Happy Mardi Gras! It’s Fat Tuesday so grab your beads and celebrate with beer, of course! Untappd even has a badge. Here’s the news in Oregon beer to go along with the shenanigans. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest news. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Belmont Station (Portland) has a bottle tasting with San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing today from 5 to 7pm: “Come try the new brews that Ballast Point’s released: Pineapple Sculpin, Watermelon Dorado, Mango Even Keel and Ginger Big Eye. Sounds like a fruit salad, but it’s even better! And in the taproom: a truly one-off firkin of Sculpin IPA with blackcurrant, Three Sheets Barleywine and Peppermint Victory at Sea Imperial Porter.”

McMenamins on Monroe (Corvallis) has their monthly Meet Your Maker tasting taking place today from 4 to 7pm, featuring Penny’s Golden: “Presenting a crisp Golden Ale with a slight English twist! An Oak Spiral has been mingling with Penny’s Golden for one and a half fortnights, leaving a very refreshing beer with a unique spice and juniper fueled dryness. Cascade Hops provide flavor and aroma, while the Gin and oak infusion gives you a ” zip, tang, pow!” (highly technical brewing terms) of botanical goodness. This combination of ingredients was inspired by my home brewing partner’s favorite drink, the Gin and Tonic.” Brewer Gary Nance will be on hand to talk about the beer and answer questions.

Fat Head’s Brewery (Portland) is celebrating Fat Tuesday (naturally) all day today: “Come Celebrate Fat Tuesday with us. Free T shirt to the first 50 or so people that come down and hang out with us! We are planning on some off menu food specials and we will hook everyone up with some sweet Mardi Gras Beads!” They also have a relatively new IPA on tap you might want to check out.

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday at their Barrel House at 6pm “features a collaboration with our friends at The Tao of Tea. We infused a barrel of sour Strong Blond ale with a unique blend of dried rose hips, rose petals and hibiscus tea crafted for us by Tao of Tea founder Veerinder Chawla, pictured here. Enjoy flavors of roses, cranberries, watermelon and hibiscus tea!”

The Platypus Pub (Bend) is hosting Eugene’s Ninkasi Brewing for a tasting today from 5 to 7pm: “Ryan Deiro from Ninkasi will be here Tuesday to sample a few of their beers. We will have Hop Cooler on tap and for samples.”

BTU Brasserie (Portland) is celebrating four days of Chinese New Year, starting today: “Come celebrate the year of the monkey at BTU Brasserie. Food specials all week and the release of are celebratory Beer of the Monkey, a golden tripel with chrysanthemum. We will also be releasing Wang Chi a collaborative beer with Breakside brewery.”

Standing Stone Brewing (Ashland): Their Pints for a Purpose night tonight is benefiting Rogue Valley Farm to School: “Help support Rogue Valley Farm to School by drinking beer! Come down to our brewery Tuesday, February 9th from 5-10 pm and meet the wonderful people who are working to educate children about our food system through hands-on farm and garden programs, and by increasing local foods in school meals. Standing Stone Brewing Company will be donating $2 from every pint of craft beer sold during the evening.” (From Facebook event page.)

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Their Community Pints Night is running all day today: “Each Tuesday in the month of February, we donate $1 of every PINT sold to Healthy Beginnings (Central Oregon)! Come all, be merry, & enjoy a pint…..or maybe two! Hooray for Tuesday & Community Pints Night!”

Burnside Brewing (Portland) is holding a Mardi Gras celebration with a pop-up Cajun restaurant today: “Come one, come all for a Mardi Gras celebration and pop up cajuin restaurant at Burnside Brewing! We’ll be celebrating Fat Tuesday all day with a special menu complete with beer pairings.” The menu can be found here.

Plank Town Brewing (Springfield): They have a pint night fundraiser tonight as well: “Join us for an evening of food, fun, and microbrews, in support of Mount Pisgah Arboretum. Enjoy great beer and food and 10% of all sales will be donated to support the Arboretum’s nature education, native habitat restoration, and trail maintenance projects.” It takes place from 5 to 9pm.

Breakside Brewery (Portland): This Saturday, during Zwickelmania, Breakside is releasing two new barrel-aged bottled beers: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout and Fitzcarraldo. From the press release: “The first ever release of a special Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout that will go on sale on Friday and then trickle out to limited distribution. 22oz bottles will be on sale at both Breakside locations for $13 each with a 6 bottle per person limit beginning at 11am. Fitzcarraldo is a special barrel-aged blend that Breakside’s Head Brewer says “Frankly, it tastes amazing. Easily one of the most robust and complex barrel-aged beers we’ve ever done.” Fitzcarraldo will only be sold in-house at the two Breakside Brewery locations with very limited draft sold outside for special events. This beer will also debut on draft and in bottles for $13 each this Zwickelmania day, Saturday, February 13th.” That Fitzcarraldo is a blend of a Belgian strong dark and a stout, both separately bourbon barrel aged, along with a “dash” of Toro Red, their smoky amber ale.

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene): They have a new (Single Batch presumably) release tonight: “Tonight’s TUESDAY NIGHT BEER RELEASE is (coco) NUTS!!! Coconut Stout starts with our Oatmeal Stout and gets a pleasant hit of rich coconut. (Coconut chalice not included.)”