TGIF! I hope your weekend is looking great for this final push of April. Here’s the news and events for the weekend, hopefully something appeals to you!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.

All weekend

Friday kicks off the weekend-long April Showers Bring May Sours event at Broken Top Bottle Shop in Bend, with half of their taps dedicated to sour beers. This fifth annual edition of the sour power weekend runs through Monday, May 1. Expect to see beers from pFriem Family Brewers, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Firestone Walker, The Bruery, and more.

Friday 4/28

Eugene’s Claim 52 Brewing has the can release of Fluffy, their hazy, New England-style (or Northeast-Style if you prefer) IPA, taking place at both their brewery in Eugene and at N.W.I.P.A. in Portland. In Eugene: “Come to the taproom this Friday when we release our second specialty can FLUFFY! 4-Packs will be $15 and single cans will be $4. Sammitch Food Trucks will be in the house from 4-8!” In Portland, N.W.I.P.A. will have the release kicking off at 6pm.

The new Little Beast Brewing will be at The BeerMongers today starting at 5pm for a Little Beast night: “Founder and veteran brewer, Charles Porter, has a knack for harnessing the little beasts or microflora that ferment our beer, capturing their untamed beauty and producing highly craveable and totally delicious craft beer. We’ll be featuring Bes and Fera on draft.”

Roscoe’s (Portland) will be kicking off their Belgian Beer Summit Friday starting at 2pm, to run through the weekend: “Join Roscoe’s in celebrating the beers and beer styles of Belgium! The Belgian beer summit will be kicking off on April 28th at 2PM with great belgian and belgian style beers on tap all weekend. Some of the breweries (and beers) will include: Commons (Brett Urban Farmhouse), pFriem Family Brewers (Belgian Single), Alesong Brewing and Blending (Belgain Wit), De Struise Brouwers (2013 Rye Triple Reserva), Ecliptic Brewing (Barrel Aged Tarantula Belgian Dubbel), Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, LLC., Crux Fermentation Project (New Imperial Saison Barrel aged in NW Red Wine Barrels with Brettanomyces), and many more! Taster trays will be available.”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is throwing a going away party for brewer Jacob Willson from 4 to 8pm: “One of our favorite McMenamins Brewers is heading south to start his own brewery. Come say farewell to West Linn’s Jacob Willson and raise a pint to his next adventure. We will be pouring four of his fabulous brews: Mole Cream Ale, Whiskey Barrel-Aged Coffee Porter, Brew Hawaii Blueberry Pineapple Pale Ale, and his infamous Angry Reindeer Double IRA.” Swing by to send Jacob off right!

Vanguard Brewing (Wilsonville): They have two new beers releasing today (Friday): ​​5 Damn Hops, an IPA, and Blackberry Stinger, a honey porter with blackberries.

ColdFire Brewing will be at the Eugene Growler Guys Friday night from 6 to 8pm for a beer tasting event: “We will be tapping three delicious brews from ColdFire including their St. James IRA, a new, hazy, fruity, Vermont style IPA and their American Sour Ale with Passion Fruit and Apricot. Don’t miss out on these new releases!”

Great Notion Brewing (Portland) has another crowler release today (Friday), for Kippy: “Crowler Release Day for Kippy. This hazy, juicy double dry-hopped IPA is being named after one of our owner’s beloved 17 year old Blue Russian cat, Kippy who passed away on April 17th. This beer is double dry-hopped with Galaxy, Nelson and Citra! Don’t miss this one. 6.5% abv.”

Saturday 4/29

Saraveza (Portland) is hosting their fourth annual Pinewood “Derbeer” Derby Fundraiser from 2 to 5pm: “Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t start your engines! But go ahead and sharpen up your whittlin’ knife and join the race! Saraveza is once again teaming up with the good folks at Lagunitas and NWIPA to bring to you the 4th Pinewood Derbeer Derby! Car kits are $10 and all proceeds from the kit sales will go to the National Brain Tumor Society on behalf of Team Brewpublic. WHAT TO DO NOW: Pick up a kit, each include a sleek and smooth block of pine, 4 axles and 4 wheels! Only restriction is: it can’t weigh more than 5 ounces!”

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting Corvallis’ 2 Towns Ciderhouse on Saturday from 2 to 4pm for a cider tasting. They haven’t listed what will be pouring but I suspect a selection of 2 Towns’ latest offerings including Two Thorns and Afton Fields would make sense.

Culmination Brewing (Portland): On Saturday they are tapping their latest collaboration, a sour beer brewed with ^5 Cider. “Culmination Brewing Company and 5 Cider teamed up to brew a Sour beer brewed with apple juice and pink guava. We call this delicious creation Neko Nectar. This beer is fairly hazy in appearance, it’s tart and refreshing, and has aromas of guava, apple, and papaya. Come enjoy a glass with us!”

Portland’s Grixsen Brewing is celebrating their one-year anniversary on Saturday with a party starting at 4pm: “Come celebrate our One Year Anniversary with us! We will have pizza from Ranch available starting at 4:00 PM. An awesome local band: Mountain Fist goes on at 7:00 PM! We are partnering with Dollar For Portland for this event, so one dollar of every pint purchased at the party will go directly to this awesome, local non-profit!”

Sunday 4/30

Hillsboro’s Ambacht Brewing is hosting a Post Passover Pizza Party & Matzah Roundup on Sunday starting at 4pm: “If you have leftover matzah, bring it by Ambacht Brewing this Sunday (30 April 2017). We will have pizza for those who bring matzah and our fine Ambacht ales for purchase. And bring us your un-opened boxes of matzah, sorry no egg matzah, but plain, whole wheat, rye, or spelt are fine.”

General

BridgePort Brewing has a new beer coming out: Multi Ball Double IPA. From the press release issued today (Friday): “For the past month, this monstrous IPA has been an exclusive on-draft selection at BridgePort’s BrewPub in Portland, Ore., and will now be available on retail shelves starting now. Multi Ball Double IPA, named after Portland’s legendary pinball and arcade scene, was brewed as a classic west coast style double IPA. The brewers started with a base of 2-row Pale malt with approximately seven-percent Cara-Crystal Malt to provide caramel notes and a rich amber color. Intensifying this double IPA, brewers used hops in every step of the brewing process. Multi Ball Double IPA comes in at 8.25% alcohol by volume and 87 IBU, showcasing Northwest hop flavor and character, finishing with a smooth mouthfeel. Multi Ball Double IPA will be available throughout BridgePort Brewing’s distribution footprint of 18 states in 12-oz. bottles, 6-packs, and on-draft.”

Ecliptic Brewing announced the release of a new beer with a mouthful of a name: Comet Calala Passionfruit Imperial Wit. “Ecliptic Brewing will release the newest addition to their Special Release line-up on May 4th. Comet Calala is an Imperial Wit brewed with passionfruit and orange peel. The name Comet Calala draws inspiration from the breweries astronomy ties combined with another name for passionfruit, Calala. Comet Calala Passionfruit Imperial Wit will warm you like the tropics. We started with a traditional witbier base and added passionfruit (also known as a Calala) and orange peel for a juicy finish. Comet Calala is the perfect beer to celebrate Spring.”