May the 4th be with you—happy Star Wars Day! Not much to do with actual beer news but you can’t not observe the day! 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.

This weekend is the annual Cheers to Belgian Beers festival in Portland—back for it’s ninth year! It’s bigger than ever: “The Belgian-style Beer Festival will feature a single yeast strain, Wyeast Laboratories Yeast Strain: 1762 | Belgian Abbey II™ for the beers entered, with the beers available determined by a dart throw to diversify the color and strength of the beers. The 2015 Cheers to Belgian Beers currently features 58 beers from 54 brewing companies.” It takes place at MCF Craft Brewing Systems Friday the 8th from 5 to 9pm, and Saturday from noon to 9. Free admission, $15 for the glass and 5 tickets. I’ll likely have a detailed post this week as well.

Pelican Brewing (Pacific City) is doing a Brewer’s Dinner with Cooper Spur Mountain Resort (on Mt. Hood) this Saturday, the 9th, at the resort’s Crooked Tree Tavern. The site itself is having issues with the event page but you can view the PDF menu here. Cost is $39 and you can make reservations by calling (541) 352-6692, ext. 6000.

And Pelican has brewed up a special beer to accompany their own Spring Brewer’s Dinner—though it’s not clear to me if they mean the Cooper Spur dinner above, or a different one: “Meet Seabreeze! A refreshing Belgian Pale Ale fermented with cranberries and aged in Ransom Old Tom Gin barrels then dry-hopped with Cascade and Centennial hops. Brewed especially for our Spring Brewer’s Dinner – this one won’t be around for long!”

Burnside Brewing (Portland): Their new Elemental Scale series that I wrote about last week sees the tapping of the first beer, Blueberry Mint Saison, this Thursday, May 7. From the press release: “Released in limited edition 22oz bottles and 1/6 barrel kegs in Oregon next week the first tapping of Blueberry Mint Saison will be at the Burnside Brewing Pub this Thursday May 7th, 2015. …Blueberry Mint Saison is a French style saison that has been kettle soured to yield an intensely aromatic beer that pays proud homage to it’s rustic roots. Inspired by a Kombucha drink with a similar profile, Burnside’s brewers set out to create a refreshing but complex beer with an interesting flavor profile. This ale is fermented at slightly higher temperature than normal with Blueberries and local Honey added at conditioning along with a cold side infusion of a “mint tea.” This gives the beer a slightly tart and fruity quality with a subtle hint of mint freshness.”

Coin Toss Brewing, Oregon City’s newest brewery, has their first two beers being released in just under two weeks. From the press release: “Coin Toss Brewing Co. will release its first two house brews to the public at the historic Trail’s End Saloon, 1320 Main St., on May 16 from 5 to 9 p.m. Black Hohl Cascadian Dark Ale and George’s Honest Ale will make their Oregon City debut in advance of the brewery and taproom’s opening this summer. The release party will feature samples and pints of both beers. Food will be available for purchase, and door prizes will be awarded throughout the evening. Oregon City blues favorite Rae Gordon will perform a special acoustic set. Minors are allowed until 7 p.m.”

Wide Ride Brewing (Redmond) is hitting some milestones this week: first, they brewed their 100th batch of beer today, no small feat considering they only opened a year ago. I don’t know what the 100th batch was, but it’s apropos to that year I mentioned, which bring me to the other (big!) milestone: their one year anniversary, coming up this Saturday the 9th! They’ll be celebrating all day long with beer specials, and have three bands for live music from 5 to 10pm, with no cover. Perhaps an anniversary beer on tap as well?

Solstice Brewing (Prineville): Today they are tapping their “First Monday Firkin” (first of such program I’m aware of, but I’m always in support of cask!): “On Monday May the 4th we’ll be tapping a Firkin of Amarillo Dry Hopped Red Ale. Should be delicious. We’ll be venting and tapping at 5:30pm. Come and join us.”

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): This Saturday, the 9th, they are debuting their new Street Pub in Bend! It’s going to take place from 5 to 10pm at the production brewery on Simpson Avenue and it will be epic: “We’re kicking off a soft opening in the home of brewery, right here in Bend! For the first time in it’s entirety, you’ll see the 400+ foot bar set up creating a pub of epic proportions. The bar is crafted from reclaimed wood and steel from right here in Oregon and the Street Pub is a one stop shop to try lots of our beers… The Bend Street Pub will feature 40 taps of Deschutes Brewery’s beers you know and love (think everything from The Abyss to Mirror Pond Pale Ale), plus food from The Pizza Cart, Parrilla Grill, and the locals’ favorite pub fare from Deschutes Brewery corporate executive chef, Jeff Usinowicz.” Live music as well. And yes, it’s an insane 400-foot-long bar… about the length of a city block!