It’s the weekend, and there are a number of beer and festive things happening around Oregon—what are your plans? Here’s the news in Oregon beer for this mid-month weekend in September, rounding up the events and happenings from around the state. As usual I’ll continue to update this post with the latest news so check back in from time to time. TGIF!

Friday, 9/14

McMenamins releases Thundercone Fresh Hop Ale across all locations Friday! This annual beer results from the “running of the brewers” several weeks prior to pick up the hops; this year’s varietal is Simcoe. In addition to being on draft, cans of Thundercone are also available (brewed and canned at the Edgefield). About this year’s beer: “Fresh Simcoe Hops from the fields of Oregon’s Sodbuster Farms were rushed to every eagerly awaiting brewer within hours of the hops being picked. This fresh hop showcase boasts a smooth foundation, slight maltiness and an earthy, raw hop decadence. You may think you’re dreaming, but this beer is in reality a short-lived dream come true.” It will be available until it’s not.

Fort George Brewery (Astoria) releases its latest specialty beer in the Sweet Virginia Series, on Friday: Dragon Bone. “This collaboration is with Scarlet Lane Brewing Company, or more specifically Elise Lane Servies. She interned at Fort George before heading off to Indiana to start her own brewery. Dragon Bone is an 8.5% ABV, mixed-culture saison brewed with ginger and honey (from both Indiana and an Astoria beekeeper). Aged for a year in French oak wine barrels, it’s now ready to take home, to Indiana or just around the corner. Limited cases are available at the brewery and on the North Coast. Meet the collaborators and get a first taste on Friday, September 14th in the Lovell Taproom. Bottle sales start at 4:30pm.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland) is making Fruitopian Noyaux available for distribution: “A limited, draft-only project. Fruitopian Noyaux is a blend of sour triple and wheat ales aged for up to two years in oak wine and bourbon barrels with tangerine peel, blackcap raspberries and apricot noyaux. This limited, draft-only project offers complex citrus and berry fruit notes with hints of bourbon and toasted almond, creating a utopia of flavors in every glass.” Perhaps Cascade can send a keg of this down to Bend?

Corvallis Beer Week continues on Friday, with the following events:

• 2-4PM Wild & Sour Workshop with Katy Maxwell @ Block 15 Game Room
• 3:30-7:30PM – Where the Wild Ales Are @ Caves Bier & Kitchen
• 5:30-8PM Summer Send Off & Cornhole Tournament @ 2 Towns Ciderhouse
• 6-9PM – Craft Beer Cocktails @ Kingfish Lounge
• 630-830PM – Super LOCO Local Promo, Trivia & BBQ Night @ Beer:30
• 7-10PM – Highway to Health Brewfest, Benefitting the National Brain Tumor Society @Flat Tail Brewing

The Mt. Angel Oktoberfest continues through the weekend, bringing Bavarian food, sights, sounds, beer, family fun and more to Mt. Angel. It’s Oregon’s oldest and largest Oktoberfest celebration and if you’ve ever had the chance to visit the town, you know they do it up right!

And if you’re in town for Oktoberfest, check out the Benedictine Brewery as well: “Just a reminder and a welcome to everyone to come to the brewery during Oktoberfest! We are open from noon to 5 pm today, tomorrow and Sunday. Next week, the taproom and brewery will begin fall hours: Closed Monday and Tuesday, and open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 7 pm; Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 8 pm; Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm. And the Grand Opening is next Saturday and Sunday. Watch for more info about that!” Via Facebook.

The City of Newberg is holding its Newberg Oktoberfest this weekend as well, taking place on Friday and Saturday. “The Party of the Year! Fusing old-world German tradition and Pacific NW style, the Newberg Early Birds Rotary Club and Presenting Sponsor Bob Lanphere’s Newberg Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram are proud to host the 2018 Newberg Oktoberfest! Dance the night away with live entertainment, enter the Lederhosen Contest, eat a brat and sample local Brews!” (Via Facebook event.)

Migration Brewing (Portland) has a new beer release on Friday: Willy Mayz Haze. “Join us for the release of our newest New England IPA, named after one of Baseball’s Greats Willy Mayz Hayes. A New England style IPA with bright lemon, lime, orange zest, and honeydew melon with a ripe mango finish. Hops: Mosaic, Simcoe, Wakatu”

Bridge 99 Brewery (Bend) is releasing the latest beer in the Wild & Scenic Rivers 50th anniversary series: Free Flowing Brut IPA. “As part of a region-wide beer naming effort honoring the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 50th Anniversary, Bridge 99 Brewery is releasing Free Flowing Brut IPA. This Brut IPA is a Champagne inspired IPA that finishes super dry and clean. A variety of hops were used to achieve notes of grapefruit, orange and tropical fruit. They added their own twist on this style by utilizing Champagne yeast in the fermentation which resulted in a super crisp, dry finish. Free Flowing Brut IPA is totes chouette! This beer will be flowing in the Bridge 99 taproom beginning Friday, September 14th. A portion of the proceeds from this beer will benefit Discover Your Forest.”

The Fresh Hop Pop-Up Beer Fest continues, with a Gorge Beer Night featuring fresh hop beers from Double Mountain, Everybody’s Brewing and Thunder Island all day long.

Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider (Portland) is hosting a Fresh Hop Minifest on Friday from 4 to 7pm: “The annual hop harvest is in! Enjoy my 2018 offering of Fresh Hop Hopricot, made with Centennial hops from Crosby Hop Farm. I’m also offering my flagship Revival Hard Apple through the Randall with fresh-picked Cascade hops from my backyard. I dug around in the cider cellar and found a few rare bottles of 2015 Hopricot and 2017 Fresh Hop, so a few lucky people can try bottle pours. Pay-as-you-go, 21+ only.”

Saturday, 9/15

Eugene: McMenamins High Street Brewery & Café is hosting its 21st Annual High Street Brewfest, all day long! “A party is always more fun when you invite guests! And that is exactly what we do at the High Street Brewfest – our own brewers plus guest brewers from the Eugene area, southern I-5 corridor and lower Willamette Valley craft special beers for the occasion. There’s no real competition here, friends – just a day of community, beer, food, music and more. 12 beers and 4 ciders from McMenamins and local guests! Admission & this lineup is free, but costs for tasters are:
$1.50 per token
$5 for a glass
$18 for a glass plus 10 tokens”

Corvallis Beer Week concludes on Saturday! Here are the scheduled events:

• 10AM-12PM – OSU Pilot Plant Brewery Tours with Fermentation Science Dept. @ Weigand Hall
• 12PM-1PM – Detox & Retox Yoga @ 2 Towns Ciderhouse Taproom
• 1-7PM – 11th Annual Septembeerfest, by the Heart of the Valley Home Brewers @ Avery Park

Ancestry Brewing (Tualatin) is throwing its own Oktoberfest Saturday from 2 to 8pm: “We’re gearing up for a classic German party over here! Come by Ancestry Tualatin on September 15 for Oktoberfest, with 4 Family Crafted German-Style lagers, Sausages made with Ancestry Vienna Lager from SP Provisions, live music and more! Make sure to start working out those arms now to compete in our stein holding competition, and get your chompers ready for a string-pretzel eating race (think bobbing for apples, but the German version…kind of?) We’ll have Pilsner, Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest, and Schwarzbier on tap with a couple brewers-favorite German imports.” You can check pricing and pre-purchase tickets on the Eventbrite page here.

And Portland’s Lompoc Brewing has its Lompoktoberfest taking place Saturday at Sidebar: “Come celebrate Lompoktoberfest with us on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 4pm to close at Sidebar! We’ll be releasing our Lompoc Oktoberfest, a German style lager with a clean malt flavor balanced by a touch of Perle hops. A portion of the grain used was roasted in the oven at our Fifth Quadrant location, lending a slight biscuit flavor (5% ABV). There will also be traditional German music on the stereo, German-themed food specials, and anyone sporting traditional German gear will receive a raffle ticket for a drawing of Lompoc schwag throughout the evening. The pub will also be showing the Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers game starting at 5:30pm.”

McMenamins, meanwhile, is throwing its Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday at all locations: “We try not to do anything halfway around these parts – except for this annual party, that is! It’s a full-on celebration marking the halfway point to our favorite holiday. We’ll have music, food and drink specials and more. Get the cool event stamp for your Passport.” With Irish food specials, live music, Irish Stout and other appropriate drinks for the day.

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting Portland’s Swift Cider on Saturday for cider and “Gettin’ Swifty” from 4 to 6pm: “We’re just a short flight away from the Chapman School and its evening swift show. Come on over for a sample – or a pint – of Swift Cider before heading over to watch one of Portland’s favorite spectacles.” The “swifts” in this case (other than the cider) refers to birds.

Central Oregon’s Elk Lake Resort is hosting its Elk Lake Festival of Beer on Saturday: “An All Day Event from 11am-8pm, with BBQ, BEER, and Paddleboard Competitions! $500 in prize money has been donated for the winners of the Paddleboard Competitions. This is how the day-o’-fun breaks down:
Dog Paddleboard Race – 12 PM
Freestyle Paddleboard Competition – 2 pm
Entertainment by J.D. Platt’s K9 Kings Entertainment – 4 pm
Good Food, Music, Fun, and People – All Day Long
100 % of Proceeds go to Humane Society of Central Oregon.” And of course, there is plenty of local Central Oregon beer!

The Fresh Hop Pop-Up Beer Fest featured theme of the day is Bend Beer Night, with fresh hop brews from Crux Fermentation Project, Deschutes, and RiverBend Brewing pouring throughout the day.

Sunday, 9/16

At the Fresh Hop Pop-Up, it’s Kill the Keg $13 Growler Fills day! “Help us kill the leftover partial freshy kegs, bring your growlers to fill for only $13 1130am-6pm”

General News

Lompoc is closing the Lompoc Tavern on NW 23rd Avenue in Portland! From the press release: “Marking the end of an era, Lompoc Brewing has announced the upcoming closure of Lompoc Tavern, its original pub at 1620 NW 23rd Ave. The final day will be September 26. The lease is being taken over by Tap & Table, a highly-regarded gastropub that currently has a location on SE Ankeny St. Lompoc Tavern’s 15 employees have all been informed of the impending closure. Many of the employees will interview for positions with Tap & Table; Lompoc is also working to find positions for staff at its remaining pubs, the 5th Quadrant, Oaks Bottom and Sidebar.” Worth the full read. Wow.

The Lucky Lab (Portland) has its Oktoberfest-themed beer on tap: “Dogtoberfest Lager now on tap at all four Lucky Lab locations! Our Oktoberfest beer is brewed with traditional Pilsner, Munich & Vienna malts. 23 IBUs, 5.4% ABV. Mark your calendars: Our Dogtoberfest 2018 Dog Wash is Sept. 29th!”