Happy Hump Day! Today is the second day of the Day of the Dead, be sure to celebrate appropriately! Here’s the news in beer from around Oregon for this Wednesday, November 2. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back often for updates. And if you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated as well.

Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland): Today HUB is holding the release of Motherland, their Russian Imperial Stout, with specials and a party at the brewery from 5 to 9pm. “Motherland is a deep black Russian Imperial Stout that sits at 9.8% ABV. Bittersweet chocolate flavors mingle with deep fig and plum fruitiness. The beer finishes with a lingering spiciness and heat.” There will also be two more pub-only beers: Wave Train, a Vienna-style lager-influenced amber ale, and Cranberry Lemon Gose.

Eugene’s GABF award-winning AleSong Brewing & Blending will be the featured brewery at Corvallis’ Caves Bier & Kitchen monthly tasting series tonight from 4:30 to 6:30pm. “Join us for our monthly tasting series, as we welcome our good friends Alesong Brewing and Blending from Eugene, with 3 of their beers paired with small plates hand crafted from our kitchen! Meet the brewers, talk beer, enjoy great food and maybe even take home some swag!”

The Green Dragon (Portland): Today’s Green Dragon Brew Crew release (per the OBG website) is featuring Andes the Giant: “Guest brewer Dave Napack won a homebrewing competition with the PDX Home Brewers Club and was invited to make one of his homebrew recipes with the Green Dragon Brew Crew. Dave wanted to showcase a big, complex flavor and he collaborated with the crew to create Andes the Giant – an amazing, unconventional Belgian Dark Strong ale using Chilean Patagonia Especial Malt. Andes the Giant is a malty behemoth which matches the beauty and power of the mountains it is named after. This is a wonderfully balanced and deceptively strong beer that showcases the delicate toffee and raisin notes of the especial barley grown and malted in the Chilean Patagonia. The flavor of the especial malt truly highlights the varietal purity, terroir, uniqueness, and traditions of barley malting in Chile.” It’s a giant 9.3% abv and will be tapped at 5pm.

Don’t forget that Bazi Bierbrasserie‘s and Imperial Bottle Shop‘s joint Día De Los Muertos Festival De Cervezas is continuing today at both beer bars in Portland! Both bars are pouring a variety of appropriately-themed beers in special 5 ounce pours with a commemorative glass goblet you can get for $5. And: “each 5 oz pour ticket can be purchased for $1.50 or 10 tickets for $12. Most beers will be either 1 or 2 tickets.”

And the Horse Brass Pub in Portland is celebrating their 40th anniversary all this week, with a superb taplist. Don’t miss out on Rogue Ales’ Horse Brass Anniversary Ale or Russian River’s Don the Younger!

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales (Hood River): For the month of November, “every pour of Seizoen in the month of November raises $1 for the Jason William Hunt Foundation, an organization which provides financial assistance to families of at-risk teens so they can participate in outdoor/wilderness therapy programs across the United States.” Make sure to do your part to help out and drink plenty of Logsdon beer!

Columbia River Brewing (Portland) has a new beer release today: “Wee Heavy Scottish Ale. 12% ABV. Served only in 10oz Mugs.” (A little sparse on details, but wow, that’s a big beer!)

Ecliptic Brewing (Portland): They have two new beers hitting shelves soon: Ecliptic Third Orbit Anniversary Ale and their seasonal Filament Winter IPA. The Anniversary Ale in particular will be one to watch for—it’s an imperial porter with cherries, and the brewery says: “Brewed to celebrate our Third Anniversary, this imperial porter is brewed with 22 lbs of cherries per barrel. 7 malts along with Columbus, Amarillo, Chinook, and Cascade hops complement for a balanced cherry flavor. This beer is perfect for aging in your cellar.” At 9% abv, the cellar is a good place for a few bottles!