Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Tuesday, the 9th of July. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest news. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

McMenamins West Linn (in, er, West Linn) is holding a special mystery fruit beer tasting and meet the brewer (Jacob Willson) event dubbed “Flight of the Fruit” today kicking off at 4pm. Why a mystery beer? Because: “Fruit Beer Week on the 205 corridor. It’s a special time. We enjoy a good fruit beer around these parts, so it’s no surprise that we take fruit beer week seriously. But, not all fruits are created equal. No sir, we all have our favorites. That’s why the Fight of the Fruit ’13 was created, to settle the dispute. For two weeks at four McMenamins locations, ballots were distributed, discussed, and debated, and on July 9 at the West Linn location, the mystery winner will be revealed. So, prepare yourself, one of these fruits will be brewed: Blackberry, Blueberry, Dark Sweet Cherry, Italian Plum, Red Tart Cherry, Apricot, Peach, or Black Current.”

Rogue Ales (Newport): Apparently they are bottling their “Beard Beer” (made from yeast found in brewer John Maier’s beard)… I don’t know, personally I just have trouble getting excited by this, it’s just too off-putting for me. It is a distinctive-looking bottle though.

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday event at their Barrel House at 6pm is featuring “Live” Frite Galois, “a blend of blond ales, Noyaux barrels & Gose. Aromas of lemon, sweet grass and hints of Maraschino cherries are noticed at first. A plethora of flavors arrive all at once on the palate, including light citrus, bright tart fruit, vanillin and oak, all leading to a finish of light citrusy notes with subtle hints of soft oak and vanilla cream. 6.5% | $6 glass | $2 taster”

Portland Brewing (Portland) is hosting a Smoked Beer Brew Fest this Saturday the 13th from noon to 5pm, free to attend and $20 for tasting the beer (which gets you the glass of course). Aside from the beer they’ll have food, live music, kids’ activities, and more. Looks like they have beers lined up from Old Town Brewing, Base Camp, Burnside, Hopworks, and more, and they are looking great. I loved a good smoked beer, so this looks like it should be a fun Fest.

The Green Dragon (Portland): On Thursday the Green Dragon is hosting a meet the brewer and tapping event with Bend’s Deschutes Brewery, with beer tapping at 5pm and the meet the brewer starting at 6. “We’ll have Deschutes Brewery Black Butte XXIII, XXIV and XXV. See [Deschutes Brewmaster] Cam O’Connor describe Black Butte XXV! The Stoic and Geant Blond – Sour Specialty Ale also on tap.”

Lompoc Brewing (Portland): They’ve recently started brewing up a series of “Class Rock” IPAs, and tomorrow the first is being released at their Sidebar from 4 to 10pm. “Hop Blooded IPA. A light caramel amber malt body rounds smoothly into an orange-citrus hop flavor. A dark pine bitterness lingers on the tongue accompanied by light citrus aromatics. Also releasing Cherry Mary, our Proletariat Red fermented in Maryhill Winery Merlot barrels with 40 lbs of sour cherries. All this plus showing Dazed and Confused at 8pm!” And the next in the series, Dirty Deeds IPA, is being brewed now!