The Days Are Getting Brighter: Craft Beer Events for the Solstice week

Here’s a listing of beer events that will tide you over during the Solstice Week in and around Portland.

Black-Hearted IPA Release
4 p.m. Friday Dec. 18, Migration Brewing, 2828 N.E. Glisan St.;
For the third and final installment of December beer releases Migration brings you Black Hearted. This CDA is billed as being approachable yet good and hoppy with a slight roastiness at the end.

A Night of Warm Spiced Beers
5-9 p.m. Friday Dec. 18, Bazi, 1522 S.E. 32nd Ave.;
Shoppers at European Christmas Markets in Belgium, Germany and France stay warm by sipping warm, spiced gluhwein and the Bazi folks are importing the tradition for a night of all warm, spiced beers. There will be Belgian ales including Brouwerij De Troch Winter Gueuze and Petrus Oud Bruin, BFM Brewing La Dragonne from Switzerland and a mix of Belgian, German, and Northwest mulled beers available, including beers from Cascade Brewing, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, and Alan Taylor’s new Zoiglhaus Brewing Co., plus Christmas Market-style treats.

Third Annual Ugly Sweater Party
6-9 p.m. Friday Dec. 18, NW IPA, 6350 S.E. Foster Rd.;
The N-Dubs crew taps kegs of Firestone Walker Union, Double and Wookey Jack and more. There will also be a flight of this year’s barrel releases available, which will include 5 oz. pours of the following; Helldorado, Sucaba, Velvet Merkin and Parabola for $18 and prizes to the ugliest of the ugly sweaters.

Fifth Annual St. Johns Winterfest
Noon Friday Dec. 18 – 6 p.m. Sunday Dec. 20, Plew’s Brews, 8409 N. Lombard St., St. Johns; $10 for tasting glass, tickets are $1, rare beers may require multiple tix; get a free Sunday taste with a drink package of more than $15.

For the fifth year of this fine neighborhood fest, they’re rolling out the barrels – they’ll feature several barrel and wood aged stouts, barleywines, sours, porters, plus ciders and a special wood aged Stung Fermented Mead. There’s a new kitchen and an expanded menu at Plew’s Brews, plus all the usual festivity and bonhomie endemic to one of my favorite pubs in the universe.

Here’s the list:

• Ecliptic Brewing Frosty Leo
• Nectar Creek Triple Brett Barrel Aged
• Oakshire Brewing Ill Tempered Gnome
• Fort George Magnanimous
• Fort George Cavatica Stout
• Ninkasi Cranberry Sour
• Veltins Pilsner
• Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Stout
• Boulder Shake Porter
• Barley Brown’s Sled Wreck
• Bison Brewing Whiskey Thief
• Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti
• GoodLife Comatose
• Boneyard Suge Knight
• Double Mountain Brett the Red
• Fat Heads Smoke and Burn
• Ex Novo Winter Sweater
• Ballast Point Three Sheets Barleywine
• Fremont Brewing Barrel Aged Dark Star
• Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA
• Stone Bourbon Barrel Aged Bastard
• Deschutes Jubelale
• Three Mugs Holiday Beer
• Stung Fermented Wood Aged
• Sparkling Mead
• Humble Imperial Entanglement CDA
• Awesome Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
• Oregon Trail Cherry Sour
• Crooked Fence Barrel Aged Vanilla Porter

Hoplandia Grand Opening
3 p.m. Saturday Dec. 19, Hoplandia Beer, 8600 N. Ivanhoe St.;
The Hoplandia Beer crew celebrates with special beers on tap and drawings for a few Winterhawks tickets. Here’s the taplist they sent:

• Goose Island Bourbon County Regal Rye
  This is a unique blend of Bourbon County Brand Stout aged in rye whiskey barrels with blackberries, Luxardo candied cherries, fresh sour cherries and sea salt.
• Alpine Brewing Pure Hoppiness IIPA
  A West Coast Double IPA So mega-hopped it will take you to hop heaven. Once you’ve tasted this unique beer, all others pale in comparison.
• Fremont Brewing Interurban IPA
  This India Pale Ale offers the adventurous beer lover a warm embrace of roasted pale malt swirled with a hand-selected blend of flavor malts and filled with the rich spice of Chinook, Centennial, and Amarillo hops.
• Barley Brown’s Handtruck Pale Ale
  This American-Style Pale Ale uses Centennial, Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic hops to give a fresh citrus aroma, with hints of grapefruit and pine.

Dark Muse Imperial Stout Release Party
Saturday Dec. 18, Worthy Brewing, Bend;
If you’re in Bend this weekend, the Worthy pub will be the place to sample the third vintage of Dark Muse Imperial Stout, their annual high gravity, small batch brew. At 10 percent, the beer qualifies as a monster stout and is smooth and dark with a rich body, roasty character and velvety brown head. Notes of anise, extra dark chocolate and coffee finish warm, but not boozy. A touch of bitterness rounds out the 60 IBUs with a rich mouthfeel. The release party includes food pairings and a vertical flight of 2014 and 2015 Dark Muse: the rest of us will have to look for some of the limited-release bottles available in Oregon and Washington.

Longest Night of the Year
4:29 p.m. Monday Dec. 21, NW IPA, 6350 S.E. Foster Rd.;
Be very glad that the Earth’s axis tilts 23.4 degrees from the vertical, because it’s a huge part of the reason that the planet is habitable and it generates our seasons. But it also means that we in the Northern Hemisphere live in gathering darkness peaking at the Winter solstice on Monday, when the Sun’s apparent position is directly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn —  which is 23.4 degrees South latitude: the tropic of Cancer, where the sun marks the Summer Solstice is 23.4 degrees North latitude — a lovely symmetry, innit? But astrophysics is notoriously thirsty wotk, so celebrate the Winter Solstice from sunset through midnight with the darkest beers: Evil Twin’s Even More Jesus, Fat Head’s Moonlight Midnight, and Knee Deep’s Midnight Hoppiness plus a special burger will be available. AND some special prices for last-minute bottles: they’re putting all stouts and porters on sale.

• $20 and more:  $3 off
• $19 – $10:  $2 off
• $9 and under: $1 off
• 20 percent off  full cases

The Twelve Days of Kolshmas Pop-A-Shot Tourney
5-7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21, Spirit of 77, 500 N.E. MLK Blvd.;
On the 10th Day of Kolschmas, Brewpublic teams up with 54°40′ Brewing for its Pop-A-Shot Tourney at Spirit of 77. Shoot hoops with Bolt Minister and Charlie Hutchins from Washougal, Washington’s latest brewery.

The Twelve Days of Kolshmas Ping Pong With the Brewers
5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22, Pips and Bounce, 833 S.E. Belmont St.;
Then on the 11th Day of Kolschmas the sporting activities change to table tennis when Brewpublic once again teams up with 54°40′ Brewing for Ping Pong With the Brewers.

Christmas Eve Eve Celebration of Barrel-Aged Beers
3 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 23, the BeerMongers, 1125 S.E. Division St.;
Beertender Emeritus (and current Reedie) Josh Grgas returns to his old post behind the plank with a fine taplist of barrel-aged beers on tap for this popular annual event at Mongers.

Free Burger Thursday
3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 24, Three Mugs Brewing, 2020 N.W. Aloclek Dr., Ste. 108, Hillsboro;
They’ll be grilling on Christmas Eve, plus pouring the usual assortment of good beer and cider at Three Mugs.

contact John Foyston with info on your beer events at johnfoyston@comcast.net