Happy Friday! Here’s the Oregon news for the weekend of the 25th of April. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse (Hillsboro) have their “Keepers of the Craft” beer dinner tonight, a $75 five-course pairing of food with beers and spirits (buy tickets here): “Join us in the Octagonal Barn for a dinner showcasing the teaming up of our Cornelius Pass Brewers, Distillers and chefs. Hosted by Distillers Bart Hance and Arthur Price & Brewers Brady Romtvedt and Chris Oslin, who will guide you through the brewing and distilling processes and all the similarities-as well as their handcrafted finished products!”

Tomorrow, Saturday the 25th, is Bailey’s Taproom‘s 5th annual GermanFest, featuring a great lineup of Oregon beers inspired by the beers and styles of Germany. From Brewpublic: “Bailey’s will be open normal hours beginning at Noon for the 5th Annual GermanFest on Saturday. There will be no cover and all beers will be pay as you go.” Sure to be a good event.

The Rogue Valley Fermentation Celebration kicks off today at 5pm in Medford, and continues tomorrow starting at noon. Inspired by Bend’s Little Woody (and put on by the same group), this fest “celebrates craft beer during the beer, whiskey & wine festival on April 24th and 25th, 2015 at Harry and David Field. [It] will gather some of the best breweries and whiskeys from across the Northwest, in addition to regional wines and ciders. Local foods to compliment regional craft beverages will be available at the event. Get your tickets for either Friday from 5-10pm (VIP early entry 4pm) or Saturday from noon-10pm.” If you don’t get the tasting package in advance (for $16), it will cost you $20 at the door, and includes entry, the tasting glass, and 6 tokens.

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting Ninkasi Brewing for a special tapping of Ninkasi’s new Ground Control Imperial Stout—the beer made with yeast they sent to space—as well as one of the CBC collaboration beers from 6 to 9pm tonight: “We will be tapping a keg of Ground Control and releasing the last of our bottles, as well as tapping a keg of the Craft Brewers Conference collaboration beer, a Northwest-style IPA brewed with a bunch of local brewers (note: the brewers were not harmed in the making of the beer). Ryan, our distinguished Ninkasi rep, will be here sampling out the CBC beer!”

Chetco Brewing (Brookings) is celebrating their 2nd anniversary with a tap takeover at the Vista Pub in Brookings: “Join us Saturday April 25th from 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. for our tap takeover at the Vista Pub in Brookings, Oregon. Our seasonal We’ll be featuring our popular seasonal, Willa Nelson IPA. This brew was introduced on April 20, 2013, our first IPA. It’s a pitch perfect blend of Willamette and Nelson Sauvin hops. ABV 6.7 IBU 72”

In addition, Chetco’s crowdsourced fundraising project to raise money to build their tap room has met its goal—$15K in six weeks. “Thank you to each and every one of you for helping to make this Tap Room dream a reality. We are putting on the finishing touches and of course, putting out last minute fires. What remodel job would be complete without the delivery mix ups, communication errors and general newbie mistakes, huh? It has been an absolute blast and a steep but fun learning curve. This weekend’s work will tell us a lot about how on target we are for our opening date, half the camp says we can make, the other half says we need another week.” Sounds like soon they will have that tap room ready to go!

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): I don’t know how I almost missed this, but today is the release of The Stoic, their Reserve Series Quad! At the Bend Pub and the Portland Pub all day today, they are holding release parties for The Stoic, featuring food specials, pours and of course bottles of The Stoic for sale. This one snuck in under the radar, but this is an amazing beer so make a point to stop by one of the pubs while there’s still time!