Stay cool today! It’s going to be ridiculously hot so stay in the shade and enjoy a Pilsner, Kolsch or something similar to keep the heat away. And in the meantime here is the news in Oregon beer for Monday, June 8; as usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. If you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

This week both Portland Beer Week and Medford Beer Week kick off, starting on the 11th and 12th, respectively. There will be plenty of things going on in both cities for both Weeks, in particular some of the big, signature events include the Portland Fruit Beer Fest, the Rye Beer Fest, and the Southern Oregon Craft Brew Festival. I will have some standalone posts about some of these signature events and I’ll try to keep up on the daily events for each Week though there are a lot—be sure to keep track yourself at each event page here and here as well.

Belmont Station (Portland) today has Uinta Brewing in the house from 5 to 7pm for the release of their Birthday Suit: “Utah’s Uinta Brewing celebrates its remarkable 22 year anniversary with it’s annual release of Birthday Suit. This year’s incarnation of the brewery’s anniversary ale is going to be a “sour abbey ale” brewed with plums and an authentic Belgian abbey yeast strain that’s chock full of the bold characteristics that have made Abbey ales famous. It’s described as having a playful combination of sour tanginess and subtle dried fruit esters. As usual, it will be available in 750 ml caged and corked bottles. Come give it a taste, along with a selection of other Uinta beers! Uinta beer? Yes, we are!”

Deschutes Brewery’s Portland Pub is closed today, and will be for the next several days, through Thursday, as they undergo a remodel of their bar. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates.

Widmer Brother Brewing (Portland) brewed up a special beer just for Portland’s Bazi Bierbrasserie exclusively, for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It’s debuting today; Brewpublic has the details: “In addition to broadcasting every US Women’s National Team (USWNT) match, Bazi has committed to televising over 20+ matches live on their 114” HDTV big screen. To make this month long event even more intriguing, Bazi’s Hilda Stevens teamed up with Widmer Brothers Brewing to brew a special beer that will exclusively be available at Bazi during the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Brewed at Widmer’s pilot brewery at the Rose Quarter, Stevens assisted Widmer brewer Dan Munch in brewing Widmer Golden Abby. Named in honor of Abby Wambach, long time member of the USWNT, this new, tasty Golden from Widmer will make its debut today, Monday, June 8th at Bazi when its tapped at 4:00pm just in time for the US vs. Australia match that begins at 4:30pm.”

The North American Brewers Association awards are in for their annual competition, and the New School has a list of the Oregon winners—many of whom won big (yet again) this year. Big winners include Barley Brown’s (7 medals, the most in Oregon), Pelican Brewing with 6 medals, and Breakside Brewery with 5. Go check out the full list here.

Portland Brewing has a new “Guild’s Lake Series” of beers that are only being released in Portland, and the second in the series is hitting their taps now: “Pier Park Piney Ale is the second beer in our Portland-only Guild’s Lake Series. This classic Northwest Pale Ale has a bit of caramel sweetness, but it’s dominated by piney, resiny hop flavors. A portion of the proceeds from each pint of this beer will benefit Friends of Pier Park. Our donation will be used to make a bench from a Pier Park sequoia that was removed to make way for a bridge connecting Pier and Chimney Parks.”