Here is the news in Oregon beer for this Tuesday, October 2. As usual I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so refresh the page from time to time for the latest tidbits. And of course feel free to contact me with any hints or information that I can include.

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting a Columbia Distributing industry night this evening starting at 8pm: “Join us for Industry Night as we celebrate Columbia Distributing and enjoy all of the great beer that they make available for us! From 8-10pm we are offering $1 off beer to anyone wearing a Columbia Trade Show nametag. There will be plenty of swag to win in addition to a BIG tap list.” Breweries represented by Columbia will be pouring.

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting a release party for a collaboration brew between Grains of Wrath Brewing and Great Notion Brewing: “Straight West Coastin’ Double IPA: As the name would lead you to believe, it’s not hazy, but it is pure West Coast. Join brew crew members from both breweries as we tap this tasty treat. We also will have… beers from the breweries to enjoy.” The release party is from 5 to 8pm, and don’t forget Oktoberfest is going on as well.

McMenamins has a couple of Friends and Family Nights fundraisers taking place this evening:

• Old St. Francis School (Bend): Benefit for Summit High School Life Skills Program
• Boon’s Treasury (Salem): Benefit for Friends of Oregon School for the Deaf

Starting at 5pm at each location, 50% of the night’s proceeds (food and drinks) goes to the beneficiary.

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Tuesdays are Community Pints at the Deschutes locations, where $1 from every pint sold benefits a non-profit organization. For the month of October, all of the brewery’s Oregon locations are donating to Planned Parenthood. Be sure to stop by and help them out with a pint or 3 today!

Oregon City Brewing has its Pints for Charity fundraiser tonight starting at 5pm, raising money for “Therapeutic Wilderness Awareness Month”: “$1 donated for every Oregon City Brewing pint, taster, soda, crowler, and growler sold on 10/2 from open to close. Funds raised will aid Oregon teens seeking therapeutic wilderness expedition treatment.”

The Oregon Beer Awards (as organized by Portland’s Willamette Week) announced the Oregon winners in the Fresh Hop categories yesterday—because of course you can’t judge fresh hop beers in February. “New this year is the separation of fresh hop submissions into two classes: Pale Ales/India Pale Ales and Other, which includes less-aggressively hopped styles like lagers, saisons or sours. The two breweries that snagged golds are first-time OBA winners: Sasquatch Brewing dosed a hazy IPA base with fruity El Dorado hops, and the months-old West Coast Grocery Company loaded a saison with the complementary earthy-spicy Willamette variety.” Hit the link for the rest of the winners.

Bend’s Avid Cider has opened the doors of its new taproom in Portland’s Pearl District: “Doors are open! And if you didn’t know this is Oregon’s largest craft cider taproom. With a full pizza kitchen, innovative cider cocktails, taster trays, and all of our award winning ciders on draft, this is the tasting room of our dreams. Grab a friend or 2 and come on down and see us in the Portland Pearl District (9th and Couch).”

Conversion Brewing (Lebanon) has its Head to Head beer tasting and food pairing tonight starting at 7pm: “We will pit two beers in the same style against each other and see who comes out on top. This is a blind beer tasting with food pairing and we will have an open discussion about the beers and what we like about them. Cost is $10 and will include 2 samples of Imperial IPA, special cheese platter food pairing samples and a small pour of a Conversion beer. Must be 21”

Corvallis’ Block 15 has pumpkin beer! “Pumpkin Pie—served exclusively on nitro at both Block 15 locations. Inspired by homemade pumpkin pie, this seasonal treat was brewed with house-roasted local pumpkin, house toasted oats, organic graham crackers, fresh ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk sugar, and brown sugar—a decadent blend of ingredients that’s complemented by a gently sweet finish.”

Oktoberfest continues at Beergarden in Eugene, with tonight’s featured tapping bringing in Oakshire Brewing to pour German Lager, Citrafonix, and Big Black Jack Pumpkin Porter.