Here is the news in Oregon beer for Wednesday, the 27th of November—the day before Thanksgiving! This will be the final news post of the month as I’m taking the rest of the week(end) off from the news for the holiday (though I may still be generally blogging). Hope everyone has a fantastic Turkey Day! 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.

McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend) has their special O’Kanes Cask Series Release today at 5pm, featuring a cask-only one-off version of a beer that this month definitely has my attention: Kris Kringle’s Pumpkin Ride. Added to a cask of this year’s Kris Kringle: “Along with all of these gifts the OSF Brewery has added yet another; fresh roasted pumpkin! Mixed in special for this O’Kanes Cask Series release, Kris Kringle takes an unique ride before he heads out on his special sleigh ride in December! Come join us in the celebration of this one of a kind type of present. Happy Holidays from the OSF Brewery!”

And over at McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro, tonight is their Roadhouse Beer Invitational for their Winter Warmer Fest II from 6 to 9pm, featuring four specialty beers on tap, three of which came from other McMenamins breweries. The four beers on tap are: The Commodore’s Reserve Barleywine from the Lighthouse Brewpub in Lincoln City (10.58% abv); The Black Hole Imperial Stout from the Roseburg Brewery (7.35% abv); Death Star 15m from Cornelius Pass (Barleywine aged 15 months, 11.09% abv); and Wee Heavy Strong Scotch Ale from the Crystal Brewery in Portland (7.6% abv). It’s a big beer night not to be missed!

For Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year if you partake, there are a number of shopping-alternative events you might want to check out:

• Belmont Station (Portland) is featuring their “BlackER Friday” all day in the Bier Café with vertical flights of Deschutes Brewery‘s The Abyss! Stop by for pours of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
• The Green Dragon (Portland) is holding their “Black Friday & Black IPAs” event all day with over a dozen Cascadian Dark Ales on draft. It’s also a benefit for Brewpublic’s Angelo De Ieso so make sure to stop by to drink some good beer and support Angelo!
• Roscoe’s (Portland): Their 4th annual Holiday Beer Summit starts Friday and lasts throught the weekend, offering up some 20 great holiday beers on tap that you can get full pours of, or taster trays if you’re so inclined.

Santiam Brewing (Salem): Friday is the day they open their second location, called The Bureau, at the Reed Opera House in downtown Salem. “As an opening days special, we will be doing a 3 day pre-release of the Bluegrass Stout. This is the most unique bourbon barrel aged stout any of us remembers tasting. It is a strong version of our stout that is aged in 20-year Bourbon Barrels form the Heaven Hills Distillery in Kentucky. This 8.9% stout is dark, roasty, with oak and vanilla notes and an intense bourbon character. There will only be one keg available at The Bureau in Friday, Saturday Sunday (if it lasts that long – unlikely) and will not be again available until the December the 7th Release party.” Be sure to check out The Bureau this weekend!