Happy Presidents Day! Enjoy a Porter or even a “small beer” today (for which George Washington wrote down a recipe). Here’s the news to accompany your day off (if you’re lucky enough to have one). As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. If you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend): Their BEER’ducation series continues today with a Saison showdown: Impasse Saison vs. Late Summer Saison. “Our BEER’DUCATION SERIES of beer menu specials are designed to stimulate greater appreciation and understanding of craft beer through the self-guided experience of comparing and contrasting variations in styles and brewing processes.”

Belmont Station (Portland): Their sour/stout Sweet | Tart: A Celebration of the Dark & Sour Sides of Beer event continues this week through the 18th: “For many reasons we won’t go into here, February seems like the perfect month to celebrate both the dark and sweet beers alongside tart and sour ales. So from Feb. 13 through 18, we will be featuring four taps of stouts and other dark beers and another four taps pouring sour ales. Grab a flight of your favorite type or one of each and hunker down against this leap year’s extra day of cold and dark days.” Stop in and get a flight!

Rogue Ales (Newport): They issued a press release last week that their Sriracha Stout is back: “Just in time for Sriracha Week March 7-13, Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout returns to celebrate the world’s most influential spicy red sauce. The only beer officially sanctioned by Huy Fong Foods, creators of the original Sriracha Hot Sauce, Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout is crafted by infusing Sriracha Hot Sauce in a classic stout during the brewing process. With a deep ebony hue, Sriracha Hot Stout features rich notes of caramelized malts that give way to a warm, slow burn on a smooth finish.” No, I haven’t drank this beer…

The 23rd annual McMenamins Hillsdale Brewfest is coming up this Saturday, February 20, at their Hillsdale Brewery & Public House! “For the 23rd year in a row, Hillsdale Brewery & Public House in Southwest Portland will host one of the biggest beer battles of the year for McMenamins brewers. Only one beer will emerge victorious, winning its brewer a coveted championship belt and bragging rights for the year. Tasters are invited to drop by the historic pub (Hillsdale Brewery & Public House was the first brew pub to open in Oregon, paving the way for future generations of Oregon craft brewers) during regular pub hours, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., to grab a sampler tray of a contending beers, sit back and let their taste buds take the reins. Once they’ve had their fill of brews they can cast their ballot for the beer they love the most and help make McMenamins beer history – but good luck picking just one!” I will be posting the full beer list soon.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): Their 4th annual Black Out Beer Fest is coming up this Friday the 19th, a perfect event for stout lovers (especially if you’ve been digging the Fort George Stout Month!). “Get a taste of the dark side at the 4th annual Black Out Beer Fest! Taste nearly 30 dark beers from breweries around the Northwest. The event takes place Friday, Feb. 19 from 4 to 10pm at Lompoc Sidebar (3901 N Williams) and in the adjacent heated/tented parking lot. It’s FREE to hang out and enjoy live music by Train River. To drink, admission packages are $15 and include a souvenir glass tasting mug and 8 beer tickets. Additional beer tickets are available for $1 apiece. It generally costs four tickets for a full mug or $1 for a taste. Mugs and tickets are puchased at the door. This event is 21+.”

And speaking of Astoria’s Fort George Brewery, their Stout Month releases continue today with two new stouts on tap: Tuesday’s Lunch, a Peanut Butter and Blackberry Imperial Stout, and Almond Milk Stout, Vegan Milk Stout.

This Saturday is the Green Dragon‘s 9th annual Firkin Fest! “Rogue Ales will host the 9th Annual Firkin Fest at the PDX Green Dragon in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, February 20th, 2016. The event will feature firkin beers from 30 of Oregon’s top breweries – Firkin beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated in the cask and served at cellar temperature. General admission session: 11am-6pm ($10) (General admission includes entrace to the fest, souvenir tasting glass, and 5 taster tickets). VIF session: 2pm-4pm ($25) (Very Impressive Firkin session includes general admission and access to 3 special Firkin tastings in the Green Dragon Barrel Room. VIF tickets are limited to 50 people). Additional taster tickets will be available for $1 each.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Two bits of news coming down the pike today:

• First up, distribution in the UK; from the press release: “Cascade Brewing has announced a partnership with James Clay to distribute its bottled Northwest sour ales throughout the United Kingdom. The agreement brings Cascade ales to the UK for the first time; the first batch of Strawberry, Blackcap Raspberry, Sang Noir and Cranberry starting hitting retailers at the end of January. James Clay is an independent importer and distributor of specialist beers and beverages from Europe, the United States and worldwide, along with quality UK craft beer brands. Cascade joins the distributor’s already strong lineup of American craft beers including Anchor, Brooklyn, Flying Dog, Left Hand and Victory.” Very cool!
• And, their annual Sour Fruit Fest is coming up next week, running from February 24 through 28: “Join us for our annual Sour Fruit Fest on February 24 through February 28 (Noon to close daily) where we’ll be pouring more than 50 of our own Sour Fruit Beers. There will be four guaranteed beers per day, and another four being shuffled. We’ll have a Savory/Sweet pairing menu available, as well as vintage bottles for sale.” Nice-looking tap lists lined up so far too.

PFriem Family Brewers (Hood River) is representing in Portland this week, as part of one of the Lardo pop-up pubs, taking over the taps at the southeast Lardo Sandwiches. From Brewpublic: “Lardo is at it once again with its Pop-Up Pub Series. For Lardo’s latest series, pFriem Family Brewers will be holding up shop at Lardo’s Southeast location and by Sixpoint Brewery at its Westside location from Saturday, February 13 to Saturday, February 20. As with other Pop-Up Pub Series that Lardo has hosted expect to see both the Southeast Hawthorne and Southwest Washington Lardo locations rebranded as each of the breweries home away from home. Lardo Southeast will feature pFriem Family Brewers taking over 13 taps and Sixpoint Brewery out of Brooklyn, New York taking over 9 taps at the Lardo West location.” And yes, Sixpoint will be at the other location!