Happy August! And, happy IPA Day! Don’t forget to drink an IPA today. Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Thursday the 1st. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

PFriem Family Brewers (Hood River) is celebrating their one-year anniversary this weekend at their Hood River tap room, and tonight at Portland’s Bazi Bierbrasserie there’s a special “One Year Greatest Hits” tonight from 6 to 9pm you won’t want to miss! “The pFriem Family Brewers lineup will include: Strong Blonde, Blonde IPA, Lil Saison, Christmas Ale, Strong Dark, Tripel, and Swarzbier. In addition to pouring seven of pFriem’s most popular and sought after beers, Bazi’s European Monaco draft system will feature ten of Josh pFriem’s favorite Belgians that have served as an inspiration in his recipe creations.” If you’re a fan of the pFriem beers—and if not, why not?—this will be a great party to attend tonight.

McMenamins Old Church & Pub (Wilsonville): Tonight they have a meet the brewer and special beer release featuring Smooth Sailin’ French Saison: “This Saison is brewed with all French malt and European style hops. Special Aromatic gives off a fragrant malt profile which mingles with Crystal, Golding, and Sterling hops. The true gem of this beer is the French yeast strain, which produces fruity, spicy esters perfect for summertime.” The beer goes on tap at 5pm and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

McMenamins Fulton Pub (Portland) has their own limited-edition beer release today, featuring Stammtisch Kölsch, starting at 5pm: “In Germany, the word “Stammtisch” refers to an informal group meeting held on a regular basis, and also the (usually large, often round) table around which the group meets. A Stammtisch is not a structured meeting, but rather a friendly get-together. These convivial gatherings are most often enjoyed with a round of beers. Stammtisch Kolsch is a beer designed to meet the approval of even the most discerning Stammtisch. This cool-fermented German ale is straw colored, slightly dry, but has a very slight fruitiness that is both crisp and refreshing. Low hop flavor and aroma round out a medium bitterness.”

Hop Valley Brewing (Springfield): Tonight from 5 to 7pm you can come by Hop Valley’s new Eugene location and meet the brewers for a special tapping: “We will be tapping “Eleven” – Brewed in celebration of Nigel Tufnel Day (November 11, 2011). A strong ale brewed with eleven different malts and hops. 11% ABV, 111 IBU. There are only a few more kegs stashed away, so enjoy it while it lasts.”

I’m a little behind on this news, but this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival drew 85,000 people to Portland this year for the 26th consecutive fest! I’m sure adding an extra day to open earlier (Wednesday) helped bump this number up but that’s still an impressive amount of people filtering through Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Another interesting stat: 2,900(!) bikes were parked in the Hopworks Urban Brewery Bike Corral during the fest—wow!

Have you heard of Oblivion Brewing yet? No? That’s because they are Bend’s newest brewery that set’s to debut this month! Mark Lindner, the Bend Beer Librarian, broke the news today on his blog: “We chatted for a few minutes and I found out that they will shortly be on taps in Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café, Platypus Pub, Brother Jon’s and at least one of the growler fill stations. According to Darin [Butschy] they brew primarily ales but they do have a pilsner.” They plan to have a release party at Broken Top Bottle Shop on August 24; I’ll have more to write in detail about Oblivion sometime soon. This will put Central Oregon at 21 breweries!