 6.8% ABV. Cans will be available as well as a slim on tap for your consumption.” It takes place from 5 to 8pm.

Caves Bier & Kitchen (Corvallis) hosts Barrel 2019 starting at 4pm Friday: “Our annual celebration of barrel aged beers. We will be featuring a robust collection of bourbon barrel aged beers as we kick off Block 15’s month long celebration of America’s spirit. We will also pouring beers aged in Cognac, rum, and tequila barrels. Offerings from featured breweries will include: Block 15 Brewing Co., Alesong Brewing & Blending, Boneyard Beer, Founders Brewing Co., Lost Abbey Brewing Co., North Coast Brewing Co., Oakshire Brewing, pFriem Family Brewers, Santiam Brewing, Wolf Tree Brewery, and others.”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop (Portland) hosts the release of Blackest Heart Friday evening: “We’re releasing Blackest Heart Barrel-Aged Stout for those that don’t embrace the hallmark holidays quite so easily. The Edgefield Brewers will be in the house pouring samples and we’ll be selling a special Imperial Stout Taster Tray featuring Blackest Heart, Big Bad Baptista, Quadruple Barrel Baptist, Willetized Coffee Stout, Rhino Suit, and Abraxas.”

Stout Month begins at Fort George Brewery in Astoria, and the brewery’s Friday lineup of stouts looks mighty impressive. The stouts run the gamut of standard (Itsy Bitsy Dry Irish Stout) to wild (Acceptance Peach Milk Stout with caramelized peaches & cinnamon). Don’t miss out!

Saturday, Feb. 2 – Groundhog Day!

StormBreaker Brewing (Portland) is celebrating its 5th anniversary! “We are turning 5! A half a decade! 1/20th of a century! We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all of you so let’s drink some beers together. We are celebrating on Feb 2 all day with specials, raffles, and a some fun surprises!” Big congrats on the milestone!

Portland’s Look Long Brewing also has an anniversary Saturday, its first: “Hey! We’ve been open for a whole year now and we’d like to celebrate with a lil party with some of our buddies! Yes, that includes you, Jon. And Beth. Not you, Lord Voldemort. Yes you, Damian Lillard. We’ve got a special night of pizza by PDX Doughboy and Gracie’s aPizza, along with some tunes by KBOO’s DJ Top Dolla from Megawave Radio. Check out our birthday beer, Quadquat Imperial IPA, made with fresh kumquats and 4 different hops celebrating all 4 fiscal quarters we didn’t go under! Nice!” The party runs from 6 to 9pm.

Immersion Brewing (Bend) is hosting a canning release party to introduce its new cans on Saturday from 7 to 10pm: “Join us for our First Canning Release Party! Immersion is proud to finally offer our beer in cans. We want to celebrate with our fellow community of craft beer lovers with food, music, and plenty of quality craft beer in the back of our brewery! Featuring live music from ToastandJam a “rootsy” Bend, OR based duo featuring Ben Delery and Jeff Miller on two acoustic guitars with dynamic vocal harmonies.” Note, the brewery posted yesterday that Hazy-E did not make it into cans for this run.

The Upper Lip at Bailey’s Taproom (Portland) is hosting the first release of Ecliptic Brewing‘s 5th anniversary series of beers, a collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery, Tangerine Farmhouse Ale: “Be the first to try the Tangerine Farmhouse Ale, a Cosmic Collaboration with Ecliptic Brewing & Brooklyn Brewery. Meet Ecliptic Brewmaster, John Harris, and Brooklyn Brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, who will be in attendance! The Upper Lip will be the official Portland spot for all five of the “5 Years/5 Beers” Cosmic Collaboration Series releases throughout the year.” This takes place from 5 to 7pm Saturday and is sure to be a terrific party. Don’t miss out!

Saturday, Feb. 2 – Groundhog Day!

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting Melvin Brewing’s 2×4 Day on Saturday: “If you have never been to a 2×4 Day celebration, it’s always a hoot. If you have, then you know that it is bound to be madness. Draft list will include: Melvin IPA – India Pale Ale, Hubert – MPA (Melvin Pale Ale), 2×4 – Double IPA, Citradamus – Citra Double IPA, TGR Pilsgnar – Pilsner, and Far Cry – Blood Orange Pale Ale. With such a great tap list, there is something for everyone. Don’t hate, party with us!”

Block 15 Brewery (Corvallis): February is Bourbon Month at Block 15 — “Join us throughout February for a month of food and drink dedicated to bourbon. We’ll be serving up bourbon-barrel aged beer, bourbon-inspired food specials, and a curated selection of rare, world-class bourbons” — and Saturday the 2nd is also the brewery’s February bottle and can release. “Join us at Block 15 Brewery & Tap Room on Saturday, February 2, for the release of The DAB Lab, Juice Joint in 16oz cans + Super Nebula; Super Nebula, Breakfast with Roses; Super Nebula, Double Chocolate Hazelnut; Kriek, a Spontaneous Cuvée in 500 mL bottles. The release will begin at 11am, but we will be opening our doors at 9:30am, so you can arrive early and hang out over complimentary hot coffee and donuts from NutCakes, some killer food specials, and our release beers on tap. (We’ll issue you a number when you arrive, so you can mingle before the release without losing your spot in line.)”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting a tasting with Mazama Brewing on Saturday from 2 to 4pm.

Sunday, Feb. 3

Ecliptic Brewing is hosting a Cosmic Brunch with John Harris & Garrett Oliver on Sunday from 11am to 2pm: “In celebration of their Cosmic Collaboration Tangerine Farmhouse Ale, join Ecliptic Brewing Brewmaster, John Harris, and Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, for a libation filled brunch! The brunch will feature a menu from Ecliptic Brewing Chef Michael Molitor, each paired with delicious beers from the breweries. Tickets on sale now! The $65 ticket includes 5 courses, 10-5oz beers, gratuity, and a 500ml bottle to-go of the Cosmic Collaboration signed by the brewmasters!”

Astoria’s Buoy Beer is still hosting Sunday Dinners for government works who were affected by the shutdown, and for this Sunday: “Sunday dinner on February 3rd is still on. The hours will be 11am-3pm. Grilled Salmon Burgers, Potato Salad, Fresh Fruit, Homemade Cookies.”

General News

The Oregon Brewers Guild formally announced its new co-executive directors, Christina LaRue and Tony Roberts. Brewpublic has details and the press release: “Earlier this week we learned that Oregon Brewers Guild (OBG) has hired the replacement(s) for former longtime Executive Director Brian Butenschoen when the OBG sent out the announcement for the upcoming 2019 Zwickelmania. Butenschoen abruptly departed as Executive Director this past fall. Since this time there has been no public face of the OBG, nor any Supporters of Native Oregon Beer (S.N.O.B.) weekly emails supporting the events that its 165 member breweries are involved in. Now five days later after the Zwickelmania announcement the OBG officially announces Butenschoen’s replacement are two new Co-Executive Directors – Christina LaRue and Tony Roberts. The two new Co-Executive Directors are located in two different regions of the state. LaRue is based in Bend and will oversee membership, events and education. Roberts is based in Portland and will oversee operations and marketing.”

Mia & Pia’s Pizzeria (Klamath Falls) has its 2019 Sweethearts Chocolate Stout on tap, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

From the New School: Boring Brewing, formerly located in, well, Boring, is now located in Sandy. “The small town of Sandy, Oregon, just got a lot more Boring. After operating out of its tiny namesake town–known to many as a nice place to hydrate after a bike ride on the Springwater Corridor – since 2012, Boring Brewing Co. made the move down the road to Sandy this past October. The main reason for this, according to brewmaster and owner Bill Schwartz, was due to the lease being up at the old location and finding something more suitable in Sandy. Bill started brewing over thirty years ago and in 2016 decided to take his hobby commercial. While he was in the process of figuring out just that, fate and fandom pushed him to purchase Boring Brewing from original owner John Griffin, who had moved the brewery from its original location to the Boring Winery in May of 2017.” It’s a good in-depth article, go read it in full.

Gleneden Beach’s new Beachcrest Brewing has a new beer release out: “The Brut IPA is available starting today at 2pm in the taproom. This beer is named after Brut Champagne, the driest style of Champagne, because it ferments down to almost zero residual sugar. That along with huge doses of late-addition hops in the kettle and fermenter and a good amount of carbonation makes this the REAL champagne of beers!”