Here’s the news in beer (and cider) from around Oregon for this February 25. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the afternoon with additional news as I find it, so if you have any news or info to share feel free to send it my way.

Portland Cider raises $12,500 for Hunger-Free Oregon

Portland Cider Company raised $12,500 with the sales of its Community Cider to donate to Hunger-Free Schools, the company announced this week. This particular cider is part of a terrific community effort to collect and donate apples to the cidery each year for this purpose. Detail from the press release:

Portland Cider Co. has made a donation of $12,500 to Hunger-Free Schools, an initiative of Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon that is committed to actively working to end hunger by connecting people to food and nutrition programs, raising awareness about hunger, and advocating for systemic changes. The money was raised through sales of Portland Cider Co.’s 5th annual PDX Community Cider, which was made from donated edible quality apples, fruits and berries from neighborhoods in the Portland metropolitan area.

Portland Cider Co. collected over 1,000 bushels—or 40,000 pounds—of fallen fruit between July and September of 2020. The company canned the 2020 blend for the first time, making it available in 12-ounce six-packs and 19.2-ounce single cans. Portland Cider pledged 10% of the gross proceeds of the cider’s sales—in both package formats and draft in the pubs—to Hunger-Free Schools. Additionally, Portland Cider Co. donated $2 from every case of all Portland Cider Co. six-packs sold in October.

The PDX Community Cider program is an annual fruit drive that takes place every July through September when the fruit is ripe. Learn more at PortlandCider.com/HungerFreeKids and make a plan to donate fallen fruit for the project this summer.

If you have access to apples that would otherwise go to waste, consider donating them to Portland Cider this year.

Pono Brewing partners with others to open a new bar next week

Portland’s Pono Brewing, a small, Pacific Island-themed brewery that shares brewing space in the back of Zoiglhaus Brewing, is partnering with Magna and Mixtress Natasha Mesa on a new bar, Bit House Collective. It opens next week, on March 3, in the former Bit House Saloon space at 727 SE Grand Avenue. Details:

Featured Pono Brewing beers on tap at Bit House Collective to start:

• El Garrote IPA – Pono’s flagship IPA
• Mango to Moon Hazy IPA — Dry hopped with Idaho 7 and oh yes, mango
• All Mai Love Berry Stout – Packed with Oregon grown raspberries and blackberries
• Po No You Didn’t Gin Farmhouse – A collaboration using the same botanicals as Aria Gin
• D’Visionary Pinot Porter – Made with Pinot Noir skins from Division Wines

Natasha Mesa, Mixtress behind the bar of Bit House Collective, and her passionate bar team aim to create a self-described ‘Michelin Star Dive Bar.’ Natasha is also very committed to helping up and coming female bartenders achieve their goals and join the ranks behind the bar.

Chefs Carlo Lamagna, Dante Fernandez and Roberto Almodovar will run Bit House Collective’s food program as Magna Kantina, a playful offshoot of their popular Magna Kusina restaurant with dishes designed to complement the adventurous beverage program.

The menu features bar-friendly Filipino favorites like Lumpia, Sisig, Longipan, and Sinigang Shrimp Chips, as well as inventive new dishes inspired by a range of Pacific island flavors, like Crab Fat Gravy Waffle Fries and an Isla Hamburgesa with crispy cheese, fermented habanero and roasted pineapple bbq glaze, and atcharra (filipino style pickles).

Ecliptic and Wayfinder virtual beer release party

Today starting at 5:30pm, Ecliptic Brewing and Wayfinder Beer are hosting a virtual beer release party to celebrate the release of their Cold IPA collaboration.

Join Ecliptic Brewing’s John Harris and Wayfinder Beer’s Charlie Devereux & Kevin Davey LIVE for a fun chat about this Cosmic Collaboration. Get exclusive insight on the Cold IPA style and ask the Brewmasters any of your burning beer questions! Ecliptic Brewing will also lead through a tasting of their latest Vega IPA #10 release during the call.

It’s a public event so anyone can join the Zoom call and listen in.

New beers list

The latest roundup of new and returning beers.

• Hammer & Stitch Brewing (Portland): Hammer On: “New draft only brew dropping today! Hammer On, is an English Mild Ale brewed in collaboration with @brothers_cascadia. At 3.6% abv, this tasty classic goes does extremely smooth! Be sure to check out the other Collabruary releases.”
• Claim 52 Brewing (Eugene): Stuffed: Lemon Meringue Pie: “6.5%. Brewed with marshmallows and milk sugar. Conditioned on graham cracker crumbs, lemon puree, and vanilla. $20/4-pack, Limit 4 4-packs per person. This Friday 2/26, Stuffed will be sold via the online ordering system for The Kitchen – Toast Tab.”
• Great Notion Brewing (Portland): Peanut Brother: “Smile on your brother and share a glass of your favorite imperial stout. Packed with peanut butter and rich chocolate, Peanut Brother is one beer you’ll love to pieces. Fill your cup with this thick and creamy goodness when it drops on the app at 9 am on Friday for pickup orders at all locations (pickup begins at noon), local PDX delivery, and shipping. (9% abv) $22/4pack”
• Zoiglhaus Brewing (Portland) has a new Belgian Tripel on tap, though no other details on the beer.
• Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): New West Coast IPA: “Presenting Our New Pub Club IPA Series: This West Coast IPA has notes of wheat bread, toasted cracker and pie crust with apricot jam, tangerine peels and orange marmalade aromatics. Well balanced and heavily hopped.”
• Public Coast Brewing (Cannon Beach): Hazy Grapefruit Mosaic IPA, via Brewpublic: “Hazy Grapefruit Mosaic IPA is a slightly different Hazy IPA as it also combines 160 lbs. of grapefruit puree to make for a wining addition to this pleasant IPA that sits at 5.8% ABV​. But it’s not just Mosaic in the hop bill as Public Coast also uses Mandarina and Belma Hops for a clean hop-forward taste. Overall, this is one of the more enjoyable Hazy IPAs as it brings forth plenty of tropical fruit aromas and flavors that’s well-balanced with just the right amount of mouthfeel.”
• Occidental Brewing (Portland): Dampfbier off the brewery’s new canning line, via The New School: “The strangely named beer is a historical Bavarian style of beer that closest resembles the more modern Steam Beer or California Common only with a much more German twist to the flavors. Occidental Dampfbier is brewed with all German Pilsner malt as the base for a very light blonde body. It’s fermented with the brewery’s hose Weizen yeast at warmer than usual temperatures to throw off lots of bubble gum and clove notes in a crisp light ale.”
• Beachcrest Brewing (Gleneden Beach): Mayan Mole Stout returns: “The spiced chile stout is
  inspired by the cinnamon-and-chile-kissed hot cocoa of the Yucatan, or the famous chocolate-infused rich in complex sauces of ancient Central American origins, the Mayan Mole (pronounced Mo-lay) is a Beachcrest favorite. Ancho, Guajillo, and Habañero chiles add flavor and just a touch of heat and cacao nibs and cinnamon sticks round out the flavors of this undeniably delicious brew.”