It’s been a long week, but we’ve finally slid into Friday, and I for one am ready for the weekend. Here’s the roundup of Oregon beer news to help smooth that transition; as usual, I’ll continue to update this post with new news as I find it throughout the afternoon. TGIF!

Zwickelmania takes over the rest of Oregon on Saturday

The second part of Zwickelmania takes place Saturday, February 20, putting the “wide” in “statewide” as the rest of Oregon outside of Portland celebrates the 13th annual event. Oregon’s statewide brewery open house is virtual this year, and there’s an online schedule of events you can sign up for here.

Seeing as we aren’t able to see you in-person this year, we’ve gathered some of Oregon’s finest brewers (virtually of course!) for an afternoon of panel discussions and beer tastings. You’ll be able to join us for FREE via our zoom platform or watch it via our Facebook page.

The schedule for online panels and tastings features brewers from Cascade Lakes, Pelican, Yachats, Wild Ride, Heater Allen, and more. Don’t miss it!

And after Zwickelmania, drink virtually with The Suttle Lodge on Saturday

Also Saturday, the 2nd annual Winter Beer Fest with The Suttle Lodge returns, also virtually, taking place from 5 to 9pm.

Bringing together local Oregon breweries, and keeping the spirit of outdoor Bavarian winter markets alive in the Deschutes National Forest • this year’s festival is VIRTUAL and benefits the Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon, with sponsorship by our friends at MiiR.

This year we’ll have over 30 participating breweries from the Pacific Northwest. THE GOAL: Raise $50,000 to support Oregon restaurant relief, by selling 1,000 tickets to our virtual event.

Tickets are still available for purchase here, so you’d better get on it.

Upright Brewing is expanding

Portland’s Upright Brewing is featured in a recent article in The Oregonian, which highlights the brewery’s expansion plans as well as other changes in the works.

Upright will close its current taproom and open a cafe and taproom on the first floor of its current Leftbank Building, 240 N. Broadway, taking over the space previously occupied by the Sting Ray Café, which gave up its lease. The ground-floor space will be a partnership with Sellwood’s The Portland Bottle Shop, which will oversee food and coffee service.

And Upright will open a second taproom in a vacant former Northeast Portland gas station. Ganum said the satellite bar, at 7151 N.E. Prescott St., would be “a neighborhood spot. Really low key and modest, with a TV for Blazer games, a couple food carts onsite” and possibly operating as a coffeehouse during the day.

The full article is a good read, and as Upright itself notes, the dates are all still TBD (particularly with the pandemic, I imagine).

More new beers list

Keeping up with the Joneses, as it were, on new beers from around the state…

• Baerlic Brewing (Portland): Hop Man Double IPA: “PRESALE IS LIVE! HOP MAN (Blue) Double IPA – 8% ABV. Our second installment in our Hop Man series is chock full of passionfruit, fresh grapefruit and dank with a backbone of lime and citrus zest with a subtly bitter, yet clean finish. Brewed with Oregon-grown Centennial, Strata and Comet hops.”
• Claim 52 Brewing (Eugene) just keeps rolling out beers all day long, with Private Eyes Hazy IPA: “Private Eyes Hazy IPA 6.8%. Brewed with malted oats, flaked oats, and raw wheat. Hopped with Cryo Citra and Citra. $18.50/4-pack, No Limit. This Friday 2/19, Private Eyes will be sold via the online ordering system for The Kitchen – Toast Tab.”
• ColdFire Brewing (Eugene): Foxtail NW DIPA: “ColdFire’s West Coast IIPA, inspired by some of the greats–you know who we’re talking about. This recipe is true to our unique style here at ColdFire. Classic C hops play well with our yeast, highlighting the familiar flavors of citrus and pine, which we then softened with Vienna and Munich malts. Centennial, Simcoe cryo, citra, and galaxy hops combined boast notes of grapefruit pith, citrus, berry, dandelion greens, pine, and a pleasant, lingering bitterness.”
• State of Excitement West Coast IPA is available all over at various taprooms—check your local brewery for it!
• Coin Toss Brewing (Oregon City): Cherry Cream Ale is back on tap; “This light and fruity beer is a blend of Coasters Cream Ale & tart cherries!”
• Ruse Brewing (Portland): Brand new cans of Harmonic Conversation IPA out today: “Canned just moments ago…Bags on bags of flaked wheat blend with harmonious doses of Vic Secret, Galaxy and Strata. Embrace unforgettable notes of dank passion fruit punch and gooey peach pulp in every GULP. 7.1% ABV. Today at 3pm.”
• Culmination Brewing (Portland): Czech the Rhime lager: “Czech the Rhime is our newest canned offering. This 5% ABV Czech Pilsner is exactly what you expect from a crushable lager. 100% Pilsner malt. 100% Saaz hops. What else needs to be said about this classic?”
• Crux Fermentation Project (Bend): Lost Love: “Lost Love has returned for an encore performance! Now available on tap and in the bottle at our tasting room, a limited amount of this 14.5% ABV barrel-aged imperial rye stout will be heading out to the market next week for those of you not able to visit us here in Bend.”

Block 15 has some Tough Sledding for its Saturday drive-thru sale

Corvallis’ Block 15 Brewing has its drive-thru beer release sale on Saturday at its south Corvallis tap room, and the featured beer is Tough Sledding IPA, a collaboration with Ruse Brewing.

Teaming up with our friends at Ruse Brewing, we harnessed a hop collective of Sultana oil, Citra, NZ Pacific Sunrise, and NZ Cascade to produce this hop forward hazy IPA that bursts with tropical and citrus notes.

7.3% ABV
$4.50, plus deposit / 16oz can

There are plenty of other packaged beers available as well, as you can place an order here.