TGIF! Sometimes I think the end of the week couldn’t get here soon enough, and there’s plenty of beer things going on to make it a big weekend. Here’s the Oregon beer news for Friday the 19th and the rest of the weekend. 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.

Portland’s Cheers to Belgian Beers starts today! This year the focus is on Oregon brewers showcasing their Belgian-style ales (rather than all brewing with the same yeast as in years past) and it’s a nice-looking list with some new beers being debuted (or specially-brewed). It’s taking place at Metalcraft Fabrication tonight from 5:30 to 8:30pm, and tomorrow (Saturday) from noon to 8. Cost is $15 for the (required) glass and 5 drink tickets, $20 for the glass and 20 tickets (and they are additionally $1 each); they’ll only be pouring samples, no full pours. This is going to be the event of the weekend I suspect, so be sure to check it out if you can!

McMenamins Thompson Brewery & Public House (Salem) has a weekend-long beer tasting they’ve dubbed “The Big Beer Theory,” six specialty beers they’ve put together with $7.50 tasting trays: Pole-Ax Lager, Hoodie Love Lager, Purple Haze, Magnuson Strong Ale, The Big Lebrewski, Dry-Hopped Jam Sessions ISA. Thompson brewer Jen Kent brews up tasty beers so this is definitely something you should be looking to sample if you can make it over to Salem.

And at McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend Saturday night, they are hosting three other Bend breweries for their Traveling Brewers’ Dinner Party, a cool progressive dinner-and-beer pairing featuring at least 8 courses that leads visitors around the Old St. Francis property trying different dishes with unique beer pairings. The other breweries are Crux Fermentation Project, Boneyard Beer, and GoodLife Brewing. Cost is $50 and it’ll be totally worth it; if you’re interesting in attending call 541-382-5174.

Widmer Brothers (Portland) is holding the official launch of their new Alchemy Ale tonight across 10 cities, including Portland, for a special Alchemy Ale Night. “Be one of the first to try Alchemy Ale, our newest year-round beer. On Friday, April 19th, we’ll be hosting release parties in 10 markets across the country. Check in on Untappd to unlock the Alchemy Ale badge and look for special prizes and giveaways.” Events start around 7pm, and check the event page for the list of Portland-area locations (including their Gasthaus Pub).

Ambacht Brewery (Hillsboro) is hosting a “Matzobrau Open House” this Sunday the 21st to show off their new location and 20 barrel system: “Join us at Ambacht Brewing for a Jewish Community Open House and enjoy a tasting and our of our new brewery location! We’ll need A LOT of matzah this year to fill our new 20‐barrel fermenter. Bring your unopened extra boxes of wheat, rye or spelt matzah and contribute to the 2013 edition of Matzobrau!” The new address is listed as 1060 NE 25th, just a door down from the older one of 1055 NE 25th, so I’d guess they’re moving right next door, but it’s always good to hear about these expansions.