TGIF! Are you ready for the weekend? If you’re around Central Oregon there are a bunch of things going on with COBW kicking off for ten days—I’ll be rounding up the various events for each day so plan your schedule accordingly. There is also other Oregon beer news to cover and I’ll be updating this post throughout the day on Friday with all the latest so check back often to stay up to date.

Friday, May 17

Central Oregon Beer Week starts Friday! The 10 day celebration comes fully under the aegis of the Central Oregon Brewers Guild this year and there are a bunch of events going on all week long. Here’s the rundown of Friday’s official (and ancillary) events:

• Kobold Brewing is hosting the official kick-off party at The Vault Taphouse in Redmond from 6 to 9pm. “Join us at Kobold Brewing / The Vault Taphouse for the official kick off to Central Oregon Beer Week! We won the People’s Choice award at last year’s SMaSH Fest and have the honor of kicking off COBW this year ~ and we’ll have the award winning Zombie Sprint IIPA on tap!”
• Broken Top Bottle Shop is hosting a Beer Week tasting with both Boneyard Beer and The Ale Apothecary from 5 to 7pm. Live music with Tortilla Chips takes place after, from 7 to 9pm.
• Boneyard Beer has a new beer release dropping at the Pub, Busta Rye Pale Ale.
• Worthy Brewing is hosting its final Passport Dinner from 6:30 to 9pm: “Take your tastebuds around the world with Worthy Brewing’s Dining Passport Series. These culinary experiences feature five-course dinners paired with Worthy Brewing’s specialty beers. You can purchase tickets through BendTicket. Individual dinners are available for $65 per person. Please see the dates of each dining experience below and their respective culinary theme.” The theme is Peru.
• Immersion Brewing is celebrating its third anniversary: “Immersion Brewing is turning three! Join us for a weekend of celebration with live music (Including Dirty Revival!!), yard games on our new back patio, a bounce house for the kiddos and a special limited release triple IPA beer. Oh yeah, $4 craft beers if you care about that sort of thing.”

It’s not overtly Beer Week related, but Bend’s McMenamins Old St. Francis School has its quarterly limited-edition beer tasting at O’Kane’s from 5 to 8pm Friday. You’ll get a chance to meet OSF brewer Vance Wirtz to chat about the beer (which isn’t listed), and ask him about SMaSH Fest coming up next weekend for Beer Week.

Fort George Brewery (Astoria) is selling 16-ounce cans of Cathedral Tree from its pub starting today: “Cathedral Tree is brewed into oak puncheons, then lagers for a few months in the Lovell basement. It pours bright gold with a white head and light fruit & grape on the nose. And just like the actual Cathedral Tree, this barrel fermented Pilsner is exclusive to the coast. Grab a pint or a four-pack to-go starting Friday, May 17th at the brewery, around the NW coast of Oregon & SW coast of Washington soon after.”

Redmond’s Geist Beerworks is hosting a ribbon cutting on Friday (even though they’ve been open since last year): “Don’t miss out on the fun! Ribbon cutting 4pm, whole hog good eating 4pm, pretzels and dogs all day, Dive Bar Theology 6pm! Cold craft beer all day long! Cheers!”

Pelican Brewing in Tillamook is releasing the brewery’s latest Lone Pelican series beer based on cocktails, Sea Breeze: “Sea Breeze drops Friday at 4pm in bottles and on draft! This is our new ale with cranberries, juniper and orange zest! Chat with our brewer and munch on food specials that pair with the beer! All guests who order a pint of Sea Breeze from 4-6PM will be entered to win Pelican Brewing swag!”

Saturday, May 18

The second annual Sip of Spring takes place at Rossi Farms in Portland on Saturday. “The festival will showcase 13 small Oregon craft breweries, each pouring two beers apiece, plus one Oregon cidery. Attendees can taste spring sippers from Breakside, Crux, Culmination, Gateway, Gigantic, Ecliptic, Level, Little Beast, Migration, Montavilla, pFriem, StormBreaker, Upright and Bauman’s Cider.” Hours are from 11am to 9pm, and the event cost is $20 per person with tickets available online.

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting Swift Cider for Swift Sips on Saturday from 5 to 8pm: “New packaging from Portland’s Swift Cider lands in Eugene! Fly in from 5-8pm to enjoy samples and talk cider with us!”

There are a couple of big events for Central Oregon Beer Week happening Saturday:

• The COBW Pro-Am Tap Takeover taking place at the Boneyard Pub features 6 Pro-Am beers that started as homebrew recipes! Boneyard will be pouring these beers all day, with proceeds benefiting both the Central Oregon Brewers Guild and the Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization, and from 4 to 6pm there will be a meet the brewer event with both pro and home brewers on hand—full disclosure, I’ll be one of them!
• Bend Brewing Company hosts its second annual Sour Fest from noon to 7pm: “Sour Fest tasting packages start at $12 for a souvenir stemmed glass and 2 tokens or $23 for a souvenir stemmed glass and 6 tokens. Tokens are good for a 6 oz pour or a full pour for 2 tokens. Participating breweries and beers were hand selected by the Bend Brewing Company team and feature some of the Northwest’s most renowned sour beer producers.” There’s a great lineup of breweries that will be pouring so don’t miss it.

Rogue Ales (Newport) is celebrating 30 years of brewmaster John Maier with The John Maier Coastal Brew Fest! “Join us on Saturday May 18th as we celebrate our Brewmaster’s monumental 30th anniversary with our inaugural John Maier Coastal Brew Fest at Rogue World Headquarters in Newport. We’ll be celebrating all day long and pouring beers from our fellow independent West Coast brewers to benefit Newport Fishermen’s Wives. $5 suggested donation at the door. Come try John’s 30th anniversary brew, and get your commemorative bottled signed by the legend himself.” I wish I could be there!

Widmer Brothers Brewing (Portland) is celebrating Hefe Day 2019 on Satuday! “Join us on Saturday, May 18th for our 4th Annual Hefe Day Party, featuring $1 POURS OF HEFE all event long! On May 15, 1986 Kurt and Rob Widmer delivered the first keg of Hefe to the Dublin Pub, and the rest is history. 33 years later, Hefe is still Oregon’s Favorite Craft Beer, and one that helped define today’s craft beer landscape. In 2016, the City of Portland declared May 15th as Hefe Day to honor the 30th Anniversary of Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen (Hefe for short). To help celebrate the occasion, Widmer Brothers will be throwing a Hefe Day party at our North Portland based Brewery and we want you to join us! We’ll be pouring Hefe for $1 all day to help wrap up a full week of Hefe celebrations in and around Portland.” It takes place at the (mostly former) pub from 2 to 8pm.

McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop (Portland) is holding a cider tasting Saturday from 2 to 4pm with 12 Bridges Cider. “12 Bridge Cider will be at the Bottle Shop sharing their delicious ciders. So come on down and try something new and delicious.”

The Hoppy Brewer (Gresham) celebrates its 8th anniversary on Saturday: “Come celebrate our 8th year of quenching Gresham’s thirst, we’re gonna rock out with the JT Wise Band from 2 PM til 5 PM and then the Crooked Corner Band from 6 PM til 9 PM. Thank YOU for 8 amazing years, CHEERS”

Sunday, May 19

Pelican Brewing in Tillamook is hosting a Pints for Pups fundraiser from 12 to 4pm: “Bring your pup and join us in a fundraising event for the Tillamook Animal Shelter! If you don’t have a pup, no worries, the Tillamook Animal Shelter will have information about all of their adoptable dogs available! The event will be in the parking lot of the taproom rain or shine! We will have vendors set up with pet products and services, costume contest for your furry friends, raffles, puppy parade and beer garden! If you bring in at least 2 items to donate, you will receive a free pint of Pelican Beer or Pelican Root Beer! $1 per pint sold in the beer garden will be donated to the Tillamook Animal Shelter!”

Central Oregon Beer Week goes into day three include:

• Beertography 101 at Crux Fermentation Project from 6 to 8pm: “Do you take pictures of your beer and post it on social media? If you do, you won’t want to miss this event. Join us at Crux Fermentation Project in Bend for a couple of pints and a fun conversation about stepping up your beertography game. You’ll meet with me, Rich Mithoff (SNØB – Say No to Ordinary Beer), Matthew Ward (Bend Brew Daddy) and Jed Bellefeuille (Positive Brew Dude) as we share some secrets and tips that will have you grabbing a beer and your camera. As you probably know, Crux is one of the most photogenic breweries in town for indoor and outdoor photography. Plus, those beautiful vistas are second to none! See you there!”
• Silver Moon Brewing hosts Not Cho’ Grandma’s Bingo starting at 10:30am: “Every Sunday morning, Deschutes County Search and Rescue hosts their bingo event here at the moon! Get together with your friends and play for a chance to win money… coin… denaro… cold hard CA$H! A large portion of all bingo sales will go to one of our favorite non-profits; Deschutes County Search and Rescue. What morning event is complete without a FULL Bloody Mary bar! Choose your favorite Crater Lake vodka & then load up at the bar; with over 20 different ingredients – we’ve got you covered.”
• On Tap food cart and beer lot is hosting a cornhole tournament with featured brewery Crux Fermentation Project. Whoops — this one is on May 26.