Welcome to the start of a new week! Here’s the news in Oregon beer for the first Monday in March. 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 contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Let’s start out this Monday with some news from last week that I didn’t get to: Beaverton’s Uptown Market, a specialty beer and homebrew store, is planning to become a brewery as well! They need help with funding so they’ve launched an indigogo campaign (like Kickstarter) to raise the capital. “Uptown Market, a specialty beer store just outside of SW Portland in Beaverton, is pleased to announce as an extension of our existing business we will be launching the first brewery in Beaverton projected for completion July 2013! It gets even better! In addition to supporting the brewery and receiving some great incentives, during the first year of operation we will donate 50% of the brewery profits to charity! The organizations we will benefit are Children’s Cancer Association (CCA), Dress For Success, Beaverton Police Activities League, Vets to Brokers, and I Have a Dream Foundation.”  The goal is to raise $24,500, and (as of this writing) they’ve raised $1725 with 56 days to go.

The Lucky Lab (Portland) has their 14th Annual Barleywine and Big Beer Tastival coming up this weekend! This is one of Portland’s well-loved events that brings out the beer aficionados and is definitely not one to miss! “Come join us for the big, crazy beers at this year’s Tastival at the Quimby Beer Hall Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th, noon to 10 p.m. We call it a tastival because we encourage people to try many of the barleywines and other big beers on offer. An event glass and two tasting tokens are just $9 and extra tickets are $1.50 each for a four-ounce pour (you’ll need double tickets for special rare beers). We have a tentative total of 43 beers to taste. We will have about 25 on tap at any one time, and we will tweet as the days progress so you’ll know what has blown and what is still pouring.”  The beer list looks fantastic—make your plans for the weekend now.

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Today is the official release celebration of the new Deschutes River Ale at both the Bend and Portland Pubs; all day long you can enjoy food specials and buy the beer in six-packs. “Grab a pint of this beer at our pubs and in 6-packs beginning on March 4th and don’t forget to grab some logo’d swag as well. Food specials will reflect this sessionable ale so be sure to try this beer paired with some tasty pub fare. Cheers to the river and easy drinkin’ ales!”

Stnading Stone Brewing (Ashland): They released a specialty “Chocolate Ale” this past weekend for the Oregon Chocolate Festival (which also took place this weekend)—and the beer is still on tap and sounds interesting (like Boulevard’s Chocolate Ale, actually): “The light, orange rust color is a visual surprise in this chocolate-flavored ale. With a backbone of caramel flavor, the delicate character of the Criollo variety cacao bean is apparent in fruity notes of red berries. You’ll enjoy the silky body and nuanced flavors. 6.1% abv 15 IBU”

Double Mountain Brewery (Hood River) is continuing to roll out the release of their latest bottled seasonal offering, Molten Lava Imperial IPA; this week they’re coming to Bend and Eugene: “We are hitting the road with MOLTEN LAVA and at least 10 other specialty beers… Come Join us Tuesday at Brother Jon’s Alehouse in Bend and then over to sam bond’s garage in Eugene on Wednesday… Should be a fun party both nights!”

The Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival has been officially announced for the end of this month, taking place on March 30 and 31 (Saturday and Sunday) at Saraveza (and their Bad Habit Room): two days of rustic and traditional ales! From the press release: “Held at North Portand’s Saraveza Tavern and neighboring Bad Habit Room on Saturday and Sunday March 30th and 31st the festival will feature more than 20 farmhouse style beers from across the country, many never before available and from both established and new breweries. The 2 day festival will feature rotating taps at both Saraveza and the Bad Habit Room changing over 2 days and outdoor seating and standing space on N. Michigan. Advanced ticket purchase is encouraged. The taplist will include classics like Ommegang’s Hennepin to rare kegs from breweries like Anchorage’s Anadromous and Rondy Brew, vintage beers such as 2011 Provisions from Block 15, exclusive one-off kegs like Byrd Stout from Upright Brewing and beers not even distributed in Oregon like Telegraph Brewing’s Obscura Vulpine with Blackberries.” Sounds like a fun fest; cost is $20 which gets you the commemorative glass and 10 drink tickets, with additional tickets for $1 each.