Happy Groundhog Day! Here’s the Oregon beer news for Monday, February 2nd. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

February is Stout Month at Fort George Brewery is Astoria! “The days turn darker, the mighty Columbia grows rough and treacherous, and the Fort George taplist fades to black. Stout Month is approaching. February at Fort George Brewery is a yearly celebration of everything dark and delicious. With weekly small-batch stout releases, a stout brewer’s dinner, and the greatest stout festival in the world, Fort George Brewery in Astoria is the place to be for dark beer lovers. The taplists will overflow with dark beer, as Fort George taps new specialty stouts each week.” Stout Month culminates in Fort George’s annual Festival of Dark Arts on February 14 this year, which should be on every beer lover’s bucket list: the ultimate stout festival, and so much more. Tickets are $30 and still available!

February 14 (Saturday) is also the date of this year’s Zwickelmania—the “annual one-day event in Oregon when breweries open their doors to the casual and hardcore beer fans” where you get to sample beers right off the tanks (pulled through the “zwickel” or valve in the side of the tank). This is a great, fun fest with plenty of options and breweries to visit. I’ll have a more detailed writeup soon, but for giggles you might also like my Zwickelmania Bingo card generator—and play along on the 14th!

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting a tasting today from 5 to 7pm with Colorado’s Trinity Brewing: “Colorado’s Trinity Brewing will be in the bottle shop for a tasting of a selection of their amazing bottled beers, including their new releases such as Chocolate River and Chili Water. If you have never tried Trinity before, you are in for a treat; and if you have, you know you will want to be there! We also will be pouring in the biercafe the very popular Office-Space-themed TPS Report, a wild-Brett wit with rose petals. It’s a two-time winner at the GABF!”

Broken Top Bottle Shop (Bend) is celebrating their 3rd anniversary this week, kicking off Wednesday the 4th and running for five days. They’ll be featuring free live music each night from 7 to 9pm, and I’m quite sure food and beer specials as well—on Thursday the 5th, for instance, they will host Sisters’ Three Creeks Brewing for a tasting and release party for Three Creeks’ new TenPine Chocolate Porter. Broken Top Bottle Shop opened back in 2012, taking over the space formerly occupied by The Abbey Pub, and set out to provide a community “brew hub” offering a great taplist and bottle selection along with a terrific menu with many vegetarian and vegan choices. Be sure to stop in sometime this week to celebrate their 3rd anniversary with them!

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): This Friday is the release of the 2015 edition of their Super Jubel (a Reserve Series beer), their ordinarily-once-a-decade barrel-aged double-strength Jubelale—but today at the Bend Pub, you can get a sneak peek! “Don’t forget it’s locals night and also our sneak peak of Jubel 2015! Get down here, try a sample of this smooth “super Jubel” and get ready for our celebration this Friday!”

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River): They’ve added a new beer to to their rotating Pub Series: Double Bock. From the press release: “‘Our Double Bock helps fuel the stories of deep powder and epic yard sales. It’s lush and full-bodied with hints of caramel, coffee and chocolate in the aroma followed by flavors of caramel and dried figs with a long creamy smooth finish. Brewed with 2 row Pale, Munich, Caramel, and Chocolate Malts and hopped with Santiam and Perle hops,” said Jamie Emmerson, Full Sail’s Executive Brewmaster. This gold medal winner will be available in six packs on draft. ABV 7.0% IBU 34.”

Breakside Brewery (Portland): They have two very limited-edition beers being made available in bottles: Safe Word Triple IPA and Bellwether, a Sour Double Wit Aged In Gin Barrels with Kaffir Lime Leaf (that’s a mouthful!). The Bellwether is available now, and the Safe Word will be released on Zwickelmania available only at the Brewery’s two public locations. New School has the full release: “For this special occasion Breakside Brewery has bottled up 40 cases of Safe Word Triple IPA, each bottle hand spray painted and tagged by Breakside’s own Jack Johnson. Safe Word Triple IPA bottles will only be available at the brewery only and we expect them to sell out that day. A 22oz bottle will be on sale for $15 each and a limit of 3 bottles per person… Bellwether is now available in limited edition 22oz bottles at the brewery and fine bottleshops. 8.4% ABV 25 IBU.”