Here is the Oregon beer news for this final day of January. It’s going by quick! As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest news. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting Great Divide Brewing for tasting and tapping of two new beers, today from 5 to 7pm: “oin us and Great Divide as we tap two brand new beers. Velvet Yeti: A lower alcohol and nitro version of the classic. Hop Disciples IPA: Rotating Hop Project featuring Idaho 7 hops. We will also be hosting Great Divide in the bottle shop for a Great tasting of a number of other beers from their amazing portfolio.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday at the Barrel House at 6pm is featuring Citrussembly: “A  blend of sour wheat ales aged up to 14 months in neutral oak barrels with a medley of dried citrus peel: grapefruit, orange and lemon. Dry and refreshing, Citrussemby is packed with bright citrus fruit flavors that lean heavily toward grapefruit, but with a less than subtle background of orange and fresh lemon.”

Portland’s Ruse Brewing is holding the bottle release of their 2016 Ruse Kriek tonight at Culmination Brewing from 5 to 9pm: “Ruse Founder Shaun Kalis will be at Culmination Tuesday evening from 5:30 – 6:30 PM and he would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.”

Worthy Brewing (Bend) is hosting a fundraiser benefit for the Boys & Girls Club of Bend today from 4 to 9pm: “Join us on Jan 31 as we donate $1 for every pint sold to Boys & Girls Clubs of Bend! Boys & Girls Clubs of Bend offers programs that are safe, fun, and supportive for children. They offer multiple positive programs for kids and teens after school, during school breaks, and in the summer. Stop by and learn more about what this amazing non-profit does in our community.” You know what to do!

Widmer Brothers Brewing (Portland): They are holding a Hefe Hopfruit launch party at Century today from 3 to 9pm: “Raise a pint with us as we celebrate our newest seasonal release, Hefe Hopfruit! Enjoy happy hour prices on Widmer beers, meet the brewers, and meet Timber Joey.”

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Tuesday are Community Pints days all day long at both the Bend and Portland pubs, where $1 of every pint sold goes to benefit a designated monthly charity. In Bend, the pub is donating the money to Discover Your Forest for the month of January; and in Portland they are benefiting Polar Plunge Special Olympics Oregon. Go drink a pint or three to help these causes today!

The RateBeer Best awards took place this past weekend, and there were a number of Oregon winners! They will be releasing more results over the next few days, but in the meantime congrats to these winners:

• Great Notion Brewing – one of the Best New Brewers in the World
• Best Beer/Brewers (in Oregon) – De Garde Brewing and their The Peach, and Great Notion
• Best Places for Beer (in Oregon) – Cascade Brewing Barrel House, Higgins Restaurant and Bar, Hair of the Dog Brewing, The Bier Stein, Beaumont Market (not familiar with this one), and Belmont Station

The Best of Craft Beer Awards also took place here in Bend over the past weekend, and the winners have been posted. Nice to see a good showing from Oregon, which includes: 10 Barrel Brewing, Alesong Brewing, Baerlic Brewing, Boneyard Beer, Breakside Brewery, Burnside Brewing, Columbia River Brewing, Deschutes Brewery, Falling Sky Brewing, Fearless Brewing, Gigantic Brewing, Golden Valley Brewery, GoodLife Brewing, Hop Valley Brewing, Klamath Basin Brewing, Long Brewing, Mazama Brewing, Migration Brewing, Mt. Tabor Brewing, North Rim Brewing, Oakshire Brewing, Old Town Brewing, Pelican Brewing, PFriem Family Brewers, Shade Tree Brewing, StormBreaker Brewing, Sunriver Brewing, Three Creeks Brewing, Thunder Island Brewing, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Wild Ride Brewing, Worthy Brewing, and Yachats Brewing. Congrats all!