Happy Monday! It’s less than a week until Christmas, so you’ve got five more shopping days to line up your gifts and your holiday beers. I don’t know that I will be posted the news this entire week because of the holiday, but for now here’s what going on around Oregon in beer. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day with the latest news as I find it, so check back often. If you have news to share, please let me know and I can get that updated as well.

Imperial Bottle Shop (Portland): Tonight they are hosting a Fremont Brewing Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb night from 7 to 9pm: “We’ll be tapping a keg of Fremont Brewing 2015 Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb Bourbon Winter Ale that we cellared for the last year, along with a special variant of Bonfire (a roasty winter brown) infused w/tart cherry, cinnamon, & vanilla! We’ll also be selling 2016 Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb and regular 2016 B-Bomb (one bottle limit each). AND with every Fremont purchase get a raffle ticket for a chance to purchase 1 of 2 Ancient One B-Bomb bottles for only $25 (normally $32). Raffle at 9, must be present.”

Bend has a new brewery that would appear to be officially selling beer as of this weekend: Crooked Jay Brewing. They posted on Facebook that their first beer is on tap at Pisano’s Pizza in Tumalo: “Big news. We have released our first offering. Our signature Crooked Jay IPA. It is on tap at Pisano’s Pizza. First night received overwhelmingly positive reviews so we are hoping for many more! Crooked Jay IPA is a combination of hops, malt, and yeast so that no single ingredient dominates the drinking experience. A very refreshing IPA that denotes citrus, pine, and grapefruit flavor and aromas. Perfectly balanced with a subtle dry malt middle and fruit undertones. The low bitterness will win over even your most hardened non-IPA lovers and your macro brew loving friends! It is crisp, refreshing and deceptively drinkable. Be careful, it’s 8%.” Once I find out more I will have a longer story about them!

Mondays at all McMenamins locations are Growler Mondays, featuring $8 growler fills on all standard beers (and $10 for high gravity beers). This is a pretty good deal and you can stock up on Kris Kringle for Christmas!

Belmont Station (Portland): Today from 5 to 7pm they are welcoming Finnriver Cider for a tasting and evening of holiday gift ideas: “The Finnriver crew have really out done themselves to create a nice array of festive ciders for this tasting. They also put together some beautiful gift baskets which will surely be at the top of any cider lover’s holiday gift list. Seven different gift baskets including Finnriver logo glasses, a variety of very special ciders/brandy wines, and a “cocktail, cooking, tips and pairing” book. Supplies are limited so make sure to get here early for best selection.”

Vertigo Brewing (Hillsboro): Their Tropical Heatwave is back on tap: “Today we are tapping a keg of our Tropical Heatwave. Our Key Lime Blonde infused with Habanero Peppers. Come out of the cold and into the heat. Taproom opens at 4:00.”