TGIF and happy Friday! Here’s the news in Oregon beer for the weekend of the 23rd of January. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters) has a big weekend! Today is the bottle release of their TenPine Chocolate Porter, the second release in their limited-bottling Desperado series. “TenPine Chocolate Porter is a chocoholic’s dream! This amped up version of our popular FivePine Chocolate Porter features double the chocolate malt, and double the dark Belgian chocolate in the boil and is then aged on organic cacao nibs in the brite tank. A true dessert beer with a full body and intense chocolate flavor. 8.4% abv, 25 IBU.” That kicks off tonight at 6:30pm at their pub.

And tomorrow, Saturday the 24th, is Three Creeks’ 3rd annual Beer & Dessert Pairing, featuring “Head Brewer Zach and Chef Mark will be tableside as they walk you through this year’s amazing 4 course line-up” as you enjoy amazing desserts pairing with Three Creeks beer (including TenPine, above). It’s $25 per person and you need to call (541)549-1963 for reservations, but it will be well worth it! Especially for that fried twinkie…

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Today is the release of their latest Pub Reserve bottled beer, The Specialist (at both the Bend and Portland pubs)! “The uniqueness of this Imperial Bitter is unrivaled, as it is brewed special in our pubs with Bachelor Bitter as the recipe inspiration. Then the beer is barrel-aged, blended to perfection and bottled in 22oz bottles. We will be offering samples in our pub on Friday, January 23, from 11 a.m -Midnight as well as bottles for sale and a special culinary menu.” Don’t miss out!

Portland U-Brew & Pub (Portland): Today marks the first day of their 4th annual Westmoreland/Sellwood Winter Brew Fest, celebrating uber-local winter brews from noon to 10pm each day: “Four local winter beers plus six staff made winter beers on tap! Most over 9%. $20.00 gets you a P.U.B. glass and 10 tickets (tickets worth $1.00). Live music . Friday and Saturday night kids welcome. TWO DAYS. Noon-10pm.”

Base Camp Brewing (Portland): Tomorrow is Base Camp’s Collabofest! 10 breweries got together, paired off and collaborated on two beers each (one brewed at each other’s respective breweries) for a total of 10 unique beers (actually 11 since Ex Novo and Gigantic Brewing have a blended version of their two collaboration brews!). The fest runs from noon to 8pm and you can buy tickets here; $20 for the general admission, $35 for the “Beer Geek Package.”

Also taking place tomorrow in Portland is the NW Coffee Beer Invitational, at the Goose Hollow Inn from noon to 7pm: “The Northwest’s two favorite brews are in the spotlight again for the 2nd NW Coffee Beer Invitational. Sixteen talented brewers were asked to create freshly-brewed beer made with locally-roasted coffee. With the emphasis on flavors, and an abv of 7% or less, this event promises to surprise us with both provocative and inspired combinations.” $15 for admission which gets you the glass and 8 taster tickets.

And speaking of fests, this one almost slipped past me: Bailey’s Taproom’s CellarFest! It’s a day where they dig out some good stuff from their cellar to be pouring (presumably) all day. They’ve got a great taplist lined up, so if you’re craving some vintage, properly-aged beer, head on over.

The Tap & Growler (Eugene) is hosting their own mini-fest tomorrow (Saturday), their first annual Brews, Blues, and Chowder Fest: “Featuring Southern Oregon Coast Breweries- Tight Lines & Chetco from Brookings, 7 Devils from Coos Bay, and Arch Rock from Gold Beach. Featuring 2 World Beer Cup medal winning brews, Gold Beach Lager from Arch Rock and Block and Tackle Imperial Stout from Chetco. We will have three chowders…smoked salmon chowder, potato and corn chowder, and classic clam chowder for the chowder lovers. Live music 5pm-8pm from Mark Slaymaker. here is a little about Mark. Maybe another band from 8-11p.” Great little showcase for the little-known coast breweries of the south!

McMenamins is celebrating a special birthday this Sunday, company-wide: Hammerhead Ale’s 29th birthday! “On this day, in 1986, a very special beer was born at the Hillsdale Brewery in Southwest Portland, christened Hammerhead. Today, it’s above-and-beyond our best-selling ale. So we plan to celebrate! Head to any McMenamins location in Oregon or Washington for specially-priced pints of Hammerhead, plus ale-inspired food specials, Facebook contests, Hammerhead Discovery Tour, and a lot more.”

Baerlic Brewing (Portland) has new beers on tap: “3 NEW beers in the taproom: Invincible IPA fermented completely with Brettanomyces (only 7 gallons available); Hop-Lic Kellerweizen-a barrel finished Bavarian style hefe we Brewed w/ @hopworksbeer for Collabofest; and Cask Thunderbolt Porter with whole vanilla bean we’ll be tapping at 5.”

Grain Station Brew Works (McMinnville) has a new beer on as well: “Sidamo Stout On-Tap TODAY! For this coffee stout we collaborated with Mud River Coffee Roasters* out of Corvallis Oregon using their light roasted Kilenso Rasa from the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. The high altitude volcanic soil and wet ferment of these beans gives the coffee dark fruit and chocolate notes, nicely complimenting the chocolate sweetness of this stout which has a final gravity of 1.015. A 4.3 % blend of the cold press concentrate to beer volume does a great job of enhancing the stout flavor without overpowering the pallet.”

Falling Sky Brewing (Eugene): And not to be outdone, the new beer from Falling Sky: “Now on tap Hanzo Dry Lager 5.5% 13 IBU. A perfect pint for all the Black Mambas, Copperheads, California mountain snakes and the Kiddos in us all. We took our brewing system back to its Japanese roots and made this rice lager.”