We are going into the final weekend of October which means you should be thinking of Halloween and pumpkin beers! That sounds like a pretty good weekend to me, but here’s the rundown of beer news and events for this October 26-28. As usual I’ll be updating this post throughout the day, so check back in from time to time for the latest news and information. Happy Friday!

Friday, Oct. 26

Portland’s Imperial Bottle Shop kicks off a Halloween candy pairing with Block 15 Brewery on Friday, which will run through the holiday: “From Oct 26 through Halloween, we’ll be offering 8 beers from Block 15 Brewing Co. paired with 8 Halloween candy favorites. 4 pairings will be offered at our Division taproom, and 4 at Alberta. All beers will be available as a 4 oz sample or 12 oz glass with candy (most available as a pint as well).” Look for pairings such as Hypnosis Barleywine aged in Cognac Barrels with Twix and Bloktoberfest Märzen Lager with Candy Corn.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland) is throwing its Lomporter Lomparty Friday at the Sidebar: “Lompoc Brewing recently took home a Gold Medal for its Lomporter Premium Northwest Porter at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival® in Denver, Colo. The Portland brewery will celebrate its historic win with a Lomporter Lomparty on Friday, October 26, from 4pm to 10pm at Sidebar, Lompoc’s barrel tasting room located at 3901 N Williams Ave. The event is for ages 21 and up. The Lomporter Lomparty will feature a Dark Beer Taster Tray for $16 that will include its award-winning Lomporter, as well as 2009 Bourbon Barrel Aged Monster Mash, 2010 Batch 69 Baltic Porter, 2012 Black Mamba Sour Stout, 2016 8 Malty Nights, and 2018 Monster Mash Imperial Porter. At 7pm, Lompoc owner Jerry Fechter and Head Brewer Bryan Keilty will oversee a cake cutting ceremony featuring a rich chocolate cake made with Lomporter, with complimentary slices for attendees.” Wear black to get a free raffle ticket as well.

Immersion Brewing (Bend): The brewpub is hosting its Firkin for a Cause Friday from 4 to 7pm, benefiting LessonPLAN: “Drink good beer for a good cause! The Tower Theatre Foundation’s award-winning education and outreach programs known as LessonPLAN (Performing Live Arts Now), has connected nearly 26,000 students to performing arts in Central Oregon since it began in 2011. Students and teachers from public, private, and home school groups throughout Central Oregon are invited to attend matinee performances and in-school assemblies. Throughout the school year, LessonPLAN presents performances by local, regional, national, and international artists to inspire and engage students.” $1 from every firkin pint sold goes to LessonPLAN.

Bend’s Shade Tree Brewing is hosting a brewery tour Friday evening from 6 to 7pm that folks can sign up for: “It’s just a small scale brewery tour with the usual samples, of course. Please sign up through Eventbrite. Growlers fills and bottles are also available. Credit card reader has not yet arrived so this one may still be cash only.” It’s a chance to see one of Bend’s smaller breweries you may not have heard much about.

Belmont Station (Portland) is throwing a Night of the Gargoyle Party with Stone Brewing starting at 5pm: “We’re going to get spooky with Stone! Plenty of treats to be had, featuring a candy & beer pairing flight, raffle, and some surprises. Tarot Reader Rhiannon and Faerie Hair Sparkler Sera will be on site after 6 PM (additional costs for their services). Special Stone beers will be pouring: Enjoy By 10.31.2018 DIPA, ParaXtranormal IPA, Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout, and Double Bastard 2015 Strong Ale. Costumes encouraged! The Gargoyle will be waiting …”

Royale Brewing (Portland) has a special beer release at the taproom on Friday: “Bride of Carlastein. We have a very limited amount on draft and in bottles. This American Style Porter was made for our friends at @hollywoodtheatr/ @queerhorrorpdx. Pleasant coconut aroma from the addition of toasted & shredded coconuts that smoothly transitions to notes of dark chocolate stemming from the addition of Peruvian cocoa-nibs from Ranger Chocolate. Layered notes of toasted caramel, and mild roasted coffee gives this beer complexity. Very soft finish that rounds out with more coconut, chocolate, and almond nuttiness. 6% ABV 39 IBU”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop (Portland) is hosting an Oakshire Halloween Party and Doggy Costume Contest Friday evening from 6 to 8pm: “Oakshire Brewing is coming to the Bottle Shop for a night filled with beer and candy. Our taster tray will pair Halloween Candy with Bourbon Barrel-Aged Big Black Jack, Need A Moment Stout, I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost and Oakshire Hazy IPA. So dress up your dog in its spookiest outfit and come get your howl-oween on.”

Dry Fields Cider (Redmond) is celebrating its taproom grand opening this weekend, starting on Friday, not only pouring its own in-house ciders but welcoming 2 Towns Ciderhouse and Legends Cider in for samples and giveaways. There will also be an apple pressing demo on Saturday and live music.

Speaking of 2 Towns Ciderhouse, the Corvallis cidery has a double taproom release happening Friday, with both Rhubarbarian and Boysenbarrel available.

Ochoco Brewing (Prineville) is tapping its Smoked Pumpkin Porter at 5pm Friday. I for one am curious as to how it turned out…

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): The Bend Tasting Room has its Firkin Friday all day: “TGIFirkin Friday! Stop by the Tasting Room to learn about cask beer, sample our featured concoction, and maybe–just maybe–be the one to tap it! Tried it? Love it? For one special day each week, you can drink a pint of cask beer in the Tasting Room–or take it home in a growler or crowler!”

As does Ratchet Brewery in Salem with its firkin: “This Friday in the firkin we have a blend of the Skid Mark British Brown and Grease Monkey Porter joined with sage and juniper berries during fermentation. We will tap the firkin at 5:30 and pour the beer until it’s gone. It’s only 30-40 pints so come early so you don’t miss out!”

Saturday, Oct. 27

Killer Pumpkin Festival 2018 takes place at Rogue Ales Eastside Pub in Portland on Saturday! We’re going to have an absolutely killer time at this year’s Killer Pumpkin Festival. In proud partnership with BREWPUBLIC’s Killer Beer Week, our annual gourd celebration is a fundraiser for CAMP UKANDU. There’ll be so many pumpkin beers to try and this year we’re also showcasing other fall harvest beers. Our team will soon hand-pick some fresh pumpkins at Rogue Farms, so get ready for some serious smashing fun. Try your hand at smashing using our handcrafted pumpkin smasher, dubbed “Thor”. All proceeds from pumpkin smashing, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin decorating & carving goes to CAMP UKANDU. Pair your pumpkin brews with a delicious sampling of snacks from our special pumpkin menu.” Brewpublic has the beer list here.

Portland’s F.H. Steinbart homebrew supply store celebrates its 100th anniversary on Saturday! “Join us for a celebration of Steinbart’s presence in the local brewing community for the past 100 years. We will curate beers from 12 local breweries as well as cider from 2-3 cideries. A limited amount of beer made by local homebrewers showing off the latest craft ingredients will also be served on a first come, first served basis. $25 admission includes tickets for 10 tasters. Food carts and raffle. The Festival is a nonprofit event to benefit the Oregon brewing community. All profits will be donated to The Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, which funds brewing education scholarships.” HUGE congratulations on a century of business!

The Breweries in the Gorge in the Columbia Gorge area is hosting its 3rd annual BIG Swig Open House—think “Zwickelmania” for the Gorge-area breweries—on Saturday from noon to 4pm. “Join us for a special one-day event inviting craft beer fans for brewery open houses, beer tastings, and more. The Columbia Gorge region is known for churning out world-class beers and is host to a wide variety of brewery concepts and sizes. Participating breweries will host an open house that will reflect each individual brewery beer styles and approach to the craft beer culture here in the Gorge.” There are 12 breweries listed, so you’ll have a full day tomorrow for sure.

Walkabout Brewing (Medford) is hosting Foster the Love Kickoff Fundraiser Saturday starting at 3pm: “Foster the Love is a gift campaign asking our community to show value and worth to children in foster care by purchasing a gift and/or gift card to your favorite store valued at $25.00. Our goal is to raise enough gifts, cards and cash to give every child in care these 2 gifts this Holiday. Come join us for a fun event filled with live music from Hwy 99, awesome beer from Walkabout Brewing Company and delicious food from Word on the Street food truck. There will be raffle items to win, way you can donate. A portion to beer sales and food sales will be donated to this cause. Come on down and join in the fun!”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting a beer tasting with Migration Brewing on Saturday from 2 to 4pm. Migration will be on hand to pour samples of some of the latest releases.

Sunday, Oct. 28

Zoiglhaus Brewing (Portland) is hosting Pints n’ Pumpkins Sunday from 6 to 8pm: “All the fun and none of the cleanup! Come hang out with us at Zoiglhaus and we’ll set you up with a pumpkin, a carving kit, and two pints of beer to sip on while you make your creation! Hosted in our private event space where you’ll have room to craft your most extravagant jack-o-lantern! Included in your ticket is a large pumpkin, a kit for carving, some design suggestions, and two pours of a haus beer. Gluten free or not a beer drinker? We are happy to sub the beer for a cider, wine, or bottomless soda/iced tea. This event is 21+ only.”

Beerworks (Medford) is going non-hazy for its Special Tap Sunday: “Remember filtered IPAs? Beerworks does! This Special Tap Sunday, October 28th, we’re tapping a keg of the Citra IPA from Stoup Brewing at our Medford location! This bright and clear IPA will satisfy your needs for a true-to-roots North-West style IPA. The keg goes live @ 1:00pm when we open!”

General News

Salem Ale Works has tapped a new beer that sounds pretty intriguing: “What do you call a smoked porter aged in a whiskey barrel for about 12 months? Besides delicious and 11% ABV, we call it Smokey the Barrel. On tap now at SAW!”

pFriem Family Brewers (Hood River): Japanese Lager is back! “Back by popular demand is our pFriem Japanese Lager! We combined traditional European ingredients and process with the modern use of rice to lighten the color and to dry out the beer. We then hopped with both Saaz and Celeia to create a beautiful floral bouquet. On draft now!” This is a terrific beer you should be drinking.