Happy Monday! Someone should brew a beer called “The Monday” so I could buy a case and have a Case of The Mondays. Or something! Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for January 12. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. If you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

The High Desert Museum (Bend): Not the first place you’d expect to see beer news, but the Museum is opening a new “Brewing Culture” exhibit this weekend which aims to “present the history of brewing, the ingredients used in craft beers, the process of brewing and the culture of the craft brewing industry.” This Friday, the 16th, is the kick-off party starting at 6:30; I will be on hand to participate in and moderate a discussion panel with Veronica Vega of Deschutes Brewery and Paul Arney of The Ale Apothecary. I’ll have a longer separate post about this soon, stay tuned!

Belmont Station (Portland): Today they have are hosting Washington’s Backwoods Brewing for the Oregon launch of their cans and bottles: “Backwoods Brewing is finally unleashing its bottles & cans in Oregon! We will be tasting Logyard IPA & Copperline Amber in cans and Ridge Run Stout & Big Cedar IRA in 22-oz bottles. And, of course, we will feature something fun on draft from Backwoods in the biercafé too!” It runs from 5 to 7pm this evening.

Fearless Brewing (Estacada): They are closing today for a couple of weeks for some much-needed updates. “Fearless Brewing Company pub will be closed from January 12th and will reopen at 4 pm on Friday, January 23rd. Time for some repairs, some new paint, some deep cleaning, and best of all… getting ready for our new brewing equipment that will arrive in April!”

Today is Growler Monday across the McMenamins breweries and pubs: each location is running a growler fill special on a selected beer (different at each one) for only $8 (or $10 if it’s a higher gravity beer). Out at the Edgefield in Troutdale, for instance, today’s special is Kris Kringle. Find a growler and pop in to your nearest McMenamins!

McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend): This Saturday, January 17, is the OSF’s second annual High Gravity Extravaganza, a fantastic mini-brewfest celebrating strong beers! “Come celebrate the uniqueness of the High Desert in January with an extravaganza of big & bold high-gravity beers. We’ll be pouring beers from 10 McMenamins Breweries and 12 Central Oregon guest Breweries.” It runs from 1 to 10pm, with meet the brewers until 5pm, and there will be live music as well. I’ll have a longer post up soon about this great Central Oregon fest.

Alameda Brewing (Portland): Tonight for the Oregon Ducks championship game they are offering an insane deal: $1 pints! “Join us for the game & enjoy $1 PINTS from the start of the game at 5pm, until the game ends!” That’s too good a deal to miss!

Widmer Brothers Brewing (Portland) announced the next three beers for January in their 30 Beers for 30 Years series: Rejected Ale, X-114, and Belgian Golden Ale. X-114 represents the year 2008, the Citra hop IPA that was hit that year; Belgian Golden Ale represents 2009 (from that year’s W series). But it’s the 2007 Rejected Ale that is the fun one: “Rejected Ale is unique to the entire series, as it is the only beer to date that is not from Widmer Brothers’ 30-year recipe archive. Rejected Ale is an homage to 2007, the year Widmer Brothers was unceremoniously kicked out of the Brewers Association. This unfiltered IPA is brewed with cinnamon and mango, infused with 15 pounds of jalapenos, and dry hopped with copious amounts of Mosaic, Centennial, Chinook, and Cascade hops.” Love it!