Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Thursday, February 23rd. I’ll be periodically updating this throughout the day, so if you have some news to share please contact me and I’ll get it posted.

The 3rd annual Nano Beer Fest is this weekend in the  Portland area—at Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub in Tigard to be exact. From 24th through 26th (Friday through Sunday) you’ll be able to sample a bunch of “big” beers from a number of small Oregon breweries, including Astoria Brewing, The Commons, Bend Brewing, Vertigo Brewing, Heater Allen, and more. There will be live music all three days, and the hours are 11 to 11 Friday and Saturday and 11 to 6 on Sunday. As for cost, a commemorative glass is $5 and a 4-ounce taster is $1.50 (which is a pretty good deal considering the strength of some of these beers!). Should be fun time!

Fort George Brewery (Astoria): Today is the release party for the release of Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale in cans, at the Liberty Glass in Portland (938 N. Cook) starting at 7pm. “Come hang out at PDX’s longest running Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale tap, the Liberty Glass for a Can Release Party!  Fort George will be hanging out with their go-to OPA cans in hand to celebrate the release of this beer in 16oz pounders just in time for Spring.  Local Astorian Folk mastermind, Michael Hurley, will be hanging out playing music and there will be Fort George specials all night.  If you’ve never been to Liberty Glass, it’s the awesome pink house on the corner of Mississippi, just off of Interstate.”

BeerNews.org has an interesting post up titled, “5 Things to Watch” in Oregon craft beer. Included on the list are the (slight) sales decline of Craft Brewers Alliance/Widmer, the “flat” in-state growth of Deschutes (though they’ve been growing significantly in other states), the rise of Ninkasi and Boneyard, and the surprising growth of the Weinhard brand (which is contract brewed by Full Sail).

Standing Stone Brewing (Ashland): We don’t often see Standing Stone beers outside of Ashland (or at least here in Bend we don’t!) but they’ve posted a calendar of some of their spring and summer events which should help track them down. (It’s been a few years since I’ve last been, but they brew solid beers.)

The Brew Shop (Bend) tonight has a tasting featuring Ninkasi and Stone Brewing from 6 to 8pm, and their “More Brown Than Black IPA” collaboration beer (brewed with Vermont’s The Alchemist). The reps will be on hand pouring beer and it should be a good event.

The Green Dragon (Portland): They are holding a Meet the Brewer tonight with Double Mountain Brewery starting at 5pm with 5 “surprise” beers on hand; Charlie Devereux of Double Mountain posted ‘”Five beers on tap, including GOLIATHON (strong dark belgian ale, 11%abv) and PÊCHE MODE (belgian-style sour with fruit from Matt’s orchard). Brewer Kyle Larsen will be hosting from 6-8pm.”