Recently I’ve been contemplating the future of these beer news posts and would like to strike a balance between putting them on hiatus entirely and scaling them back to once or twice a week. So for today, this St. Patrick’s Day we’ll kick off the week with the start of a weekly post that I will update occasionally throughout the week—a bit lower-impact than a new post daily. I’ll sort by the day, as well (Monday and general news first). As always if you have news to share, please contact me and I can update this (weekly) post to reflect that.

Of course being St. Patrick’s Day, everybody and their brother is celebrating with all sorts of fun. Belmont Station in Portland is even celebrating their 17th anniversary today as well! “How do you celebrate 17 years of great beers and cheers? By asking each one of our awesome, knowledgeable employees to pick a keg they want on tap and enjoying those kegs until they run out! That’s how! We will be tapping our staff’s picks on March 17, the actual date of our anniversary, by 4 p.m.,, and pouring them until they all run out. So come on by and help us celebrate! Here are a few of our staff picks, just to tempt you: Moylan’s Hop Craic Quadrupel IPA, Victory Dirt Wolf, Laurelwood Megafauna, Deschutes The Abyss, Bear Republic Tartare & The Bruery Sour in the Rye…”

The Bier Stein (Eugene) has their St. Paddy’s Day going on with some specialty brews on tap for your drinking pleasure all day long: “Got a little Irish in you? Want a little Irish in you? Great snakes have we got what you need! Don your greenery and mosey on down for pints of the real Irish beer tradition: Dry Stout. We will have two representations of the style, brewed by some of our favorite local brewers, plus two more: Agrarian Small Axe Dry Stout NITRO, Hop Valley Patty’s Red Lager NITRO, Pelican Irish Handcuffs Dry Stout, and Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale”

BunsenBrewer (Sandy): If this Facebook status update is accurate, you’ll want to head on over! “Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Free beer all day and live music from 530-730 pm. Also serving up green beer. Come out and have a good time!”

Bend is subject to yet another article highlighting its beers and great outdoor scene. The usual suspects are present, including a short anecdote about the history of Silver Moon Brewing which is mostly right, though embellished a bit.

The New School reports on the possibility of Portland’s The Commons Brewery relocating to a larger space: “The Commons Brewery is hoping to relocate to a larger building in the same neighborhood at 2136 SE 8th. An Oregon Liquor Control Commission application reveals the possible new home, though owner Mike Wright is quick to point out the deal is not final.”

Natian Brewery (Portland): They are getting ready to release their spring seasonal: “It’s about time for our spring seasonal release. 6.2%abv Blonde ale brewed with elderflower and infused with cold brewed jasmine for a small hint of floral fragrance to balance out the tart/bitterness of the elderflower.”

Tuesday 3/18

Belmont Station is hosting Anchorage Brewing for a celebration of their ultra-rare “A Deal with the Devil Barley Wine” which sounds pretty over-the-top (in a good way): “A very small amount of bottles of this rare barley wine made its way to Oregon. To make sure as many people as possible get a chance to try it, starting at 4 PM in the Biercafe, we will be pouring small glasses of this 17.3% ABV gem, which gets a whopping 99 rating on Rate Beer. Not sure how long it will last, but we will pour them through the night or until we run out.”

Cascade Brewing (Portland): Tonight’s Tap It Tuesday event at the Barrel House at 6pm is featuring “Live” Marshmallow Apricot, “a NW style blond ale barrel aged 6 months then aged with our made in-house marshmallows & blended with Supracot.”

Wednesday 3/19

McMenamins Murray & Allen (Beaverton) has a limited-edition post-St. Paddy’s day beer tasting kicking off at 3:30pm, with a meet the brewer portion from 6 to 7, featuring Cluricaune Irish Ale. “In honor of recently passed St. Patrick’s Day, I give to you the Cluricaune Ale. A “Cluricaune” is related to the ever famous “leprechaun” with only a few differences. He’s very surly; he loathes physical labor and is always imbibing more than he should. In honor of this black sheep cousin who never gets the attention his cousin does, I have brewed a batch he would surely love; Our McMenamins Irish stout with a kick. Irish whiskey soaked oak spirals have steeped in this keg for about two weeks. This amount of time is perfect for the beer to soak up all the richness of the oak and the bite of Irish whiskey.”

Thursday 3/20

Belmont Station is hosting a tasting and meet the brewer with Canada’s Central City Brewing from 5 to 8pm: “Our friends up in the Great White North (aka Vancouver, BC) are coming down to pay a visit and they will be tasting their Red Betty IPA and Red Betty ISA in the bottle shop, as well as hanging out in the biercafé, where we will be pouring rare kegs of their Imperial Porter and Imperial IPA. Come try these great beers from Canada and give our friends, brewmaster Gary Lohin, Vice President Sales and Marketing Tim Barnes, and US Importer Brian Klassen, a warm Portland welcome!”

McMenamins Kennedy School (Portland) has a limited-edition beer tasting starting at 5pm, featuring Concordia Common Ale: “This is the perfect beer to welcome in Spring weather. Light and moderately malty, it will finish crisp and leave you with a nice minty/woody flavor from the Northern Brewer hops.” It will last until the beer is gone.

Friday 3/21

McMenamins is celebrating the 28th birthday of their Ruby Ale all day long at all McMenamins locations! Pints of Ruby will be $2.50, with $7 growler fill specials, food specials and more. And over at the Bagdad Theater Pub, they’ll be featuring a special beer tasting, featuring Ruby’s Song, starting at 5pm: “As a special treat for fans of our flagship Ruby Ale on the 28th Anniversary of her inception, we aged this batch in Edgefield red wine barrels. Tart, dark fruit will sing to your taste buds, giving way to notes of green apple and a pleasantly dry body reminiscent of a Pinot Noir. Ruby’s Song is a beautiful ballad, we think you’ll agree.”

Saturday 3/22

Upright Brewing (Portland) is celebrating their 5th anniversary with a special Saison release this Saturday the 22nd: “For the occasion we’ve bottled up a new barrel aged celebratory saison that features an old style profile with a mix of our favorite elements, harkening back to our first anniversary beer. Come join us 1 – 6 in the afternoon!”

Pelican Pub & Brewery (Pacific City): They are holding a Beach Party special release for their latest beer, The Governor, this Saturday starting at 5pm: “Join us for a 1960’s era Beach Party to celebrate the release of our NEW seasonal beer, The Governor, at the tap room and on the brewery floor in our new Tillamook facility! The Governor was conceived and brewed to honor past Oregon governor Tom McCall. The Governor is a strong golden lager brewed in the Maibock style. With a generous malt bill providing body and depth, and Oregon-grown Sterling hops giving a subtle floral hop character, The Governor finishes both bold and balanced. Tickets are $10 until they’re gone! Available at the Brewery in Tillamook, The Inn at Cape Kiwanda, Stimulus Cafe and The Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City.”

Beer Dawgs Growler Fill Station in Redmond is holding their first-ever brew fest on Saturday from noon to 5pm; there will be BBQ and a special-edition growler released for the event. I don’t know pricing details, but they have posted a participating brewery list here.