It’s Friday the 13th! I’m not sure how that bodes for beer, but with lots of things going on today and into the weekend I’d venture to say “well”. As usual I’ll be updating this post periodically throughout the day, so if you have some new to share please contact me and I’ll update it here.

Golden Valley Brewery (McMinnville): Their new Beaverton location has apparently been trying out a soft opening, as Portland’s Hops & Barley Blog shared a view words and a picture: “The kitchen is backed up (shocker) but the Rye PA and Tannen Bomb are good omens for the success of the rebranding of this former Chili’s location.”

Today is the first day of the Oregon Wine, Food & Brew Festival over in Salem: two days of celebrating Oregon’s vineyards and wineries, breweries, and culinary culture, with live entertainment, demonstration, classes and more. It takes place at the Salem Fairgrounds and is $10 per day to enter; the Festival runs today from 4 to 10pm and tomorrow (the 14th) from noon to 10pm. For the $25 VIP package, you can purchase tickets online but that closes at noon. And 4 breweries will be in attendance according to their program: Astoria Brewing, Fire Mountain Brewery, Gilgamesh Brewing, and Seven Brides Brewing; Meletis Beverage Distributors will also be present in the “beer” column.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): Today is the release of their Black Dawn III Coffee Stout, and it’s already generating buzz on the web. This is the third year they’ve released Black Dawn, a huge coffee stout that uses three pounds of beans per barrel (the beans were provided by Ristretto Roasters). In addition to the Black Dawn III (which all kicks off at 4pm), there’s quite a lineup: “There will actually be three different versions of Black Dawn III: one with all three coffees above, one with only the El Salvadoran beans, and one with only the Peruvian beans. We will also be pouring Black Dawn II, which featured Ristretto Roasters Beaumont Blend, and 2009 Pre-Dawn Imperial Stout (the base beer for Black Dawn I). We’ll have a taster tray available so you can taste all the different incarnations and compare flavors between the different coffee varietals.”

The EastBurn (Portland) has their annual Buckman-Kerns Brewfest this Sunday the 15th at noon, and it sounds like a great little fest: with Lucky Labrador, Coalition Brewing, Natian Brewing, Migration Brewing, Buckman Brewing, Cascade Brewing and Burnside Brewing all participating, the $10 entry (which includes a commemorative pint glass and four tickets) is a steal! You won’t go wrong with this one.

Upcoming tastings, releases, and “Meet the Brewer” events:

• Oakshire Brewing (Eugene) has two Portland-based tastings today and tomorrow: today at Zupan’s Market on Burnside from 4 to 7pm, and tomorrow at Uptown Market from 3 to 6pm.
• Speaking of Uptown Market, tonight they have Sierra Nevada Brewing in the house pouring their new Ruthless Rye from 4:30pm on.
• GoodLife Brewing (Bend) is still in Portland today, doing a tasting and Meet the Brewers at Torta Landia from 6 to 9pm. They’ll be pouring their four currently available beers.
• Flat Tail Brewing (Corvallis): They have a bottle release and tasting tonight at Belmont Station from 5 to 8pm. “Brewmaster Dave Marliave of this Corvallis Brewpub will pour complimentary tastes of his freshly bottled Big Fin Baltic Porter, Moustache Rye’d Imperial Rye Red, & Seriously Low Budget English Pale Ale in addition to his already available Tailgater Kolsch and Feathertop Pumpkin Stout.”
• Upright Brewing (Portland): Today they are releasing their new Kopstootje over at The Hop & Vine; “Kopstootje is a Biére de Garde that has been made with the same herbs & botanicals as Bol’s Genever & we will be pairing the bier & Genever together Friday the 13th for an Awesome deal of 8 bucks! Alex Ganum of Upright Brewing & Jacob will be on hand for some conversation & toasting.” In other words, it’s a special shot-and-a-beer pairing that won much acclaim when it appeared last year.
• Phat Matt’s (Redmond): They have two tastings today: In Redmond at the Cross Creek Cafe from 6 to 8:30pm, they’ll be pouring all three of their beers. And in Bend, over at Newport Avenue Market from 3:30 to 5:30 (also all three beers).