Happy heat wave weekend! I hope your Friday is going well and you’ll beat the impending heat this weekend with a nice, cold beer. Here’s the Oregon beer news for the weekend to accompany the beer. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often. And if you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

It’s Dueling Brewfest Weekend™ in Portland! Taking place all weekend long are two big beer festivals in Portland proper, which will keep people watching to see if there is a bubble or tipping point taking place; the New School has a good article behind it all out this week.

First up is the Portland International Beerfest, taking place in the Pearl District’s North Park Blocks, and is one of the longer running festivals in Oregon, founded in 2001. This fest features beers from all over the world (truly International) which cost from 1 to 7 tickets per pour. Regular entry is $25 which gets you the glass, 15 beer tickets, and free re-entry all weekend if you keep the wristband on. You can get extra tickets for $1 each. Be sure to check out the beer list ahead of time for ticket pricing.

And then there’s the BrewFest in the Park, taking the place of the North American Organic Brewfest this year, located at Overlook Park. Like the NAOBF, BrewFest in the Park focuses on organic beers (using a minimum of 70% organic ingredients). Packages cost $20 which gets you the mug, 10 tickets, wristband and free re-entry all weekend (with wristband and mug), with additional tickets costing $1 of course. They have a nice lineup of breweries participating so be sure to check it out.

Oregon Cider Week concludes this weekend, with a slew of events:

Ongoing:

• Cider Riot’s Second Annual Fruit Cider Invitational – Taking place Saturday and Sunday: “Our second annual Fruit Cider Invitational is bigger and better than ever! Come taste limited edition fruit-infused ciders from Cider Riot! and other Oregon cidermakers including Portland Cider Company, Wandering Aengus, Reverend Nat’s, 2 Towns, Baird & Dewar, ^5 Cider, Carlton Cyderworks, Wild Craft, Bauman’s, Apple Outlaw, Wildcraft and more. Our in-house Cider Riot! lineup will include: Rudy’s Cranberry Hibiscus, Civil Twilight Plum, Rings of Fire Pineapple Ginger, Twigs N Berries Huckleberry & Spruce Tip, A Strong & Passionate Fruit, Lemmy’s Summer Camp Meyer Lemon, and Chaos de Tejas Blood Orange & Amarillo Hop. With such a variety of ciders to sample, we’ll be serving from taps in our pub, on our patio, and even in our production cidery.”
• 2 Towns Oregon Cider Week Cider Cocktail at Loyal Legion
• Release of Cider House Love Collaboration Cider @ Portland Cider and Schilling Cider
• Reach Break / Reveille Limited Snakebite Release @ Reach Break Brewing, Astoria

Friday:

• Fermentation Crossroads @ Portland Cider House – 4 to 6pm
• Swift Cider Demo at Fred Meyer Hawthorne – 4 to 7pm
• Brewvana’s Oregon Cider Week Tour – 5 to 9pm
• Portland Cider Co. Tropical Tap Takeover at Cider Bite – 5 to 8pm
• Positively Portland Albina Walking Tour @ Rev Nat’s – 6 to 8:30pm
• Cider Lovers Unite @ Bushwacker Cider – 7 to 10pm
• Classic Movie Night — Last Man on Earth @ Rev Nat’s – 9 to 11pm
• Cider Club Kick Off @ 1859 Cider

Saturday:

• Rev Nat’s 5th Anniversary Party – “It’s the 5th year of me selling cider. It’s the fourth year the taproom has officially been open. To reduce confusion, I’m skipping the 4th anniversary party and going straight to #5. Celebrate 5 years of making the most unusual ciders that no one else will make. I’m hauling out rare kegs from my basement & featuring ciders made just for me by my friends: Finnriver, Square Mile Cider Co., Tilted Shed Ciderworks, E.Z. Orchards Farm Market, Cider Riot!, APPLE Outlaw, Western Cider, and Snowdrift Cider Company. Free Tepache sausages from World Foods and birthday cake! Music by DJ Jimbo, DJ Family Jewels & Bones, and DJ White Merlot!”
• Snakebite Showdown 2017 @ Portland Cider Company Clackamas Taproom – 1 to 7pm
• Swift Cider Demo at Fred Meyer Beaverton – 2 to 5pm
• Cider and Pastry Pairing @ McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop – 2 to 4pm
• Anniversary Party @ 1859 Cider – “Celebrate 1859 Cider Co.’s one year anniversary! Join us for a corn hole game tournament, library ciders (if there’s any left from Cider Club members), the release of our 12th St. Bittersweet Blend aged in Bourbon Barrel, and live music. Don’t miss the fun, cider, and live music.”

Sunday:

• Garage Sale with Reverend Nat and friends @ Rev Nat’s – 8am to 12pm
• History & Science of Cider Vol. 2 @ Portland Cider Company Clackamas Taproom – 12 to 3pm
• Seattle Cider Free Tasting & Specialty Taps at Beer Store – 2 to 6pm

Whew! That’s a lot of cider events! Let’s get back to the rest of the weekend:

Friday, 6/23

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is hosting New Belgium Brewing for a beer tasting from 5 to 8pm: “Sample some of Colorado’s finest! We’ll have Passionfruit IPA (Voodoo Special Release), 8 Hop Voodoo Ranger IPA, and French Oak Saison on tap, and our New Belgium beer ranger Ryan will be here spreading cheer.”

Newport Avenue Market in Bend has their 3rd Annual Canapalooza taking place Friday and Saturday, the 23rd and 24th: “ON FRIDAY, JUNE 23 AND SATURDAY, JUNE 24 FROM 2 TO 6PM EACH DAY. PLUS, TAKE YOUR WALLET ON A MINI VACATION WITH OUR AMAZING DISCOUNTS ON CANS OF CRAFT BEER! That means FREE beer tastings from 2 to 6pm each day from almost 20 local and regional breweries and 20% off six packs of all craft beer CANS when you buy at least four. Confirmed breweries who will pour their goods on June 23 and 24 are listed below. There is no set schedule, as brewers pour throughout the event.”

Rogue Ales Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery in Portland is hosting a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation with Captain’s Wish Ale, apparently hosted by Stephen Amell, star of the TV show “Arrow”: “Portland!! Come and hang with me this Friday. My love of Rogue and supporting worthwhile charities, has finally come together. $5 at the door goes to Make-A-Wish Oregon & $1 from every pint of Captain’s Wish Ale goes to Make-A-Wish Oregon. And if you think I won’t be pouring some of the pints, you’re crazy! Captain’s Wish Ale will be staying on tap until July 31st.” Starts at 6pm.

Saturday, 6/24

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend) is celebrating their fifth anniversary with Cruxapalooza 6 on Saturday! “Mark your calendars for the 6th Annual Cruxapalooza! We’re looking forward to celebrating our 5th Anniversary with a full day of live music, good friends, and crux beer.” The event runs from 1 to 10pm, with live music starting at 2pm. And of course there will be plenty of beer pouring, both inside and out. Don’t miss it!

The second annual Kriekfest takes place Saturday, at Solera Brewery in Parkdale! This family friendly event features 30 cherry beers and ciders, with $25 admission for the souvenir glass and 8 tasting tickets (available online here). Be aware it’s supposed to be 95 degrees in Parkdale on Saturday—so stay cool and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Over in Eugene on Saturday, the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting Cheers to Dave, as a fundraiser for the Dave Hauser Legacy Fund: “Join us on Saturday, June 24th from 1-5pm to honor Dave Hauser as he would like to be honored- with one (or a few) good microbrews. All across the community we will collectively “cheers” to Dave’s incredibly hard work, and celebrate is love for the wonderful microbreweries in our community at the same time. Seven (8 locations) of Dave’s favorite breweries have agreed to donate $1 from every pint sold between 1-5m on Saturday to the Dave Hauser Legacy Fund. The proceeds will be used to fund a (still to be determined) community project that will stand as a permanent testament to Dave’s dedicated career and a champion of the betterment of our community. A portion of the funds will also be used to support and invest in the success of local youth and future leaders of our community through a scholarship program.”

Culmination Brewing (Portland) is celebrating their 2nd anniversary on Saturday! “Join us for a celebration of 2 years of Culmination Brewing Company! We will be celebrating all weekend, but Saturday 6/24 will be the big day, so mark your calendars! We will have special vintage bottles and some special beers on tap.”