Happy Spring! I brewed beer yesterday, the first official day of spring, and it rained on me—fortunately I had a pop-up canopy. I hope your weekend was equally interesting! Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Monday, March 21; as usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

McMenamins today is celebrating the 30th birthday of their Ruby Ale at all of their locations, with $4 pints of Ruby, $8 growler fills, food specials, and more. “Enjoy a special just for this day (available at most locations): the Ruby’s Turkey Burger, a 6-oz. turkey patty with brie, raspberry-chipotle sauce, herb aioli, lettuce, tomato & onion on a bun, served with fresh-cut fries, for $11. Or go decadent with our other special: the Ruby-Raspberry Cheesecake, which has a graham cracker crust and Ruby-raspberry compote, $6.50. Order a Ruby Ale or the food special and get the Ruby Passport stamp. And, set out on our Ruby Passport Discovery Hunt, with hints, prizes and stamps at select Portland-area locations. AND, enjoy 30% off all Ruby merchandise – online only – at shopmcmenamins.com & use the Coupon Code Ruby30!” 30 years is a long time for a beer if you’re not a long-lived macro brewery, so big congrats to McMenamins on being able to celebrate!

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend): Today’s BEER’ducation event is featuring a sour beer and food pairing: “The Beer: Loganberry Sour, Barrel-aged Farmhouse Ale with Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Brettanomyces. The Food: (Sour) Pickled berries, (Savory) Cedar Plank Salmon Bite with Beernaise. Join us in exploring the wonderful nuances and breadth of craft beer every Monday evening in our Tasting Room. Our BEER’DUCATION SERIES of beer menu specials are designed to stimulate greater appreciation and understanding of craft beer through the self-guided experience of comparing and contrasting variations in styles and brewing processes. Each Monday evening, a different Crux beer will be highlighted via a special beer menu offering that includes a tasting guide to help you make the most of your experience.” Goes from 4 to 9pm.

Belmont Station (Portland): Today is the bottle release party for Belmont’s 19th Anniversary beer, brewed in collaboration with Ecliptic Brewing, taking place from 5 to 7pm: “We can’t let something like our 19th anniversary go on without another awesome special beer to help us celebrate! So, on this day, as we near the end of our anniversary week, we will begin selling bottles of our 19th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine that we brewed with Ecliptic Brewing (and they so kindly aged in bourbon barrels for about a year). John Harris and the Ecliptic crew will be on site around 5-7 PM to help us raise a glass and chat about this special beer. But bottles will be available at noon for purchase. This limited edition bottle will be a fine addition to any cellar, but you will want to enjoy a few right now, too, because it is tasting mighty fine!”

The 4th annual Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival is taking place this weekend, Saturday and Sunday March 26 and 27, respectively, at Saraveza, and the beer list is now posted over on the New School. Saraveza has a special food menu for the fest, and there will be over 70 beers pouring (rotating out at various times). It’s looking to be a pretty terrific fest, here’s ticket info: “Tickets are on Sale Now and remain an affordable $25 which includes a collectible Glass and 10 drink tickets. Additional tickets are $1 and beers range from 1-4 tickets for a 4oz pour. New in 2016 is a special VIP session for $35 that allows ticket holders a 3 hour early entry at Noon before regular admission at 3pm. The VIP entry will be good for BOTH Saturday and Sunday, but you will need to be wearing your wristband and keep your glass for re-entry! Advance tickets available here or $25 CASH ONLY at the door for the general admission session. Advance ticket sales end at 5:00PM on Friday, March the 25th!”

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Their Portland pub has a new beer on tap today: “Prima Chela Vienna Lager! What we enjoy as the Mexican lager was traditionally brewed in Vienna. This beer celebrates both the past and the present with Vienna malt, German hops and lager yeast fermented cold. 25BUs & 4.5%ABV – super drinkable!”

Portland’s new The Labrewatory also has new beers that will be out this week: “We have three new brews debuting this week: Roca You Like a Hurricane (Almond Roca Brown Ale), Alco-hall & Oats (PNW Oatmeal Ale), Abuelita Stout (Mexican Chocolate Stout). Try them before they’re gone!”

Full Sail Brewing (Hood River) is rebranding their beer lineup, announcing today “a stunning new package design, signaling a brand evolution” (yes, that is marketing-speak, no way around it; these rebranding exercises can go either way). From the press release: “The color palette, hand-drawn artwork and contrasting design elements that vary from package to package together tell a story about Full Sail’s environment, ingredients, geography, heritage, and taste. The revitalized Full Sail logo and coat of arms also breathe new life into the story behind the brand, highlighting Full Sail’s Oregon heritage and connection to the winds that blow through the Gorge, Mt. Hood’s majestic beauty, the mighty waters of the Columbia and the abundant agriculture that supplies the brewery.” And more, here. I like the tweaked logo new look, but I need to see more of the packaging on the shelf before I decide for sure.