We’re officially one week away from Christmas! Here’s the news in Oregon beer for Tuesday the 18th of December. As usual I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often for the latest news and info. If you have news to share, please contact me and I can get that posted as well.

Laurelwood Brewing (Portland) has a new “Red Elephant India Red Ale” hitting the taps today at the main pub; this 7.3% abv beer is a combination of the hop bill of their Green Elephant IPA with the malt bill of their Free Range Red to create this “Winter IPA” (or technically IRA).

Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland) is launching a Vintage Barleywine Night tonight starting at 5pm at both pubs which sound awesome: “Take a step back in time with the re-release of Noggin Floggin Barleywine from 2010 and 2011. We’ll also have a special 3-beer taster flight available featuring 2010, 2011 and this year’s 2012 edition. Cozy up to these special edition barleywines and explore the nuances developed over time in our winter warmer.”

Worthy Brewing (Bend): Today is the day—the first-ever beer is being brewed today at the new brewery! This beer is a Pale Ale (“Eastside Pale”) basically being brewed as a calibration batch to test and inaugurate the new system; there’s still much construction and finishing work going on around the brewing, particularly on the beer garden and restaurant space. I was able to visit for a little bit today and get some pictures and the scoop on the new brewery from Brewmaster Chad Kennedy, look for that post later today.

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Their Tap It Tuesday tonight at the Barrel House at 6pm is featuring Shrieking Violet Blueberry: “This NW style sour single barrel project is no wallflower. It started as a triple that was barrel aged for 21 months, then aged for another six months on blueberries before having strong blond quad blended in. Huge sweet and herbal notes of dense blueberries in the nose give way to hints of oak and leather. Rich, earthy notes of dark fruit on the palate yield to a rich, velvety finish that dries out to a base note of blueberry skins. 10% ABV, $7 glass, $2.5 taster.”

Burnside Brewing (Portland): Their Sea Urchin Ale, brewed in collaboration with Riffle NW seafood restaurant (and well documented here by the New School), is going on tap today at Riffle starting at 5pm. This sounds like an incredibly unique beer (brewed with actual sea urchin, tomato water, and smoked sea salt) worth trying, though I suspect you’ll only be able to if in Portland.

Coalition Brewing (Portland) has a new hard cider brewed up via their Coalator program, and that’s going on tap today at 5pm: “Today at 5 pm we release the first of 4 batches of Coalator hard Cider! It is pretty much guaranteed to go fast, so come and get some while you can. It’s paired with some BBQ from Johnjames Kitchen@Coalition!” This might be one of the first commercial breweries I’ve heard that has also brewed up a cider (though it’s not something I’ve looked into extensively); should be an interesting drink to try.