Happy Friday the 13th! I hope your day is a lucky one and you’re planning on attending one or more of the many events going on this weekend around the state. Here’s the news roundup; 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.

The Commons Brewery (Portland) is celebrating their 2nd anniversary tonight starting at 5pm at their tasting room: “We’ll have a small spread of food and will tap a collection of our favorites as well as some special kegs we’ve been saving for this event.” Tap list posted so far includes: Urban Farmhouse, Biere Royale, Flemish Kiss, Sticke (double altbier), Zoigl Lager, Maybelle, King’s Blend, Bourbon Little Brother, Plum Bretta, Ortucky Common, Pear Honey Saison. The Commons is one of Oregon’s hottest breweries right now, so be sure to head down and help them celebrate.

McMenamins Thompson Brewery (Salem) is holding a weekend-long special holiday tasting beer flight dubbed “A Snowball’s Chance in Ale”: “To celebrate the release of this year’s Kris Kringle Yuletide Ale, Thompson brewer Jen Kent will present guests with a special taster tray of seasonal beers.” There are six featured beers with taster trays of all six available for $7.50, which include several “guest” beers from other McMenamins breweries. The beers are: Imperial Parson Brown (Old St Francis School), The Black Hole (Roseburg Station), Vicar’s Knickers ESB (Cornelius Pass Roadhouse), Rum Widow, Pole-Ax, and Red Riser IRA. This sounds like a great showcase so don’t miss out!

Plew’s Brews (Portland): They are holding one of many mini beer fests this weekend, their St. Johns Winter Beer Fest starting today and running through Sunday. “The last big beer fest of the season! We’ll have over 20 different holiday themed beers. Glasses are $5 and tickets are $1. Most tastings will be 4 ounces for one ticket. Presented by the High Street Homebrew Club and Thurston Beervents.” There’s a taplist posted here and it looks like they’ve got a great selection available.

Sixteen Tons (Eugene) has their 4th annual Winter & Strong Ale Fest kicking off today and running through tomorrow, with 50+ beers planned for this not-to-miss fest if you’re in the area. “The Festival provides a unique opportunity to sample seasonal, one off, and rare beers from renowned brewers from Oregon and beyond. 16 Tons guarantees to have an extremely eclectic and interesting lineup of beers unmatched anywhere in Oregon. 5pm-10pm each day, Free Entry, $1-$2 Tasters, Cash Only.” Be there!

Migration Brewing (Portland) tonight starting at 7pm Migration is holding their annual Holiday Pre-Funk party: “We know the winter Ale fest at Pioneer Court House Square can be a little overwhelming so each year Migration Brewing Company and Taplister are happy to bring to you 5 of the best local breweries winter ales to you. The last two years we have taken this opportunity to collect food for the Oregon Food Bank, however this year we felt there was a much better cause to support. We will be donating 20% of the nights proceeds to Angelo M De Ieso II an amazing friend of Migration, the over all beer community and all the breweries involved. Angelo has accrued some medical bills due to an unforeseen condition nobody saw coming which could happen to anyone of us and we all want to help.” Be sure to swing by if you can, enjoy beer and music and help out Angelo!

Silver Moon Brewing (Bend): Today is the release day for their Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Side Stout, kicking off at 6pm. “Get a taste of our Dark Side. We’re releasing the Bourbon Barrel Aged Darkside Stout! RAFFLE: Growlers, shirts, schwag, & gift cert giveaways. PLUS, Hobbs The Band in the house! To get 3 tickets to the raffle, bring in ANYTHING WARM to DONATE to the homeless: Sleeping bags, gloves, blankets, etc. Help us warm the homeless population of Bend.” Dark Side Stout won the 2011 Gold Medal at the GABF in the Foreign-Style Stout category, so I’m expecting this to be delicious.

Occidental Brewing (Portland): Tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) is Occidental’s 2nd annual Humbug Lager Fest, running all day at the brewery. “This year we will have 15 beers pouring, including the debut of Occidental Rauchbier. To supply the rest of the beer, we’ve asked our friends for some help…Firestone Walker, Upright, The Commons, Breakside, Lompoc, Ayinger, Old Town, Southern Oregon, Heater Allen, Ninkasi, Hopworks, Rock Bottom and Oakshire will be in attendance. This is a great list, one you will not want to miss.” No tickets, and both full pours and tasters will be available.

The first-ever Central Oregon Winter Beer Festival is taking place tomorrow (Saturday) in Bend at the GoodLife Brewing Biergarten from 2 to 8pm. Featuring at least 15 of Central Oregon’s breweries (and hopefully we’ll see all of them!) there will be some great specialty beers and holiday favorites pouring. The Fest is a fundraiser for the Central Oregon Brewers Guild; the cost of admission id $10 which gets you the glass and five drink tickets good for a four-ounce taste, with additional tickets $1 each.

Crux Fermentation Project (Bend): Saturday morning (tomorrow) from 9am to 11am they are holding their special Banished Series Bottle Release: wax-dipped, barrel-aged versions of some of their big beers. “Join us at Crux to celebrate the release of three new beers, including Freakcake Barrel-Aged Oud Bruin Ale, Banished Doublecross Dark Belgian Ale, Half Hitch Imperial Mosaic IPA, plus a second release of Tough Love Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout.” Good stuff. And because it’s a morning release, you’ll be able to get coffee and breakfast “beer-itos” as well.

Saraveza (Portland) is holding a Tap Takeover Brunch Saturday morning featuring Hood River’s Double Mountain Brewery at their Bad Habit Room. From 9am to 2pm, brunch will feature four Double Mountain beers on tap: Lyle Rider, Fa La La La La, Killer Brass, and Kölsch.

The Bier Stein (Eugene) has their Starkbierzeit Festival of Strong Beer taking place all day Saturday featuring a fantastic set of bottles and drafts that you should absolutely not miss! “The Bier Stein is pulling out some big guns once again for its second Starkbierzeit: Festival of Strong Beer. The all-day event will feature strong beers from around the world, focusing on but not limited to holiday-style ales. Half the taplist will be occupied by Herculean ales, and roughly a dozen bottles will be pouring from 11am until 8pm. Tickets for bottle tastings will be $1 apiece, and a 3oz. pour will range from two to six tickets.”

Barley Brown’s/Baker City Brewing (Baker City): Today they are releasing their Chaos, double CDA and Turmoil’s “big brother”! “Friday the 13th, what a day to release the 2013 CHAOS Double CDA. Brewed in anticipation of Turmoil’s 10th anniversary, this bad mother is a blatantly irresponsible use of hops and tips the scales at 10.6% ABV. Going on tap tonight at the Taphouse.”