Happy Friday! It’s the last Friday of September so here’s the Oregon beer news for the last weekend in September as well. As usual I’ll be periodically updating this post with the latest news as I find it, so check back often to see the newest updates. If you have news you’d like to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Bend and Central Oregon have a number of beery things happening this weekend:

• The Ale Apothecary will be enjoying a Brewery Celebration tonight at the Broken Top Bottle Shop in Bend starting at 5:30. Paul Arney will be pouring free samples of “(The Beer Formerly Known as) La Tache” and will be distributing Ale Apothecary beer to the Ale Club members.
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend) has a special “Hopped Up Beer Flight” tasting going on all day today over in the O’Kane’s bar; you can get sampler flights of brewer Mike “Curly” White’s hoppy creations: Titan India Red Ale, Lil’ Bruiser IPA, Big Bruiser Double IPA, and Thundercone Fresh Hop Ale.
• The Sisters Fresh Hop Festival is taking place tomorrow (Saturday) from noon to 8pm, featuring 11 Oregon breweries pouring their fresh hop creations for $1 per taster pour ($5 for the glass). Check out the details here.

The Hood River Hops Fest is taking place tomorrow (Saturday) as well, the same day as the Sisters Fest; the Hood River festival is I believe the largest such festival in the world, with 51 fresh hop beers (out of 64 total) pouring along with many other features including local wines, a Kid Zone, great local foods, arts and crafts vendors and more. It all takes place in downtown Hood River from noon to 9pm. It’s $6 for admission which includes your mug, and then $1 per token per taster (the usual). It’s going to be a fresh hop explosion tomorrow!

Occidental Brewing (Portland) is celebrating their second annual Oktoberfest Saturday the 29th, from noon to 10pm: live music, German food, and German-styles beers including this year’s special Festbier—what more could you ask for? “Everything takes place at the brewery, inside the taproom and outside in the courtyard. Chervona is back to again rock your faces and this year Urban German will fill your bellies. All Occidental beers will be pouring. Admission is free and minors are welcome.”

Speaking of German beer, Roscoe’s in Portland is holding their third annual German Beer Summit today starting at 4pm: “We will feature 14 German and “German-Style” from the U.S. and Germany on tap. The event will begin at 4PM on Friday, September 28th. Some of the breweries (and beers) will include: 10 Barrel (Smokescreen Rauchbier), Ayinger (Oktober Fest-Martzen), Upright (Criminal Crafts Barley Bock), Schneider (Aventinus), The Bruery (Hottenroth Berliner Weiss), Deschutes (Octoberfest), Double Mountain, Bayern (Bad Santa Eisbock), Weihenstephaner (Hefeweissbier), Midnight Sun, and many more.” You’ll be able to order taster trays if you’re feeling adventurous.

Gigantic Brewing (Portland) and Vertigo Brewing (Hillsboro) are collaborating to brew up a pumpkin beer! They each posted photos on Facebook (here and here) and the reveal is: “Brewing a Collabo Belgian Dubbel Pumpkin beer at Vertigo Brewing. The beer is for the Brewpublic KillerBeerWeek.” I love the idea of a Belgian-style pumpkin, and I hope some of this shows up elsewhere (hint *cough* Bend *cough*).

In fresh hop news (besides the festivals this weekend):

• The Commons Brewery (Portland) has a fresh hop beer coming out today: “Tonight we are releasing our Fresh Hop Farmhouse, a tart farmhouse ale with fresh Meridian hops from Goschie Farm. We’re open tonight from 5-9 and Saturday from 2-9.”
• Silver Moon Brewing (Bend) has their fresh hop beer hitting today as well: “HOPPOPOTAMUS FRESH HOP IPA now in bottles @ Silver Moon’s pub and coming on draft today!”
• Solera Brewery (Parkdale): Today is the release of Solera’s Kwazy Wabbit, a Fresh Hop Imperial IPA at the brewery accompanied by live music. “Brewed with more fresh Simcoe and Citra hops than you can shake a stick at. We’ll be pouring it all day (Day before Hood River Hops Fest). Live music from Williams, Mesa, and Dietrich. Doing acoustic versions of Barlow Road tunes and lots of tasty, Americana, roots-rock covers.”