Happy Hump Day! Here’s the beer news from around Oregon and the web for Wednesday, the 7th of October. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often for updates. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Big news out of Eugene today, that I first saw reported on Brewpublic this morning: Oakshire Brewing‘s brewmaster, Matt Van Wyk, will be leaving Oakshire to start his own Eugene-based brewery, AleSong Brewing & Blending. The new brewery “will focus on farmhouse ales, wild ales and a barrel-aging program. These are all beer styles that Van Wyk has excelled at during his brewing career. Van Wyk will partner with brothers Brian and Doug Coombs to launch AleSong in the coming months in the Eugene, Oregon area. The trio filed its Articles of Organization paperwork to form an LLC back in late July with the state of Oregon.” October 23 is Van Wyk’s last day, and lead brewer Tyler West (who got his start in Bend at Silver Moon Brewing) will be taking over brewmaster duties. Big congrats to both!

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Their Barrel House 5th anniversary celebration continues today! Each day they are tapping vintage, 1/4 barrel kegs from the cellar, all of which will be served in four ounce servings for $5. Today’s tappings are ’08 Sang Noir and ’09 Kriek. Get some!

The Bier Stein (Eugene) is putting on a beer dinner with Eugene’s Agrarian Ales tonight from 6 to 8:30pm: “On the occasion of our 11th beer dinner, we have joined forces and ingredients with our friends at Agrarian Ales for a wonderful meal. Check out the menu below– $55 per ticket includes all food, beer, and gratuity!” The meal is a six-course dinner paired with Agrarian’s ales, and looks really good, worth checking out.

Over at Belmont Station in Portland, Corvallis’ Block 15 Brewery is in the house for the release party of their Sticky Hands in cans, tonight from 5 to 7pm: “Dreams really do come true! Block 15’s Sticky Hands IPA is heading our way, and this time, it’s coming in cans! Yes, friends, that means you can take this precious liquid with you wherever you go! We are pretty stoked about the news, and Block 15 is too! Here’s what they said: “We are super excited to get this fantastic hop experience ale into cans!” And we are honored to be the only spot in Portland that Block 15 has chosen to help them release their Sticky CANS! Join the Block 15 crew for the big party! Not only will we be selling Sticky Hands cans in the bottle shop, but in the tap room, we will have a “small but kickass” (as Block 15 put it) draft list of some special Block 15 beers curated by the brew crew to complement those Sticky cans.”

The Green Dragon (Portland): Tonight’s Green Dragon Brew Crew release is featuring Sophie Amber Ale: “Named in honor of their cat, the Green Dragon Brew Crew releases Sophie, an Amber Ale brewed with fresh hops and fresh barley. Sophie (the beer) is malt forward, full bodied with the essence you only get by using fresh Alluvial Hops from Rogue Farms in Independence, Oregon. Sophie (the cat) is sweet natured and has a feel-good effect on everyone she meets. Both beer and cat have a similar effect on people and share a beautiful amber color.” The release starts at 5pm.

Rock Bottom Brewery (Portland): They have a firkin tapping today from 5:30 to 6:30pm: “Travel back in time as we tap a traditional cask of English IPA conditioned on oak chips.” Going old school!