Happy Friday, and here now is the Oregon beer news for the weekend. I may or may not be able to update this during the day today, but please do still contact me if you have news you’d like to share—I’ll do my best to get it updated (if not today then soon!).

Fort George Brewery (Astoria) has a special tapping and meet the brewer taking place at the Sand Dune Pub in Manzanita (a small town between Cannon Beach and Rockaway Beach near Nehalem Bay): their Spruce Budd Ale, their organic seasonal ale brewed with 35 pounds of fresh-picked spruce buds (and it’s also making an appearance at the North American Organic Brewers Festival). “Come out and hang with brewer, Jason Palmberg, and drink some Spruce Budd Ale.  As usual, Quick Wit will also be available for your quaffing pleasure.  This will be one of the only non-Fort George tappings of the year, and is EXTREMELY limited. Get some!”

Falling Sky Brewing (Eugene): Eugene’s newest brewery will be featured at a meet the brewer at Portland’s Bridgetown Beerhouse tomorrow (Saturday) from 6 to 8pm. “We are flying through the beer down here in Eugene, so this will be one of the rare opportunities to try our beer up north. We will be pouring Treeline Pale Ale and Partly Cloudy Porter!”  I had a chance to try a Pale Ale of theirs (I don’t remember if it was Treeline or something else) at the Broken Top Bottle Shop here in Bend recently, and enjoyed it. This would be a good chance for folks to check them out.

Seven Brides Brewing (Silverton): This Sunday they are serving up their very first Brewer’s Breakfast from 9am until noon: “We will open at 9am and serve breakfast until noon… Then it will be normal menu until closing with the special being something off the smoker! Stay tuned for what smoked deliciousness our chef will be preparing this week… It is going to be a busy Sunday!” May I recommend two beers that would pair well with breakfast (if available): Apple Ale (brewed with 33% cider), and Becky’s Black Cat Porter (because porter always goes with breakfast!). Of course don’t stop there!

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend): They are celebrating their grand opening next Saturday, June 30, but here’s a secret: this week they’ve been in “soft opening” mode (basically to train new staff and run everything though its test paces) and there’s a chance if you stop by you might be able to partake in the soft opening! I don’t believe they have any house-brewed beer on tap yet—they just got their first shipment of grain something like a week ago—but they may have something of their own on tap next week (if there’s time). But! Go take a peek now; you might get lucky.

PINTS Brewing (Portland): Tonight they are celebrating the start of summer: “Come celebrate the start of summer at the taproom this friday June 22 with a burger or brat and the release of our summer seasonal, Green Line Organic Summer IPA!” I got to try this at the PINTS tasting at the Platypus Pub last week and I can attest that it’s a tasty, lusciously hoppy beer.

McMenamins Thompson Brewery (Salem) is hosting the 15th Annual Barley Cupon Saturday (tomorrow!), starting at 11am and lasting all day—this is one of McMenamins’ big events of the year! “What could be better than a selection of cool brews at the start of summer, all vying to be your favorite? Head to the Barley Cup. The twist to this contest is that our brewers cannot just brew the beer they do best. Instead, a random drawing determines the brew style to be crafted. For the patrons and judges, this ensures a full range of beers from which to choose. In keeping with tradition, the Capital City Homebrewers Club determine the overall winner of the Barley Cup trophy. The proud winner goes on to represent McMenamins at the Holiday Ale Festival in downtown Portland in December. We also asks our guests to determine the winner of the People’s Choice award. Brewers are on hand to answer questions, give tours of the brewery and plead their cases for their own brews.” There will also be live music in the evening, and a McMenamins Spirits Tasting from noon to 5pm.