Happy Friday! Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Friday the 22nd of February and the rest of this final weekend of the month. 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.

A number of big events are going on this weekend, starting with Portland’s Lompoc Brewing‘s Black Out Beer Fest kicking off at 4pm today: “The Black Out Beer Fest will feature a dozen dark beers from us and special guest breweries, including Breakside, Columbia River, Green Dragon & Widmer. Live music will be provided by Marty Marquis, a local musician best known for his work as a multi-instrumentalist and hype man with Portland band Blitzen Trapper… Marquis will play from 7 to 9:30pm in the tented parking lot.” This is taking place at their Fifth Quadrant and Sidebar locations, and here are the cost details: “Beer is served in mugs (no charge) and you pay tickets for the beer. Tickets are $1 apiece. One ticket gets you a taste, four tickets gets you a full mug except for barrel aged beers, which cost six tickets. Get your mug and tickets at Sidebar when you arrive.”

This of course leads into tomorrow’s 7th Annual Chowder Challenge from Lompoc which takes place tomorrow (Saturday the 23rd) from noon to 4pm at the Fifth Quadrant: “A dozen samples of traditional New England-style clam chowders from local participants are served in non-labeled, two-ounce cups. After tasting all entries, attendees vote for their favorite, and the chowder receiving the most votes is named the People’s Choice Winner. Attendees ages 12 and over purchase sample trays for $10 to participate in the tasting. All of the money raised is donated to Portland’s Community Transitional School, which provides important educational services to homeless children.” And there is a beer garden, live music, fun and games, raffles and more of course. It’s going to be a great Lompoc weekend!

McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House (Portland) is hosting the oldest of McMenamins’ brewfests tomorrow (Saturday), the 20th Annual Hillsdale Brewfest—this is the annual event that selects which McMenamins beer will represent them 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.” The Brewfest starts at 10am and runs all day, and has a great beer list you should check out.

And another big event—Roscoe’s (Portland) is holding their 3rd Annual Stout Summit this weekend, kicking off today at 3pm and running through the weekend: “Roscoe’s is presenting a phenomenal collection of stouts for the Roscoe’s Third Annual Stout Summit. The event kick off will take place at 3:00pm on Friday, February 22nd and we will have great stouts on all weekend. We will bring you no fewer that 14 stouts on tap at all times!  We will have taster trays available and there will be brewers and brewery reps in attendance to answer questions about the beers. You won’t want to miss it!” Among other notable stouts that jump out is Oakshire‘s Hellshire III which sure to be much sought after.

Belmont Station (Portland) tomorrow is hosting one of Eugene’s newest (and under-the-radar) breweries, Agrarian Ales, with a special meet the brewers and founders from 4 to 8pm: “We are stoked to introduce Agrarian Ales for thier Portland debut. This Eugene area brewery is new to the scene, but the people that comprise it are not. Ben Tilley and Tobias Schock, who formerly brewed with Hop Valley, will be in the here sharing their unique beers. Most of us are only familiar with large craft breweries that brew “estate” beers, meaning that the ingredients are harvested on their land and brewed there. Agrarian Ales breaks this notion down. They are a small brewery that has prioritized quality of ingredients, environmentally concious practices, and historic styles of beer. A true artisan brewery, rooted in Belgian and French farmhouse styles, they planted 10 varieties of Pacific Northwest hops on their family farm. They transformed their 1940’s era dairy barn into a modern, artisanal brewery. With an abundance of well water, they incorporate certified organic grains, use estate hops and herbs that are hand-picked on the farm and pitch yeast from around the world. This is an event that you do not want to miss, as their beers will not be very available here in Portland.”

16 Tons (Eugene) is hosting one of Eugene’s other new breweries, Claim 52 Brewing, today for a meet the brewer and tap takeover event from 5 to 8pm. They’ll have “8 or more” beers on tap, with quite a lineup listed on the event page already. Be sure to swing by if you’re in Eugene tonight!

Oakshire Brewing (Eugene) is going to be canning! They posted the news on Facebook this afternoon: “The rumor is true. Our Watershed IPA will be available soon in 12oz cans! Our new canning line from Wild Goose Canning in Boulder, CO was installed this week and the cans will be available starting next Friday 3/1 in our tasting room! {We’ll distribute these bad boys throughout Oregon, Washington, N.Idaho & Alaska – look for them towards the end of March}”  And next Saturday, March 2, the Bier Stein will be hosting a can release party from 6 to 8pm. This will be a beer to watch for when it hits the shelves!