Here’s the beer news from around Oregon for Tuesday, the 7th of August. As usual I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest updates. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get it posted.

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Tonight’s Deschutes Brewery University on Sour Beers still has 3 tickets available! For $25 per ticket, you will learn all about sour beers, and even get to taste a bunch: “Our “bug master” & brewer, David Brendgard, has been working with sour beers here at Deschutes Brewery and will be teaching this class to you. You will learn about the different types of sour beers, the history, yeast strains, brewing techniques, barrel aging process, desired and non-desirable flavor compounds and more…” It takes place from 6 to 8pm tonight at the Bend brewpub Tap Room.

McMenamins Old Church & Pub (Wilsonville) has their Church Firkin Tuesday limited-edition beer tasting today starting at 5pm, featuring Dry-Hopped Cascadian IPA: “Join brewer Mark Goodwin for a meet-and-greet Church Firkin Tuesday. Golden orange in color with a grapefruit zesty nose, this is an easy drinking IPA. The name is derived from the Oregonian tradition of creating something new and laying namesake to it. Let the hops entice your nose while the smooth caramel malt and carbonation mingle on your tongue. Because you, yes you, you earned it.” The beer is available at happy hour prices all night but when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday starting at 6pm is featuring “live” Sour Wheat. “This NW style sour wheat ale is one of our lightest offerings. Subtle aromas of honey and light, bright lemon are noticed up front. Soft malt and a sweet, lemony tartness in the initial taste give way to hints of oak in the finish. Multiple layers of sour dance around the palate all throughout this beer. 6.5% ABV, $6.5 glass.”

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): This week’s Growler Power Hour special (where you can fill a growler for only $6 on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 to 6pm) is Hopnob IPA. Don’t miss it!

The Bier Stein (Eugene) posted about a tasting this Thursday the 9th along with an interesting tidbit about it: “Eugene’s beloved Steelhead Brewing Co. bottled 2 of their IPAs under the name McKenzie River Brewing Co.! They changed the name to avoid a lawsuit with Mad River Brewing Co., who has a line of beers called Steelhead. Robbie from McKenzie River will be here sampling their wares this Thursday the 9th from 7-9pm. Sample the bottles and a few from draft for FREE!”  Getting past the lawsuit-name-change portion, I’d definitely like to try some of these bottled beers since Steelhead is normally a brewpub only.

Breakside Brewery (Portland) just posted breaking news on Facebook which is being picked up by everyone already: “Big news for us today; we’re excited to announce that award-winning brewer (and all around wonderful guy) Jacob Leonard will be joining Breakside as our new Production Manager at our new brewery! We’ll be throwing him a welcoming party when he officially starts next month!” Leonard currently (or up until now at least) is a brewer with Widmer and was formerly with Walking Man in Stevenson, Washington.

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend) is on fire with new beers lately, and this afternoon they just announced a new one that will tickle the fancies of beer geeks everywhere: open fermenation Hefeweizen! “Our newest brew: Crux Bavarian Hefeweizen is now on tap! This is the VERY first brew to come out of our Open Fermenters— a tasty twist on a traditional Bavarian wheat beer with tantalizing clove and fruity notes. Significant players— Pilsner malt and malted white wheat.
With an approachable ABV of 5.0% and IBU’s at 8.”  I can’t wait to try it!

The starting day for next year’s Oregon Brewers Festival has just been announced: “It has just been announced that we will open at Noon on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 – make your plans now! Who’s in?” It shows the growth: it’s the first time in its (nearly) 26-year history that it will be starting that early.