Here’s the Oregon beer news for Friday the 20th and going into the weekend and holidays. I’m planning to take the rest of the month off from the beer news posts (though not necessarily general posts) and should be back by January 2nd. As usual, I’ll be periodically updating this post throughout the day, so check back often. And while I won’t be posting much in regular news during the holiday, you can still contact me if you have news to share!

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City) has a new winter seasonal out, Red Lantern IPA: “Just like red lanterns were once used to guide fishing boats to home base at the end of the day during foggy winter weather, our Red Lantern IPA is the perfect way to end your winter day. Born from our brewer’s love of hops and craving for a deep caramel backbone, the rich red color and medium body delivers just the right balance. Copious amounts of El Dorado hops give Red Lantern a clean hoppy finish.”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) has a special tapping of a keg from Eugene’s Claim 52 Brewing all day today: “Claim 52 brewer Trevor Ross designed a Belgian-style Golden Strong ale to represent his youngest daughter’s personality, and he let her name it. She called it Arabesque, after one of the most difficult ballet maneuvers. Today we’re tapping a keg of Arabesque, and proceeds will go to the Eugene Ballet Academy across the street, where Ross’ daughter dances. Come support local beer and the fine arts!”

Breakside Brewery (Portland): Not only did they brew a staggering 100 beers this year for 2013(!), they’re release three new limited edition barrel-aged beers tomorrow (Saturday the 21st) at their Milwaukee brewery at 8pm, and are introducing for 2014 a Cellar Reserve Club that people can buy into. The beers they are releasing tomorrow are (all bottled): Aquavit Barrel­-Aged Braggot, 10.2% abv; Bourbon Woody, 10%; Beaujolais avec Brett, 8.2%.

The Cellar Reserve Club will be limited to 80 members the first year, and will cost $200 and plan for five beers to be released starting in May. Along with first crack at the specialty beers members will get two special glasses, a t-shirt, private event releases, and free entry to Breakside’s May anniversary party. That’s a pretty good deal!

Santiam Brewing (Salem): Tomorrow (Saturday) they are holding their “First Anniversary of the End of the World” party (they first held their End of the World Party last year at the end of the Mayan calendar). Details: “This Saturday’s Anniversary of “The End Of The World” Party at the Brewery Tasting Room will feature the release of Cymru Olde Imperial Ale, Music from Michael Taylor from 7-9:30 PM, and delicious food provided by Fusion Vietnamese. Also, we’ll be serving cask conditioned Cymru which will be tapped after 4 PM, when the first blindfolded customer successfully finds the keystone with the faucet. As always, mid-month releases are poured at Hoppy Hour price at both locations. Oh, what fun!”

Amnesia Brewing (Portland) has their Winter Solstice Brew Fest taking place tomorrow all day starting at noon. “This year’s winter brew fest lands on the solstice, Saturday December 21, 2013 and will feature a number of the region’s finest craft breweries’ winter offerings including a handful of seasonal releases from Amnesia, too. $10 entry gets you a collectable stein glass and drinking tickets (more tickets are available to purchase).” This will be the last such fest before they move it to their Washougal, Washington brewpub, and even better this will be a fundraising benefit for Angelo de Ieso, so be sure to stop by!

Agrarian Ales (Eugene) is holding their own Winter Solstice Celebration from 3 to 8pm, featuring special winter beer releases, wood fired oven pizza, and live music by Breakers Yard and Dirty Spoon. The beers are: Apricity (winter Saison) and Chronic D’Aphotic (Cascadian Dark Ale).

Barley Brown’s (Baker City) is invading Portland this weekend for a tap takeover at N.W.I.P.A.! “Merry Christmas N-DUBs style! We will have Pallet Jack, WFO, Turmoil, Disorder Stout and the release of Chaos. Chaos is an Imperial CDA with 10lbs. of hops per barrel and comes in at 10.6%, sure to liven your spirits!”

The Bier Stein tomorrow is holding a release party for Burnside Brewing‘s winter seasonal, Permafrost, from 6 to 9pm—and in addition to Permafrost, they’ll also tap Burnside’s IPA, Smokey the Beer, and 2012 White Out Port Barrel Aged Barleywine. A nice mini tap takeover just in time for the holidays!

McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend): Monday, December 23, will be featuring a special beer release that will be pouring all day, Kris Kringles’s Stuffed Stocking. “The OSF brewery has found a special stocking not hung by the chimney but stuffed into a keg of our Kris Kringle. This stocking is full of American Oak chips that were soaked in our Hogshead Whiskey for a couple weeks. Then stuffed into this one of a kind keg of the 2013 version of Kris Kringle, a hearty and robust ale with a big and bold malt complexity as well as an intense and flavorful hop profile. This “winter warmer” highlights the rich, toasty, aromatic and chocolaty malt flavors as its very sturdy foundation. Mixed with the special ambiance of sweet whiskey and a dry oak fininsh. On top of it all we are pouring this on the Nitro tap which will smooth out the flavors on your tongue and leave you shouting HO HO HO! Happy Holidays from the OSF Brewery!”