Beginning March 20, 2010, Oregon Beer Odyssey (OBO) will offer classes, tastings, and events designed to promote beer appreciation and education. Classes will be held at sites around Portland, including notable bottle shops such as The Hop and Vine, the Wine and Spirit Archive, Saraveza, Bailey’s Taproom and The Beer Mongers.

In March and April, class topics will include Oregon Beer Odyssey’s signature, introductory class Tasting and Talking About Beer, and one entitled Great Beers of the Northwest.  Future classes will include style-specific workshops and overview courses on the great beers of Belgium, Germany, England, Scandinavia, and Italy. Oregon Beer Odyssey’s full class schedule is available on its website (www.oregonbeerodyssey.com) and on Facebook.

Fill up the car, grease your liver correctly and be prepared for the Extreme Beer Fest (EBF), managed by the Beer Advocate (respect beer). It was my third participation in this event.

Sometimes we can forget how freakin’ cool it is to have a Deschutes Brewpub in downtown Portland. Not long ago, you’d have to make the three hour trek out to Bend to get your paws on some of the exclusives that are now just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Even better, too, is that now that there are more locations, this means more tasty one-off Deschutes’ brews in general.

This week, as usual, we rolled into Deschutes Portland and were gladdened by the presence of some interesting new brews.

In case you missed it (and your liver might thank you if you had), Lucky Lab’s Barleywine and Big Beer Fest this year was a huge success. Everything you’d expect from a beer festival, the selection was exceptional, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the crowds were not overwhelming.

The event kicked off for the 13th annual installment on Friday March 5 at noon and lasted until 11PM before recommencing again the next day, again at noon. We did not attend the first day of the festival in fear of us not being able to return for our volunteer shift Saturday. Saturday the weather was spectacular, and a bicycle ride across town to the fest was invigorating. The warm sun shined through the partially opened garage door of the spacious brewpub on NW Quimby Street; a hearty and well needed beer fest was underway. A few people made their way to the tables as the event kicked off. These folks were the beer geeks who live for this kind of thing, some of whom were still recovering from the previous day’s samplings.

Today, Monday March 8, 2010 you can taste Ninkasi’s Spring Reign seasonal release and and their year-round line-up of Total Domination, Believer Imperial Red, and Tricerahops Imperial IPA. Spring Reign and a very rare small keg of Critical Hit Barleywine will also be featured on draft. If you didn’t try the The Critical Hit at Lucky Lab’s Barleywine fest this weekend this is your last chance. We tried it there and highly recommend it to any fan of big, hopped-the-hell-out brews!

As you are probably aware (seeing as how you’re a beer geek reading this), there’s a lot going on craft beer-wise in Cascadia during the month of March. Really, there’s always a lot going on here. It seems the fun never ends. Here’s three can’t miss events that we recommend you attend for the love of great beer.

March 13 Double Mountain 3rd Anniversary Party

One of Hood River’s top three best breweries, Double Mountain, has been turning heads and captivating palates big time. Now just three years deep in the game, they’re throwing a blow out not to be skipped. Starting at noon on Saturday March 13 and lasting until 11PM, there will be lots of great DM beer, an array of great live music, and delicious food. All this under a heated tent outside of the brewpub. Read more at our earlier post here. We’ll see you there!

Our friends at Saraveza wanted you to know about the Killingsworth Street St. Patty’s Day Crawl.

Celebrate the luck of the Irish and hit up Killingsworth’s finest! A token buys you green beer, wine or housemade yummy soup at Saraveza. You can also turn your tokens in at the Red Fox (Irish Stew, St. Patty’s Drink Special), Ducketts Public House (Well Cocktail, Draft Beer, Appetizer), Eddie’s Flat Iron Pizza (Draft Beer, Slice of Pizza, House Salad), Hop & Vine (Paddy’s Girl Shot, Guinness, Irish Sausage Roll), Beaterville Bar (Green Salad, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Draft Beer), Sagittarius (Chips & Salsa, Draft Beer, Well Cocktail) or Yorgo’s (Hummus Plate, Draft Beer, Well Cocktail).

Purchase your tokens now (or on St Patty’s!) at Saraveza or the Hop & Vine. 5 tokens/$18 or 10 tokens/$30. Killingsworth Crawl Map w/ redeemable items included.

Walking Man was rated #1 brewpub in the Northwest, 15th in the world by Ratebeer.com

It’s hard to dispute that Walking Man Brewing and Public House in Stevenson, Washington is a pretty incredible spot for craft beer enjoyment.  Nestled right on the north bank of the Columbia River Gorge where in the summertime, hops grow up the outdoor trellis at a relaxed pace relative to the life here. Forget the scenic backdrop of “a quaint town with a windsurfing problem.” Forget the articulate little inside pub with beautiful welded iron decor and a stoically etched floors. What makes this place so great is the beer. One of the best breweries on the planet, thanks to the dream of founder Bob Craig and the talents of brewers Jacob Leonard and Dan Munch. Add in all of the great intangibles of this small town in one of the most scenic parts of North America, and you’ve got what a world class destination for beer geeks, beer lovers, and even casual beer fans. riverside drinking

Beer website Ratebeer.com’s reader’s recent recognition of the brewpub as the best in the Northwest and the #15 best in the world is a huge honor for such a small brewery. We still think it should have been ranked higher!

California’s Bear Republic’s HopFest hits Portland, Oregon with some phenomenal hoppy brews.