Happy Hump Day! Here is the Oregon beer news for this Wednesday, May 16 for your reading pleasure. As usual, I will be periodically updating this post throughout the afternoon with news as I find it, so check back from time to time. And if you have news to share please let me know and I can get that posted as well.

McMenamins Kennedy School (Portland) is hosting the third annual Oregon Brewshed Brewfest today from 5:30 to 9:30pm, featuring: “More than 30 Oregon breweries and other craft beverage businesses will be pouring a special beer or other beverage for attendees, and include: Migration Brewing, Claim 52 Brewing, Cider Riot, Falling Sky Brewing, pFriem, Fort George Brewing, Worthy Brewing, Oakshire Brewing, Portland Cider Company and many more. Your ticket gets you 8 tastes, a special pint glass, a Brewshed® Brewfest Passport, one raffle ticket and entry. Additional tastes and raffle tickets will be available for $1 each. All proceeds from the event benefit Oregon Wild, the environmental nonprofit working to protect Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy, and keep Oregon full of great beer through the Oregon Brewshed® Alliance initiative.” You can purchase tickets in advance online here.

It’s a McMenamins day, as Beaverton’s Murray & Allen location is hosting its limited-edition beer tasting, featuring beer from Oak Hills brewer Dan Black, Bel-Ore IPA: “Two worlds collide in this hybrid brew. An original Belgian yeast strain meets a standard Pacific Northwest IPA. Light in color, this beer is hoppy with a lot of character. Centennial Hops do most of the work while Simcoe Hops were added as a dry-hop addition to enhance the citrus. Classic Belgian flavors of bread, cloves and spice work well together.” It takes place from 5 to 8pm.

Belmont Station is hosting Modern Times Brewing for the can release of its Avalon Hazy IPA today from 5 to 8pm: “The progeny of London yeast and a breathtaking plethora of juicy hops, this 7% stunner promises to be a hazy IPA of the highest order. Prepare your taste receptors for a rousing chorus of tropical wonderment that will have you singing its praises long after the final sip. Join the MT crew as we help them release this fantastic beer in equally beautiful cans! We also will have a couple of their beers on tap to help in this celebration!”

Three Mugs Brewing (Hillsboro) has a new beer release today: Parti-Gyle (Party Gecko!) “We decided to go old school and do a parti-gyle brew like they used to do in England. We started with an absolutely insanely huge imperial stout grain bill, and captured the first runnings in one kettle, and then made a second “small” beer with the second runnings. Even the “small” beer ended up at 8.5%, and the “big” beer is a whopping 10.5% ABV!”

Salem Ale Works is hosting a Blind Tasting Night as part of American Craft Beer Week: “Celebrate American Craft Beer Week with us! Think your beer palate is refined? Are you a good guesser? Well then we have the event for you! Blind taste 5 SAW beers for $5, for each correct beer you name earn a raffle ticket to win cool prizes, including a chance to brew a beer with the SAW team! Then finish your night off with a tasty glass of Steel Bridge Coffee Stout infused with bourbon oak chips. Coffee, bourbon, beer…mmmm.”

Buoy Brewing (Astoria) is celebrating its 4th birthday today! The brewery is featuring $4 beers all day long, with live music starting at 4pm and cake cutting at 5pm. Overall pretty low key, but big congrats to Buoy to four years and counting!

StormBreaker Brewing (Portland): Today is the opening day of StormBreaker’s new location in the St. Johns neighborhood of northwest Portland. Exciting to see breweries expanding, and I hope this new spot is successful.

Pelican Brewing (Pacific City) announced today the return of its Queen of Hearts gin barrel-aged saison: “Her eminence took the top honor earlier this month at the 2018 World Beer Cup℠ in the wood- and barrel-aged beer category, and was also bestowed with a Silver Medal earlier this year at the 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards. The limited-production Queen of Hearts, which will be available this month in 22 oz. bottles and on draft at select locations, is available now for pre-order online. Queen will be available for pick-up at Pelican brewpubs in Pacific City, Cannon Beach and Tillamook over Memorial Day weekend starting Saturday, May 26, 2018, and in specialty bottle shops on June 1st.”