It’s April Fools’ Day weekend! We’re ringing out March and welcoming April with this weekend’s Oregon beer news. I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest weekend news, so check back on occasion. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted too.

This weekend is the inaugural Portland Farmhouse Weekend, headlined by the 5th annual Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival that takes place at Saraveza. I’ll note individual weekend events below, but it’s the Festival that kicks off Friday with a VIP Session from 4 to 9pm. Otherwise, the general sessions are Saturday and Sunday starting at 11am and running until 7pm and 9pm, respectively. Tickets cost $25 for general admission, good for the souvenir glass and 10 tasting tickets, with additional tickets $1 each.

Friday 3/31

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop (Portland) is hosting a showcase of Cascade Brewing from 6 to 8pm: “Do you like sour beers? Then circle March 31st on your calendar. Cascade Brewing is coming to Northwest Portland and the tap list is amazing: Gose 2014, Elderberry 2015, Cosmo Sour 2015 and Triple Beam.” A great way to taste Cascade’s sours outside of their Barrel House.

Worthy Brewing (Bend) is continuing with their Experimental Hop Project Pale Ale tastings, with the latest on Friday at Pacific Growlers Taphouse in Beaverton from 6 to 8pm: “Help us choose the next hop varieties. We’d love your feedback on beers brewed with experimental hops from the Indie Hops/OSU Experimental Hops Breeding Program. You’ll be able to try pale ales brewed with experimental hops 1007-35, C1002-37, G9-1-374 & C115L-1”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is welcoming Sunriver Brewing for their Vicious Mosquito IPA can release event from 5 to 8pm Friday: “We are happy to have another fine Oregon IPA join the ranks of cans in our cooler! Join us for a tasting that includes the Vicious Mosquito and some specialty items from the central Oregon brewery.”

For Portland Farmhouse Weekend, The Commons Brewery is hosting a Meet and Greet event from noon to 4pm, featuring: “Commons Beers on tap + guest taps from Wolf Tree and Propolis. Brewer Foosball tournament in our Mezzanine space.”

Portland’s Roscoe’s is hosting their ninth annual IPA Summit this weekend, starting on Friday! “Get ready Hop-Heads! Roscoe’s 9th Annual IPA Summit is coming up on Friday March 31st beginning at 2PM, with great IPAs on tap all weekend long. You’ll want to be there Friday for the best selection. There will be lots of awesome specialty, new to the Market, and limited release IPAs on tap. You won’t want to miss it.”

The BeerMongers, as part of Portland Farmhouse Weekend, is hosting a Holy Mountain/E9 Beer Night from 6 to 9pm Friday: “Tacoma, Washington’s Engine House No. 9 and Seattle’s Holy Mountain Brewing are in town for PDX Farmhouse Weekend and will be featuring some of their beers on tap tonight!” They will have beer on tap and in bottles.

Great Notion Brewing (Portland): Their latest crowler release hits Friday: Ripe IPA. “2 Crowlers per person on Friday the 31st of our Ripe IPA loaded with Citra hops!”

Montavilla Brew Works (Portland) has a sun and patio-themed beer release today (Friday) kicking off at 3pm: “YES! This weekend might be a sunny tease, but we’ll take it! Come celebrate the sun with us as we release our new “Lil’ MORE Righteous ISA”. It’s a session IPA that we brewed with some new hops called “Strata” from our friends at Indie Hops. Perfect sunny weather beer!”

Saturday 4/1

Belmont Station kicks off their 20 year anniversary celebration with the first of their 20 Days for 20 Years events on Saturday the 1st! The kick off party starts at the Horse Brass Pub at 11am, where it all began, with a special menu and birthday cake, and then around 1pm there will be a parade march to Belmont Station, four blocks away, where there will be special beers and tappings: “Hit the Brass, grab a beer, and enjoy a slice of complimentary birthday cake, because at 1 PM, we march! A Scottish piper band will lead this ragtag parade of revelers north a few blocks up 45th Street to Belmont Station’s current location, where we will be joined by the Three-Headed Hop Monster IPA, a collaboration from Barley Brown’s, Boneyard and Melvin – an encore brew of this popular beer that was revived just for this party!” This is the event of the weekend not to miss!

Portland’s Upright Brewing is celebrating their 8th anniversary on Saturday! “It’s Upright Brewing’s 8th Anniversary! Come celebrate with us with special beers on tap and the bottle release of our Anniversary Saison. This well hopped saison employs wine and gin barrel aging and light use of fruit to produce a beer that’s bright and easy while showing depth both aromatically and on the palate.” The party goes from 1 to 8pm and they’ll have a number of specialty beers on tap. Bonus: the New School has an eight-year retrospective with brewer Alex Ganum.

Block 15 Brewery (Corvallis) is holding the can release of their 2017 Animal Cookies, their “Hop Circus Ale,” all day at their taproom at Deschutes Street. “Brewed for the hop-loving animal inside of you, our Hop Circus Ale is packed with sticky, pungent hops. Unleash a swirling circus of pineapple, tangerine, mango, pine, and dank herbs—balanced with sweet pale malt and malted oats for a soft mouthfeel and gentle finish.”

The Bier Stein is hosting 2 Towns Ciderhouse for the release and tasting of their new Afton Fields cider from 5 to 8pm on Saturday: “2 Towns is best known for their solid lineup of easy-drinking ciders, but they also produce a line of super complex ciders using a variety of traditional methods. The Afton Fields cider was fermented using a strain of Brettanomyces yeast isolated from one of their barrels. All of the apples are grown on a nearby farm, and provide some serious terroir. Our rep Ross will be here sampling out some of these rarified gems, don’t miss it!”

Upright Brewing is also part of the Farmhouse Fest afterparty Saturday night at Grain & Gristle, featuring their collaboration brew with Level Beer, Phantom Ghosts: “Join us for a post Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival event starting at 10pm at Grain & Gristle. We will be featuring Upright Brewing’s new collaboration with Level Beer “Phantom Ghosts.” Get a pint of Phantom Ghosts and a beef carbonade special for onl $15 after 10pm!”

This is a different one, and because it’s April 1st I had to double check a bit: the Rip City Ale Fest is being hosted by the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center: “The Trail Blazers will showcase local microbrews at this year’s Rip City Ale Fest! Join us for a pre-game beer tasting on Saturday, April 1st! The fest schedule is as follows:
4pm – 7pm | Exhibit Hall, Veterans Memorial Coliseum
7pm | Trail Blazers vs. Phoenix, Moda Center
Tickets start at just $37 and include a limited edition Rip City Ale Fest Branded Sampler Mug and 10 tastings! Enjoy craft microbrews from Oregon and SW Washington!”

Culmination Brewing (Portland): Their Pilsner goes on tap Saturday: “April first is already here! We decided that we will kick off the month right with a beer release. Culmination Pilsner is the beer we will have on tap in the taproom this Saturday. This decoction mashed pilsner is bright and golden in color, and has a great balance of malt graininess and noble hop flavor and aroma. It is a beer that is perfect for spring/summer time and it’s nice and light with an ABV of 5.3% and 35 IBUs. Enjoy!”

Sunday 4/2

Belmont Station‘s 20 year anniversary events continue with a rare cider tasting with Finnriver Cider from 2 to 5pm: “Cider lovers rejoice! One of the Northwest’s favorite cider makers, Finnriver, will be in the bottle shop, sampling an enticing array of their amazing ciders — including a few that rarely make it off Finnriver’s farm on the Olympic Peninsula — selected especially for our 20th anniversary celebrations.”

The Commons hosts a Farmhouse Discussion Panel on Sunday as part of the Farmhouse Week series of events, starting at 11am: “This Sunday we’re hosting a casual discussion panel as part of the Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival featuring Upright Brewing Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, LLC. Wolf Tree Brewery and pFriem Family Brewers. Admission is free, but only 35 seats available. Email josh@commonsbrewery.com to reserve a seat.”