Today, Thursday, June 15, is National Beer Day in the United Kingdom! This date was chosen because the Magna Carta was sealed on this day in 1215. That is worth toasting with a beer! Here is the Oregon beer news for the day as well. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated too.

Let’s start with a couple of McMenamins events before tackling the Week events. McMenamins Kennedy School has their Extra Credit beer tasting from 5 to 7pm tonight, featuring Lazy Hazy Blood Orange Kölsch: “Our Lazy Hazy Kölsch is the perfect summertime thirst quencher. How do you improve on perfection you ask? Easy! Add the essence of blood oranges. The flavors mingle so well that we bet you’ll want more than one. This beer is in extremely limited supply, so grab a pint now. You’ll be glad you did!”

And then their 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop is hosting @PDXBottleshare from 4 to 8pm: “We’re hosting the @PDXBottleshare group for this 21 & over event. Bring one (approximately) 22-ounce bottle of beer, cider or homebrew to have opened and share with the group. Cajun tater tots will be provided. Cheers!”

Portland Beer Week events continue with plenty of things to do in Stumpdown today:

• Modern Times Beer Pizza Brewers Dinner At Pizza Jerk
• Beer Whiskey And Whiskey Event @ Loyal Legion
• Crux Pop-Up Pub At Side Street – Side Street Is Hosting Crux For The Entire Duration Of PDX Beer Week.
• Culmination Brewing Pop-Up/Tap Takeover At Lardo Sandwiches – Westside
• Eastburn, Founders Brewing, Cut-Offs, Coozies, Cornhole And Shanrock Trivia – Cut-Offs, Coozies And Cornhole Oh My!
• Crafts & Craft Beer @ DIY Bar – Make Beer-Inspired Crafts While Sipping On Craft Beer – $30 Gets You First Beer & Craft
• Beer & Wings Pairing (5×5) @ Stormbreaker Brewing
• West Coast Real Ale (& Cider) Cask Night – Real Ale (And Cider!) From All 4 Western States And Canada! @ Reverend Nat’s Cidery And Public Taproom
• Summer Kickoff With Silver Moon – Introducing Tropic Zombie IPA And Salty Bog Cranberry Gose @ Bridgetown Beerhouse
• Bike Crush Saison: Beer Release Party And Oec Open House @ Baerlic Brewing
• General Distributors ‘Test Your Tastebuds’ – Blind Beer Flight – Come Join Us At The Growler Guys – South Waterfront
• Flat Tail Cocktail Hour @ Tin Bucket
• Modern Times Hazy And Sour Tap Takeover – Cornhole Tournament @ Saraveza
• Mussels From Brussels @ Bazi Bierbrasserie
• Day One Distribution’s Socal Invasion – Beers From Southern California’s Hottest Breweries @ Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom
• Tentx Talk: Beer & Spirit Pairings @ Stormbreaker Brewing
• Firestone Walker Takeover @ The Civic Taproom And Bottle Shop
• Brewers And Their Bands @ Ecliptic Brewing
• Base Camp Tap Takeover @ Beer Store Milwaukie

Today is also the start of Oregon Cider Week, organized by the Northwest Cider Association, which represents Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. The week runs from the 15th through the 25th and has a number of things happening which I’ll note each day. Here are today’s events:

• West Coast Real Ale (& Cider) Cask Night @ Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider – “This is a 2-for-1 event, as one of Reverend Nat’s kickoff events for Oregon Cider Week, and one of the final events of Portland Beer Week.This is the first event of its kind ever in the history of the universe! There is one brewery in each West Coast state (counting British Columbia as a “state”), and we’ve assembled at least one Real Ale from each of them, along with a couple Real Ciders! Join us while we celebrate one of Nat’s favorite beer style: English-style Real Ale, conditioned in and served from casks!” 4 to 10pm.
• Cider Summit Pre-Funk Party @ Cider Bite – “Thirsty Thursday is the perfect day to kick-off the festivities for the 7th Annual Cider Summit Portland. Cider Bite, a presenting sponsor of the Cider Summit will host the Pre-Funk Party at the Cider Bite Cider House, located at 1230 NW Hoyt Street, Portland, Oregon 97209.” 5 to 9pm, free admission.
• Oregon Cider Week Kick-off Party @ Portland Cider Company – “Portland Cider House on Hawthorne is THE place to kick-off Oregon Cider Week, June 15-25. Swift Cider, Bauman’s Cider, Baird & Dewar, Wildcraft Cider, Carlton Cyderworks & Portland Cider Co. will be in the Cider House with free tastings, raffle giveaways every 30 minutes and more. Special, super limited releases will be on-tap from some of the participating cideries too, so don’t miss out!” 5 to 8pm.
• 2 Towns and Cheese Bar Cider Tasting @ Cheese Bar – “2 Towns Ciderhouse will be at the Cheese Bar sampling new cider releases and suggesting the best cheeses to pair with a pint. Come join us for some damn fine cider and delicious cheese!” 5:30 to 7:30pm.
• Live Podcast of Geek in the City @ Rev Nat’s – “Listen in on Nat and his friends at Geek in the City while they talk about the upcoming week, cider and other geekery.” 6:30 to 8:30pm.
• 2 Towns Oregon Cider Week Cider Cocktail at Loyal Legion (all Week long) – “Loyal Legion’s brilliant mixologists have created several cider themed cocktails that will be featured the entire week (June 15th-25th) of Oregon Cider Week. Stop by for some delicious food and a damn fine cocktail!”

Belmont Station (Portland) is hosting Logsdon Farmhouse Ales for a Spontan Wilde Release Party from 5 to 8pm: “Join us as we help Logsdon release a brand-new lambic-inspired ale, Spontan Wilde. John Plutshack will be here to talk about this new beer, their first two-year spontaneous blended beer. We will have bottles on sale and it will also be pouring on tap in the biercafe!”