It would appear that today is National Wine Day—a bit of a departure from beer but worth having a glass! Or perhaps find a wine-barrel aged beer to enjoy as well. In the meantime, here’s the news in Oregon beer for this Thursday, May 25. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted too.

Central Oregon Beer Week continues today, with the following events:

• Broken Top Bottle Shop welcomes three breweries for their Beer Geek Week tasting event: Sunriver Brewing, Three Creeks Brewing, and Breakside Brewing out of Portland. The beer will start pouring at 5pm, then live music with Sunshine and Company kicks off at 7pm.
• 10 Barrel Brewing is hosting a Fancy Beer Pairing Party tonight from 6 to 9pm at their new East Side Pub: “we’ve brought a slew of fancy beers out of the cellar and paired each of them with hand-crafted appetizers. This is a great opportunity for you fancy beer enthusiasts to try all these beers in one place! Sip on a Cherry Baltic Porter or a Huckleberry Grand Cru while listening to live music and contemplating the finer things in life.”
• Bend Brewing Company will feature a Brewer’s Choice tap takeover and live music tonight: “Join us on Thursday, May 25th during Central Oregon Beer Week as we host a Brewer’s Choice Tap Takeover and Broken Down Guitars plays live from 7-9pm. It will be a fun night of great beer and great music!”
• Jackson’s Corner is welcoming Hood River’s pFriem Family Brewers for a three-course collaboration beer dinner: “Jackson’s Corner Westside is proud to host pFriem Family Brewers for Beer Week! We have worked up a beautiful three-course menu to pair with these delicious beers for only $40! The Pfriem Staff will be in-house talking and chatting with people who buy the pairing. Hope to see you on Thursday, May 25th from 5-7!”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is Tapping Into Community for the McKenzie River Trust with Ninkasi Brewing this evening from 5 to 8pm: “If you drink local beer (which we hope you do) you’re drinking from the McKenzie River. Ninkasi has pledged $20 from every keg sold from April 22 through June 30 to go to the McKenzie River Trust, which buys land and works with property owners to protect special lands along rivers from the McKenzie to the coast. We will match Ninkasi’s pledge with the Ninkasi beers on tap this evening, and host the McKenzie River Trust so you can learn about the important work they do– not just for our beer, but for our environment.” Are you in Eugene tonight? Then you know what to do.

McMenamins Lighthouse Brewpub (Lincoln City) has a beer tasting tonight from 5 to 8pm, featuring Coco Habanero Porter: “Coco Habanero is a compelling variation of our Seaside Porter. In this adaptation, we’ve added cocoa nibs and habanero peppers for a dose of complementing flavors. Still soft, smooth, and malty with notes of chocolate, this Porter will leave just a little heat on the back of your tongue, making you thirsty for more.”

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting Montavilla Brew Works tonight from 5 to 8pm for a meet the brewer and Belgian (styled) beer showcase: “Founder and Brewer Michael Kora introduces his love for Belgian beer as we tap 3 Abbey inspired beers. Draft list: Dubbel, Tripel, Belgian Strong Dark”

Widmer Brothers Brewing has a launch party for their new Hefe Berry Lime today from 4 to 6pm: “Summer weather has finally arrived in Portland and we’re celebrating with the launch of our new summer beer, Hefe Berry Lime! Join us on Thursday for drink specials, and a chance to go home with a Hefe-branded bike. Hefe Berry Lime is a fresh, berry twist on the Original American Hefeweizen, combining Oregon Marionberries, blackberries, lime, and kaffir lime leaves for a tart, refreshing beer.”

Lompoc Brewing (Portland) has got a Kung Fu night taking place at their Sidebar starting at 4pm: “Lompoc Brewing will hold the ultimate Double Feature on Thursday, May 25 at Sidebar, 3901 N Williams Ave. Beginning at 4pm, the brewery will be offering taster trays of its six Kung Fu themed IPAs, followed by a 7pm showing of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, the movie that defined the Kung Fu genre. The “Flights of Fury” taster tray will cost $8.” That sounds like a fun night!

Astoria’s Fort George Brewery is releasing this year’s edition of their 3-Way IPA (brewed with Reuben’s Brews and Great Notion Brewing) and tonight from 6 to 9pm they are hosting a 3-Way IPA Trolley Tour for the release, featuring the Astoria Trolley. “Your trolley ticket buys a tour on Old 300 for a private night along the Astoria Riverwalk including stops for hop-forward pints from Reuben’s, Great Notion, and Fort George. The final destination is the Captain’s Suite at Pier 39 for the absolute freshest 3-Way IPA you will ever get, canned only hours before at Fort George Brewery.” Tickets cost $30 and you can purchase them online here.

Rogue Ales (Newport): Today at their Portland Pub and Pilot Brewery (formerly the Green Dragon), they are hosting the official tapping of PAW Team Porter at 6pm: “Come to Rogue Ales & Spirits for the official tapping of PAW Team Porter. $1 from every pint purchase will go to PAW Team (Portland Animal Welfare Team). PAW Team works to save lives, alleviate suffering, and keep pets and people together by providing free veterinary care to the pets of people who are expereincing homelessness or extreme poverty. Many of these people depend on their pets to provide love, comfort, companionship, security, and a reason to regain health, stability. Transitional housing, low-income housing, and shelters require all companion pets to be up to date on vaccines, spayed or neutered, and licesned with the local county. PAW Team reduces these barriers to ensure pets and people can stay together through the most difficult times of their lives.” This sounds like a terrific cause, so make sure to swing by and enjoy a few pints of PAW Team Porter tonight!

Bend’s GoodLife Brewing will be at The Civic Taproom in Portland tonight for a tap takeover from 6 to 9pm: “Coming down from Bend we have GoodLife joining us for a Tap Takeover! Stop by any time between 6 and 9pm to sample four of their beers and talk to brewery representatives. For every GoodLife beer you purchase you will be entered into a raffle for brewery swag.”

Baerlic Brewing (Portland): Help Baerlic crush malt tonight for a Portland Beer Week beer! “JOIN IN THE BREWING PROCESS by helping us crush 350 lbs of Salmon-Safe malt by bike! That’s right, we built a Bike Powered malt mill—come ride a bike and crush some malt! Each adult rider who participates will receive a quenching adult beverage from the bar as a thanks! We will then brew Bike Crush Saison and release the beer at a collaborative event at Baerlic on June 15th during PDX Beer Week!” This takes place from 6 to 8pm and sounds really interesting!