I hope everyone had a good weekend and President’s Day; I had the day off and took a day from the beer news as well. But we’re back into the swing of things with Oregon’s beer news for Tuesday, the 19th of February! As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River) is holding the Portland release of their latest Brewers Share Experimental beer, Mathias’s Main Ingredient Oatmeal Stout, today from 5 to 6:30pm at their Riverplace location: “Main Ingredient pours with a thick creamy head and the color of dark chocolate. The oatmeal in this stout provides a full body on which to support the darker roast and caramel flavors. The beer has a smoothly rich, complex palate with notes of chocolate, toffee, and espresso. Northern Brewer hops provide a slightly spicy back note in this ale. 5.58% ABV 51 IBU.” Main Ingredient was crafted by Chef Mathias Engblom, who also chose VFW Post 4273 of Sandy, Oregon as the charity to receive a portion of the proceeds from this beer (as Full Sail does with all the Brewers Share series).

Breakside Brewery (Portland): Tonight Breakside is celebrating the release of their Barbershop Quartet Double IPA at the N.W.I.P.A. bottle shop is southeast Portland. Barbershop is “a strong IPA modeled after the dank and resinous ales of California” and 8.9% abv; and from 6 to 9pm tonight you can try some, along with a selection of other Breakside beers: “NWIPA specializes in offering the tastiest hoppy beers around and serves delicious sandwiches and snacks: thus it is the perfect place to celebrate a beer such as Barberhop Quartet! In addition to Barberhop Quartet, this event will feature a number of Breakside beers, including Breakside IPA, Dry Stout, Aztec Ale, Woodlawn Pale Ale and Pilsner.”

Belmont Station (Portland): Today they have an interesting-sounded tasting event from 6 to 8pm, an Artisanal German Beer Tasting, featuring beers from German breweries you might never have heard of. “Join Mark Gerlach of Uplifter Spirits as he offers up samples of his exquisite German beers. Uplifter Sprits specializes in importing ales and lagers from only the finet small, traditional Bavarian breweries. Stop in and taste a wide range of beers from Hopf, Reutberger, and Schonramer while Mark regales you with tales of his travels to Germany and the life of a professional tennis player!”

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour picks (wherein growler fills for the selected beers are only $6 from 4 to 6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday) are: Hound’s Tooth Amber and the new Backcountry Bock.

Fort George Brewery (Astoria) is teaming up with north Portland’s Kenton Station restaurant to put on a Working Man’s Brewers Dinner tonight starting at 5pm (or 6 if you look at Ft. George’s event page): “3 beers, 3 pairings: Roscoe IPA with crispy chicken wings; Rye Whiskey Barrel Cavatica Stout with mustard and herb roasted pork and chateau potatoes with fresh veggies; Coffee Girl Stout and sweet potato gnocchi with butternut cream and hazelnut crust. $20 at the door the day of the event.” $20 is a great deal especially with no reservations, and it’s a good opportunity to try some of their new(er) stouts.

This Saturday, the 23rd, is McMenamins’ 20th annual Hillsdale Brewfest taking place at Portland’s Hillsdale Brewery & Public House: it’s the oldest of McMenamins’ Brewfests, and this is the one that (based on votes) decides what beer will represent McMenamins at the Oregon Brewers Festival in July. “Twenty-two of the finest ales from McMenamins’ breweries are sent into battle, their brewers vying for bragging rights, the notorious championship belt and a berth in the annual Oregon Brewers Festival held in downtown Portland in July. Patrons order “trays” of beer samples, arranged from lightest to darkest. It is our guests’ official duty to decide who deserves the coveted title. The beers cover the spectrum of brew styles — from hefeweizen to oatmeal stout, barleywine to smoked amber ale and beyond. Each taster casts one ballot that lists his or her top three choices.” There’s a great list of beers to try, and it starts at 10am and runs all day. Don’t miss out!

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday event at the Barrel House at 6pm is featuring “Live” Bourbonic Plague 2011: “This NW style sour ale is a spiced double porter that was aged 24 months in Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels with Bahri dates, Bourbon vanilla beans and Thai cinnamon. 12% ABV, $8 glass (8 oz pour) or $3 taster.”

And also tonight, Cascade’s brewers will be at the Green Dragon in Portland for a special event: “Tonight, the entire brew staff will be at PDX Green Dragon to support Cascade Brewer Jon Berry; his Oblique Coffee Blond was named to Willamette Week’s list of Top 10 beers and tonight is the celebration. #1 beer revealed at 7pm; keep your fingers crossed, and better yet, join us for the party!” I remember reading something about this previously from Cascade, but I can’t easily find anything online about a Willamette Week party tonight. Your mileage may vary! Otherwise, check out the Green Dragon at 7pm. Ah, here’s the real update: “Turns out we won’t be at Green Dragon tonight, the Willamette Week party is March 19. Come support us next month!”

Pfriem Family Brewers (Hood River): They have a new beer hitting their taps tomorrow: “Mosaic Single Hop Pale, pungent w/ hints of mango & blueberry 6.3% 45 IBU’s. Paired up w/ Chef Tommy’s *free* emmentaler cheese crostinis w/ pickled apple salad on Wed, Feb 20th starts @5:30pm!” I like the “less is more” approach of single hop beers, and the food pairing sounds great.