Welcome back from the holiday! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, now it’s on to the Christmas season. Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Monday the 26th of November; as usual, I’ll be periodically updating this throughout the day, so check back often. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that updated, as well.

Lompoc Brewing (Portland) has their annual Holiday Release Party taking place tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, at the Sidebar and featuring not one, not two, but seven seasonal releases—more than any other brewery I’m aware of. On draft will be Blitzen, Bourbon Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, C-sons Greetings, Franc’ly Brewdolph, Jolly Bock, Old Tavern Rat, and 8 Malty Nights (Portland’s first Hanukkah beer), and both 8 Malty Nights and C-Sons Greetings will also be available for sale in 22-ounce bottles. The Extravaganza runs from 4 to 10pm and there will be free snacks available as well.

The Holiday Ale Festival takes place this week in Portland! After the Oregon Brewfest the Holiday Fest is the biggest and most-anticipated festival in the state. It runs for five days this year and kicks off Wednesday the 28th and runs through Sunday, December 2nd, and is located in Pioneer Square in downtown Portland. Tickets cost $30 for entry and mug (but with the wristband and mug you can get free re-entry all five days) with additional tasters $1 each. In addition to an amazing lineup of standard beers, there is a stunning array of limited-release beers which go on tap at 2pm each day (and which cost extra tickets of course). This is the holiday season beer event that I encourage you not to miss if you are anywhere near Portland this week!

Solstice Brewing (Prineville) fired up their brew kettle for the first time yesterday and brewed up their first batch of beer! They charted some of the brewday progress over on their Facebook page, and while we don’t know (yet) what the inaugural beer is, that’s a huge step for Solstice, one that’s been a long time coming.

Double Mountain Brewery (Portland) is teaming up with Portland’s Podnah’s Pit Barbecue to put on a German-style family beer dinner tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th. “Time for another all-you-can-eat-and-drink extravaganza! The meal is going to feature smoked pork chops, ribs, sausages, bacon, sauerkraut, salads, pickled vegetables, charcuterie, etc., served family-style along with 8 different Double Mountain beers, including some rarities. House-made kolaches for dessert will round out the feast.” It runs from 5:30 to 10pm, and costs $45; call 503-281-3700 to make reservations.

Two Shy Brewing (Roseburg) also had a first-batch moment last week, on the 21st, as they announced on Facebook that they were brewing their first batch as a fully-licensed brewery. That’s good news and Roseburg beer fans should start seeing Two Shy’s brews officially on tap around town soon.

Belmont Station (Portland) has a tasting tomorrow (the 27th) from 5 to 7pm featuring both Pyramid and MacTarnahan’s beers pouring: “Taste Pyramid Outburst IIPA, Wheaten IPA, Thunderhead & Snowcap Winter Ale plus Mac’s Humbug’r and other seasonals such as Ink Blot Baltic Porter or Goosebump Imperial Stout. the perennial winter classic Snowcap will be on tap.”

Amnesia Brewing (Portland) has a new website that they’ve rolled out; previously they only had a Facebook page so this is a welcome addition (hint to breweries: you should always have your own domain and website, and not just rely on social media pages!). Looks like it could still be fleshed out a bit, but right off the bat I see that on December 8 they are hosting their Amnesia Winter Beer Fest! (More on that later.)

Falling Sky Brewing (Eugene): This Sunday December 2 they are hosting a Brewers Harvest Dinner starting at 7:30pm, featuring five courses and six beers for a very reasonably-priced $39. Tickets only appear to be available directly from Falling Sky so you’ll need to be in Eugene at some point this week if you want to attend.