Happy Friday! This first weekend of March has a number of beer events taking place around the state, so look over the list and news below to plan your weekend accordingly. I won’t in front of the computer much today so may not get the chance to keep this post updated in a timely manner, but as always feel free to contact me with any news you have to share. Cheers to the weekend!

Friday, Mar. 2

The Lucky Lab‘s annual Barleywine Festival kicks off Friday in Portland, the 21st iteration of this big beer event! It takes place both Friday and Saturday at the Lucky Lab Beer Hall on NW Quimby, and features over 70 different barleywines to savor. From the press release: “A festival glass and four tokens run only $15 with additional 4 oz. pours for $2 each. Lucky Lab’s full menu of hand-tossed pizza, deli sandwiches, salads, and snacks will be available. The Lab’s tap list of ales and ciders will be on hand as well.” As one of the longest-running barleywine festivals in the world, it’s worth checking out.

The Bier Stein is hosting the Eugene launch of Buoy Beer‘s Love, Lost at Sea bottle release from 5 to 8pm on Friday: “Love, Lost At Sea 2018 is an American Barleywine aged in Bull Run whiskey barrels for 5 months. This is the first release of the Small Batch Series, a line-up of limited release beers bottled in 500ml bottles each illustrating the creativity of our team of brewers. The label artwork was created by Kyler Martz, an artist from Seattle. Love, Lost At Sea is the confluence of beginnings for Buoy Beer Company. Not only is it the first bottle release of the Small Batch Series, it’s also the official launch of our barrel program – the River Barrel Project. Buoy Beer’s construction last winter provided the space to start collecting and filling barrels. This program will continue to grow throughout 2018. Next year’s Barleywine release was brewed last month and will spend 12 months in the barrel room.” You can pick up bottles at the Stein and they will have Buoy beers on draft also.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): The brewery’s sixth annual Black Out Beer Fest takes place Friday starting at 4pm at the Sidebar: “The 6th annual Black Out Beer Fest will take place Friday, March 2, from 4pm to 10pm at Sidebar, located at 3901 N Williams Ave, and in the heated & tented parking lot in front of the Fifth Quadrant. The event will feature 25 rotating dark beers – including porters, stouts, coffee beers and black IPAs – from Lompoc and more than 20 guest breweries from around the Northwest. Admission into the event is free; tasting packages are required to taste the beers and cost $20, which includes a souvenir glass mug and eight beer tickets. Additional beer tickets are available for $1 apiece. All tasting packages and additional tickets are purchased at the door.”

McMenamins is releasing Terminator Stout in cans! On Friday the 2nd, the 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting the can release starting at 5pm: “We’re releasing cans of McMenamins Terminator Stout for the first time! So come pick up a four-pack of one of our favorite beers. For all of the Rubinator fans, we’ll have mixed four packs of Ruby and Terminator as well.”

pFriem Family Brewers (Hood River) is hosting a meet the brewer event at its Bear’s Den pub in Hood River: “Friends, our brewers want to meet you! We’re hosting several “Meet the Brewer” events this year in our Bear’s Den here in Hood River. This free event is a great way to stop in and sample a few of our offerings while learning about the beer, the process, and the brewers behind the beer. Join us Friday, March 2nd from 5-6:30pm for complimentary beer tastings and a chance to chat with Senior Brewer, Bryan Cardwell!”

Monkless Belgian Ales (Bend): In addition to winning a gold medal at the Oregon Beer Awards this week, on Friday Monkless is releasing bottles of Meet Your Maker! “Join us this Friday for the highly anticipated first release of our flagship Belgian Dark Strong, Meet Your Maker, which sits at 9% with complex aromas and flavors of dark fruits, dates, figs & a hint of chocolate and coffee. Belgian-style beers are traditionally carbonated to a higher level than most beers. In order to reach this authentic level of carbonation we bottle condition and naturally carbonate this Belgian beauty. Due to this bottle conditioning you will see a remarkable and beautiful difference between the kegged and bottled versions of this beer. We are hosting a very special side by side comparison of the bottled and kegged versions at 4pm during our bottle release party, so don’t be late or you’ll miss it! There will be a limited amount of bottles available for purchase in the taproom and we expect them to go quick! We’re very excited for this event and hope to see you here. Limit is two bottles per person.”

Montavilla Brew Works (Portland) has a fruit sour beer release on Friday starting at 3pm: “You asked for it, so we brewed a sour! This kettle sour ale is brewed with German Pilsner malt and hops, inoculated with Nancy’s yogurt and finished with 42# of Red Raspberry puree in the fermenter. Aromas of honey and soft fruit. Tartness reminiscent of “Original Spree Candy”. Get sour!”

Cascade Brewing‘s Sour Fruit Fest continues on Friday and into the weekend, featuring “at least 25 sour beers on tap each day at the Barrel House, and 10 at the Lodge.” The Barrel House will be selling vintage bottles, and each day will see a featured beer available: Friday is Kentucky Peach, Saturday is Nectarine Dream, and Sunday is Cherry Bourbonic.

Saturday, Mar. 3

Block 15 Brewery (Corvallis) is celebrating its tenth anniversary on Saturday! “To celebrate, we’ll be releasing a special lineup of anniversary beers—including bottled/canned versions of each, which will be for sale in our game room—as well as serving up a killer food special in the restaurant. Plus, as an extra thanks to our amazing community, we’ll be hosting a special DINE OUT event all day long. 100% of the day’s food sales will be donated to three outstanding local non-profits. (See below for more info on our partner organizations.)” The downtown pub is the place to be so be sure to head over there and give them all a hearty congratulations on a decade of terrific beers!

Portland Cider Company is celebrating its fifth anniversary on Saturday, with a party at their Clackamas cidery and taproom. “On the first Saturday of March we will be partying in cider-style with:
– 5 Year Anniversary limited release bottle “Cider Scrumpy”
*** Only 120 bottles available of a high ABV scrumpy hand bottled for our 5 Year Anniversary! The cider will be made in the exact same style (and using the same Orchards apples!), owner Jeff used to make cider in his closet back before Portland Cider started.
– 5 Year Anniversary limited release cider on-tap “Fever Bark Tonic”
*** A throwback the the very first one-off cider that owner Jeff ever made. Juniper berries and cinchona bark infused off-dry cider.
– Cidery Tours every half hour 4-7pm
*** Free Samples of 2 specialty ciders while on tour.” And much more!

Rogue Ales is holding its 11th annual Firkin Fest on Satuday the 3rd at its Eastside Pub in Portland, from 11 to 6pm. This is the all-cask (or firkin) fest highlighting the fantastic method/style of cask ales. “The event will feature special release cask conditioned beers from 20+ of Oregon’s top breweries – Firkin beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated in the cask and served at cellar temperature. General admission session: 11am-6pm ($10). (General admission includes entrance to the fest, souvenir tasting glass, and 5 taster tickets.) Additional taster tickets will be available for $1 each.” You can purchase tickets online here.

Portland’s N.W.I.P.A. is holding its Triple IPA Fest on Saturday from 2 to 10pm: “Time again for you to sample and enjoy ten triples all in one sitting. Beers are Aslan’s Megathrust, Breakside’s Safe Word, Ecliptic’s Hypernova, Georgetown’s Harkin Banks, Matchless Blueberry Trainwreck, Pfriem’s Triple IPA, Revision’s Sucka Fish, Reubens Blimey That’s Bitter, Lagunitas B10K and Culmination/Ruse/N.W.I.P.A.’s Backseat Freestyle. Snacks provided.”

The 4th annual SheBrew homebrew competition and fest takes place on Saturday the 3rd—this is the actual brew fest portion as the brews have already been judged and winners announced. The fest gives you a chance to meet the brewers and sample their beers, as well an enjoy live music and more. Tickets are $20 and include the glass, 10 tasting tokens, and the chance to vote on your favorite all-female brewed homebrew.

Coalition Brewing (Portland) is opening up its new patio on Saturday: “We are excited to announce the opening of our newly built patio drinking area from the wonderful folks at Steel Leaf Designs! Join us March 3rd as we launch our new year round and extended hours tasting room. We will have a selection of CBD Brews, Beer Releases, Live Music, Food Cart, Games and Swag Giveaways. Come raise a glass with us as we are delighted to open our doors to the beer community. Kids and Pets always welcome!”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting a cider tasting with 2 Towns Ciderhouse on Saturday from 2 to 4pm: “2 Towns will pour samples of three of their newest cider releases: Riverwood New World Brut, Pacific Pineapple and Passion Statement. Cheers!”