Birthdays and Anniversaries – Craft Beer Events for the Week of November 16

Birthdays, anniversaries and lots of good beer, all of the craft beer events in Portland for the week of November 16, 2017.

Heads & Tails
6-10pm Thursday, Nov.16, The Upper Lip, 720 SW Ankeny St.  free admission
This special event exploring the pairing possibilities of beer & cider with spirits with guest bartenders from Bit House Saloon – JP & Jimmy, mixing it up with spirits brought to you by Beam Suntory. Four beers, two ciders, and three spirits. The menu will highlight the combination of beer/cider with spirits made into creative cocktails. Featuring:
Beers from Sunriver, Flat Tail, Melvin, and Modern Times
Ciders from Baird & Dewar and Carlton Ciderworks
Spirits from Beam Suntory.
Food by Bailey’s Taproom/The Upper Lip’s Sasha Clement.

Collusion Russian Imperial Stout Release
4-7 pm Thurs, Nov. 16, Baerlic Brewing SE Taproom, 2235 SE 11th Ave
Baerlic’s new seasonal stout is brewed with with house-made Dulce de Leche — 60 lbs of house-made Dulce de Leche made by boiling sweetened condensed milk until it caramelized into the sweet and delicious Dulce de Leche and then added it to an updated Russian Imperial Stout recipe they’ve been working on for 3 years. Layers of chocolate, bittersweet cocoa and coffee with a nice caramel top note in the aroma and a slightly sweet and creamy finish, Collusion is a big ol’ beer at 10 percent.

Movies at Montavilla
7-9 pm Thursday Nov. 16, Montavilla Brew Works, 7805 SE Stark St.; free admission.
It’s the first ever Movie Night at Montavilla Brew Works and brewer Michael Kora is in the movie, a documentary about the Portland brewery culture and more called PDX: Brew City, which explores the confluence of events that turned the Rose City into the standard bearer in craft brewing.

Wolf Tree Brewing Tasting/Meet the Brewer
5-8 pm Thursday Nov. 16, Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St.;
Taste the beers of this newish (2013) Seal Rock-based brewery and meet owner and brewer Joe Hitselberger, who’ll be on hand to answer your questions.
Tasting will include:
Camille’s Golden IPA
Spruce Tip Ale
Barrel Aged Spruce Tip Ale – Wine Barrel-aged Spruce Tip Ale
the Woods – Oak-aged Barelywine
7117 – Farmhouse Ale w/ Marionberries
King of The Forest – Oud Bruin-inspired Ale

Barrel Aged Cranberry Saison Bottle and Draft Release
4-11pm Friday Nov. 17, Lompoc Sidebar, 3901 N Williams Ave.;
Lompoc Brewing has your perfect Thanksgiving beer, Barrel Aged Cranberry Saison is a Belgian style ale brewed with fresh cranberries and aged one year in port barrels that infused the beer with a drinkable tart and spicy flavor and subtle notes of port and oak. Pale and wheat malts keep it light, while the peppery yeast and noble hops lead to a tangy finish. They’ll release Barrel Aged Cranberry Saison, part of Lompoc’s Select Series of beers, in 500ml bottles and on draft. The beer release also includes a $3.50 Sage Derby Turkey Slider, created by Lompoc chef Mark Otey specifically to pair with this beer featuring ground turkey, cranberry cream cheese, sage Derby cheese, arugula and a cranberry compote.

Third annual Cherry Festivus
VIP Session 5 pm – midnight Friday Nov. 17, ($30 includes glass and 7 tix) Gen’l admission 1 pm – Midnight Saturday Nov. 18 & 1- 9pm Sunday Nov.19, Bazi Bierbrasserie, 1522 SE 32nd Ave.; $20 includes glass and 6 tix.
This celebration of cherry beer and cider with chocolate pairings and cherry food and cocktail specials starts with a limited ticketed VIP session on Fri. Nov. 17 and general admission and walk-up entry on Sat. and Sun. This year features more than twenty-five rare beers and ciders made with cherries in a variety of beer styles and cherry varieties, from light and golden Rainier cherry farmhouse ales to tart pie cherries, rich black cherries and even barrel-aged stouts with local bing cherries. Also: locally made artisan chocolate from Xocolatl de David with their beers in pre-selected individual pairings or beer and chocolate flights.

The lineup includes Alesong’s Cherry Parliament, Almanac Beer’s Cherry Picker, Prairie Artisan Ales Vape Tricks, Logsdon Kriek Viere and Upright Brewing’s Hearts Beat, plus rich and decadent dark beers like Oakshire Brewing’s chocolate and cherry Imperial Stout – Heart Shaped Box, Bend Brewing’s Cherry Baltic Porter and festival exclusives such as a special Cherry edition of Burnside Brewing’s Sweet Heat and Fremont Brewing’s Dark Star Imperial Stout.

Pressing Matters
Noon-7 pm Saturday Nov. 18, at Cider Riot Pub & Cidery, 807 NE Couch St.; $20 includes glass and six tix or $30 for glass and 12 tix.
Cider Rio hostst the first Proper Cider and Real Ale Festival in North America, showcasing two-dozen ciders made from traditional bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples and five cask-conditioned ales, Pressing Matters celebratyes the fermentation traditions of England and France and celebrates the innovation of American cidermakers and brewers.
“One of my favorite quotes about cidermaking is that ‘making cider from eating apples is like trying to make Pinot Noir from Concord grapes,’” says Cider Riot cidermaker Abram Goldman-Armstrong. “We’re hosting Pressing Matters to show people how amazing ciders made from bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples such as Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, or Marie Maynard produce ciders with balanced tannins and acids, that take time to make, and reward us with the depth of character of fine wine.”

Music and dance too: there will be a dance performance by the Bridgetown Morris Men at 2 pm, a cider apple tasting at 3 pm and Soulsuckers, Cider Riot’s monthly all-vinyl soul DJ night follows the festival at 8 pm.Children are welcome at the event, and food will be available from No Q’ No Taqueria.

Oregon City Brewing Third Anniversary, First Bottle Release
Noon-10 pm Saturday, Oregon City Brewing, 1401 Washington St., Oregon City;
Oregon City Brewing celebrates  its third anniversary, releases its first bottle and several new beers on draft, along with live music, raffles food specials all day from OP Wurst. As an avid lover of sours, Oregon City Brewing Head Brewer David Vohden is pleased to release “Coming to Fruition: Cherry,” a mixed-fermentation wild ale aged in French oak barrels for one year. Tart cherries were then added to the barrels for the last four months of aging to produce an extremely quaffable, effervescent fruited sour which will be for sale by the bottle in the taproom and on draught they’ll also be releasing three new beers on draught: 3rd Story Imperial Red Ale; a Wee Heavy; and an Eisbock aged in Eastside Distilling whiskey barrels.

Music will start in the early evening on the covered patio with Aaron Tackett, Strange Hotels, and Nicolai Carrera and the Celebrators. Oregon City Brewing will raffle off and give away a variety of merchandise including gift cards, glassware, shirts, hats, and more, while OP Wurst will run a variety of food specials all day.

Bottle Shop Second Birthday Bash
Saturday Nov.18, McMenamins 23rd Ave Bottle Shop, 2290 NW Thurman St.; All ages; 21+ to drink
Celebrate two years of the bottle shop with a slice of birthday cake and some special beers, including a $16, small-batch taster tray featuring:
Bottle Shop Birthday Reserve #2
2016 Edgefield’s Longest Night
McMenamins’ Dying Embers
Culmination Brewing Peche
Prairie Artisan Ales Bomb!
Epic Double Barrel Big Bad Baptist

Happy Birthday, Terminator Stout
Sunday Nov.19, all McMenamins properties; All ages; 21+ to drink
McMenamins much loved big Stout celebrates 32 years with $4 pints of Terminator Stout and $8 Growler fills and passport stamps. Also: Food Specials including Smoked Gouda & Stout Fondue, Fresh-cut fries and a Terminator French Onion Burger with Swiss, caramelized onions, Terminator steak sauce and much more.

Finnriver Holiday Basket Hustle
5-8pm,Tuesday November 21, Belmont Station, 4500 SE stark St.;
Get into the spirit of the season, stock up on tasty libations and check cider lovers off your list with specially curated gift baskets featuring ingredients for cider cocktails, recipes and Finnriver gift items, presented beautifully on fresh-cut fir for a complete, ready-to-give package. And after all that shopping, you can enjoy a limited release draft cider with the Finnriver team.