It’s the first day of spring today, which traditionally means Bock beers are the order of the day—though these days pretty much any style may show up in the spring depending on the brewer’s whim. As evidenced by the various releases hitting the Oregon beer news you’ll see below. As usual, I’ll be updating this news post throughout the day so check back often to see the latest; if you have news to share please contact me and I’ll get it posted.

Sanjay over on the Not So Professional Beer Blog has (in his words) stumbled upon the label for this year’s version of Stumptown Tart from BridgePort Brewing, and received confirmation from Brewmaster Jeff Edgerton: it’s a Triple Berry Ale this year using all Oregon-grown fruit. “We used 15 lbs/bbl of a blend of Strawberries, Raspberries, and Marionberries and did a secondary fermentation in the tank using the sugar from the berries. We fermented about 1/3 of the base beer using an Ardennes Belgian yeast.” This is the first year that they will have used all three berries for the Tart (previous years saw one of the above berry varieties, while the 2009 version used sour cherries). And the release party will be held at Jimmy Mak’s onThursday, April 5.

Deschutes Brewery (Bend) announced yesterday that they are partnering with the Deschutes River Conservancy organization to restore one billion gallons of water to the Deschutes River each year—a huge long-term environmental commitment which “will improve fish habitat, water quality and overall stream health of our beloved river.” One billion gallons apparently equals more than 14 times the Brewery’s annual water requirements which includes their pubs and entire supply chain. (Although I do have to admit the math on this is a little fuzzy to me.) The importance of the water from from the Deschutes River in Central Oregon can’t be overstated, so kudos to Deschutes for taking the initiative on this.

Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland): Don’t forget that today is HUB’s 4th anniversary celebration at their Powell Boulevard location (the BikeBar will have a separate one), featuring $2 pints all day long as well as 20% off merchandise in their store. HUB makes fantastic (and organic) beer and is committed to sustainability and being environmentally friendly—if you can visit their brewpub today to celebrate their anniversary, you definitely should. Congrats Hopworks!

Lompoc Brewing (Portland) is debuting some new label art for its two flagship bottled beers, C-Note Imperial Pale Ale and Proletariat Red Ale. You can view the new designs here and here (respectively) and you should start seeing those updated bottles hitting the shelves in the next few weeks.

And tomorrow Lompoc is holding a Scotch & Beer Pairing event at their Sidebar from 4 to 10pm: “After extensive research, we’ve chosen to pair Balvenie Doublewood & Stout Out Loud; The Macallan 12 & Bierz Brown; and Lagavulin & Kick Axe Dry Hopped Pale Ale. Taster trays will be available with all three pairings for $18.” Pairing Scotch and beer (or whiskey and beer for that matter) is an interesting idea since both are made from malted grains (in fact, whiskey/Scotch is basically unhopped beer that is then distilled and barrel-aged). Just be sure to eat something beforehand!

The Brew Shop (Bend) has a tasting with Lagunitas Brewing tonight from 6 to 8pm: “Morgan McNamara will be here the following night Tuesday, March 20th… We will have Wilco, Tango, Foxtrot (WTF) and their Pilsner on tap and for tastings. Other Lagunitas beer may be sampled as well.”

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City): You might remember some time back I’d posted that Pelican was doing a collaboration brew with Red Rock Brewing of Utah (and if not, no worries, Angelo has the details), coming up with a beer named “CoHOPeration,” an “India-Style Rye Lager.” It’s finally coming to the Pub on Thursday! “CoHOPeration will be available at the Pelican beginning Thursday, March 22nd. We have a limited supply of bottles and a small amount on draft, so come get it while you can! And for those wondering, a few select bottle shops (to be determined) will have a very limited supply soon.” This sounds like such an intriguing beer, I’m hoping some makes its way to Bend.

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Their Tap It Tuesday event tonight at 6pm features Bourbon Blond: “This live barrel of NW-style sour is a single barrel of blond ale that was aged for 12 months in a Makers Mark barrel.” It’s 6.25% abv and sells for $6.50 a glass.

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour (where you can get $5 growler fills on selected beers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 6pm) features their Badlands ESB and Hop Knob IPA.