Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Thursday, February 20. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

Belmont Station (Portland): Today from 5 to 8pm they are hosting an Anthem/Wandering Aengus cider tasting: “Rep. Brett Konopasek will be on hand to provide tastes of several of both Anthem and Wandering Aengus ciders, including Anthem’s Hops, Pear, Cherry, Cider, Bourbon-aged, Pinot-aged, Wandering Aengus Bloom and Wanderlust.”

McMenamins Kennedy School (Portland): Today they have a special wood-aged beer release kicking off at 5pm, featuring Black Sea Russian Imperial Stout: “Black as the darkest night, this stout is rich and chewy and full of flavor. An impressive hop bill gives the beer a noticeable hop presence and also works to balance out the sweetness from 580 pounds of malt. Molasses blends with the dark malts to give depth of flavor and add notes of dark fruits and roasty flavors. Na zdorovje!” It’s 9.42% abv and there are some special food pairings to go along with it.

McMenamins White Eagle Saloon (Portland) has more of that Edgefield Extra 2013 pouring today at their special beer release starting at 5pm. “The Extra’s roots go back nearly to the very beginning of the brewery’s founding in 1991. In its original form, the Extra was a 7%-8% ABV strong ale that was famous for wreaking havoc at the 1992 company picnic and in taphouses around McMenamins. It’s been more than twenty years since that fateful day, but now it has returned as Edgefield’s barleywine and strongest offering at nearly 9.5%.”