It’s now less than one week until Christmas! Finish your shopping and pick up your beer, and here is the news for all your good cheer! (Sorry, couldn’t resist the rhyme.) I’ll be updating this post throughout the day with the latest news, so check back in from time to time.

McMenamins Cedar Hills (Beaverton) is hosting its monthly limited-edition beer tasting tonight, featuring beer from brewer Dan Black of the Oak Hills location: Heather Weather Porter. “It’s the time of year when all the wonderful sweaters come out, good and bad. The Heather Weather Porter celebrates this special time with a traditional old world beer ingredient: heather tips. They provide a mild smoothness with flavors and aromas of sage and spice. This is a dark brew, but an easy drinker, lightly hopped and nicely balanced. Stay warm out there!” The tasting takes place from 5 to 8pm.

Salem Ale Works is hosting the first in a new series of classes on homebrewing, on the topic of recipe formulation. “From beginners to seasoned homebrewers, this class will provide information and frame work from which to build enjoyable beer recipes. SAW beer professor Ryan Holt will teach you how to formulate recipes, taking into consideration style, target stats, ingredients, and more. Ryan’s brewing resume is extensive, having brewed for over 20 years. He has twice won medals at the National Homebrew Competition, has placed at every major competition in Oregon, and has won the IPA category at the KLCC brewfest for 3 out of the last 4 years. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the best!” It starts at 6:30pm and costs $20, tickets for which you can purchase online here.

Belmont Station (Portland) welcomes Bale Breaker Brewing to showcase its new look as part of the brewery’s Holiday Road Show: “We are very excited to be the ONLY stop in Oregon on Bale Breaker’s Pacific Northwest Holiday Road Show and be the first in Oregon to showcase this new look for Bale Breaker cans! To help out our good friends up north we will have a mountain of the new cans in the bottle shop and a few fun, tasty things on draft in the Biercafe. We will also have Dormancy Breakfast Stout in cans for the first time. A side note. We will be the only retailer in the state of Oregon to receive these new branded cans until after the first of the year. Owner and OG brewer Kevin Quinn will be leading the Bale Breaker gang into town in the Field 41 Recreational Vehicle. So swing by, pick up some shiny new-look cans for the holidays and say hi to the Bale Breaker crew!” Tonight from 5 to 8pm.

Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland) has the final of its holiday releases taking place starting at 5pm at all locations. The beers releasing today are Yule Only Live Once and That Holiday Cake Dough: “Yule Only Live Once – Imperial Dessert Beer modeled after Panettone Italian Christmas cake. Strong Ale, creamy and rich from lactose, with a plethora of dried cherries, apricots, prunes, raisins and lemon zest. 13% ABV – Available only on tap. That Holiday Cake Dough – Big and sweet dessert beer with fruit cake added. Malt flavors of raisins, molasses, toffee and bread mingle with dried cherries, candied pineapple, orange, cinnamon and a hint of ginger. 9% ABV – Available only on tap.”

There are more Resilience IPA tappings taking place today:

• The Tap & Growler (Eugene) is tapping a keg of Oakshire Brewing’s version today.
• The Bier Stein (Eugene) is also tapping an Oakshire keg.
• Conversion Brewing (Lebanon) has its Resilience IPA release party starting at 5pm.
• Deschutes Brewery (Bend) tapped the IPA at its Bend Pub.

Depoe Bay Brewing has its newest beer available today: “We are excited to premiere our newest beer at the brewery today. Dead Reckoning Spicy Belgian Tripple. The ideal winter warmer for those cold windy days on the beautiful Oregon Coast.”

Wayfinder Beer (Portland) has its latest beer coming out today: “Today we unleash PARTY TIME, our German-style Pilsner of great style and character. An inviting bouquet of Tettnang hops rides atop a light Continental-malt body with just the right amount of bitterness and flavor. PARTY TIME is clean, delicate, soulful and thoroughly delicious. Oh, and it’s the 100th batch on our fabulous 10-barrel system. That alone is worth throwing your clothes off and hopping on goat for! 4.5% ABV 35 IBU.”

Roscoe’s (Portland) is hosting a Von Ebert Brewery night starting at 5pm: “Meet the Brewers, Owner, and Crew from Von Ebert Brewing at Roscoe’s. Lots of great Von Evert Beers on tap!”