SheBrew, Barleywines, Ecliptic Cans and Hopped Cider: Beer Events for the week of March 2nd

SheBrew Beer Fest, Barleywine Festival, Ecliptic can release and hopped cider, the week of beer events beginning March 2nd.

Ecliptic Can Release Party
5-7 p.m. Thursday March 2, Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St.;
The Station features the new cans just released by Ecliptic Brewing: Starburst IPA (a beer that before was draft only) and the new seasonal Quasar Pale Ale. The Ecliptic crew will be in the house talking beer and astronomy, and there’ll be some swag given away, plus Phobos Single hop Red and Bourbon Barrel-Aged Oort on draft in the taproom.

Drink Beer. Do Good: Ex Novo Tasting
5-9 p.m. Thursday Mar 2, McMenamins 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop, 2290 NW Thurman St.; all ages, 21 and older to sample.
Ex Novo is committed to donating 100 percent of their net profits to organizations that are working to effect positive social change both in the Pacific Northwest and around the world and for this tasting, they’ll be donating a buck from each EX Novo pint sold to Friends of the Children, a prevention/early intervention program whose mission is to help our nation’s highest-risk children develop the relationships, goals and skills necessary to break the cycles of poverty, abuse and violence, and become contributing members of society.
Beers include:
Elliot IPA: Named for the neighborhood that Ex Novo is located in, this IPA is full of tropical fruit, lemony citrus and pine flavors.
6.6 percent.
Mexican Lager: Crisp and refreshing, this light — 5 p-recent — lager is brewed with Vienna and Pilsner malts with a hint of flaked corn. Fermented with Mexican lager yeast. Saaz hops add a delightful balanced bitterness.
NEIPA: This New England Style IPA was brewed using lotsa flaked wheat and flaked oats, leaving it intentionally turbid, almost like orange juice in appearance. The aroma is super fruity, citrus, tropical fruits like mango, guava, papaya, and ripe melons. The beer has a slight bitterness that comes from a generous hopping, all added post-boil.

Ecliptic Can Release Party, Pt II
Friday March 3, Ecliptic Brewing, 825 N Cook St.
Ecliptic Brewing is expanding their packaging assortment to include cans. The year-round Starburst IPA and Seasonal Series beers, starting with Quasar Pale Ale, will be available in 12oz cans throughout the Ecliptic distribution network.

Here’s what the press release says:
Preparing for and installing a canning line is not a small task, but is one that owner/brewmaster John Harris, is happy to add to his long list of brewery accomplishments. Ecliptic Brewing is using a counter pressure canning system from Codi Manufacturing out of Golden, Co. Can design was completed by Sasquatch Agency and follows Ecliptic’s familiar astronomy themes.

“This next step for Ecliptic has been one that the entire team has stepped up and helped with,” said Harris. “From making major changes in the brewhouse to design decisions for the cans, this process has been really exciting.”

Ecliptic Brewing Can Line-up
Starburst IPA, Year-Round
Quasar Pale Ale, March-June
Seasonal Cans:
Zenith Grapefruit Gose, July-September
Filament Winter IPA, October-December,
Phobos Single Hop Red Ale, January-March.

Lucky Lab’s 20th Annual Barleywine Festival
Noon-10 p.m. Friday March 3 & Saturday March 4, Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby St.; $15 includes glass and four tokens.
The Lab’s Barleywine fest is one of the longest running barleywine festivals in the world, if not THE longest-running, and brewer Casey Lyons upholds the tradition with a stellar lineup of more than 70 barleywines, many of which have slumbered in the Lab cooler for a year or several. That’s OK, because barleywines start big — 8-10 percent abv — and can age gracefully for years when properly cared for. As you’ll discover this weekend when 20 taps rotate these big, bold malty ales. As head brewer/co-owner Ales Stiles said in the press release: “Every year the event keeps getting bigger and this year, being our twentieth, we have more barley wines than ever…it’s going to be HUGE.”

SheBrew Beer Festival
Noon-8 p.m. Saturday, March 4, Buckman Coffee Factory, 1105 SE Main St.; $20 includes tasting glass and 10 tix. All ages, 21 and older to drink.
SheBrew is back after a hiatus in 2016, and now includes include an AHA-sanctioned homebrew competition for women brewers, locally and nationally. The festival, a joint event from Human Rights Campaign Portland and the Oregon Brew Crew, celebrates Women’s History Month and this all-ages, all-genders fundraising event has been created to show support for female-identified members of the community. Beers and ciders from nearly 20 local breweries and 10 homebrewers will be available along with entertainment from six local, female comedians and two musical acts. In addition there will be a raffle, two food vendors, and attendees will be able to vote for the People’s Choice Award.

F.X. Matthieu Hopped Cider Release
4 p.m. Saturday March 4, Cider Riot Pub, 807 NE Couch St;
Cider Riot celebrates the release of its experimental organic hopped cider with a party that includes an historical reenactment, a talk on hop breeding and special guests including Sue Jaggers, great great granddaughter of F.X. Matthieu, her husband Jim Jaggers who will be portraying F.X. Matthieu in period garb, and hop grower Pat Leavy. F.X. Matthieu hopped cider is made with X-17 hops bred by Pat Leavy at the Oregon Hophouse, Oregon’s first certified organic hop farm, and honors Quebecois revolutionary and founder of the Republic of Oregon, Francois Xavier Matthieu. Only three breweries nationwide got the 2016 crop of Leavy’s X-17 hops, which lend the cider tropical fruit notes and a spicy herbaceous finish.

Cider Riot has been making F.X. Matthieu cider with the X-17 hops since 2014, starting out with a 5-gallon test batch. Hopped cider, invented in Oregon a decade ago by Salem’s Wandering Aengus cider has swept the country, and there are now cidermakers around the globe pairing hops and apples. Cider Riot’s year round Everybody Pogo, made with Leavy’s organic Goldings hops is the company’s best-seller.

Rogue Ales 10th Annual Firkin Fest
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday March 4, Rogue Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery, 928 SE Ninth Ave.; $10 includes entrance to the fest, tasting glass and 5 tix; $25 includes entry to VIF session from 2-4 p.m. and access to three special firkin tastings in the Barrel Room. VIF tickets are limited to 50 people. The event will feature firkin beers from over 20 of Oregon’s top breweries – Firkin beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated in the cask and served at cellar temperature. Here’s the lineup:
Labrewatory – mishMASH: The Dark Enigma (9.2% ABV)
Migration Brewing – Glisan Street Pale Ale Dry Hopped with Azacca Hops
Bent Shovel Brewing – Firkin Flannel Oatmeal Pale Ale (5% ABV)
Montavilla Brew Works – Palo Santo Aged Barleywine
Rogue Ales & Spirits – Marionberry Braggot with Added Raspberries and Blackberries
Rogue Ales & Spirits – Tropical Sour Snakebite (Cider/ Beer Blend)
Hopworks – Ferocious Citrus IPA – Hazy IPA with grapefruit
GoodLife Brewing – Pomegranate Comatose (8.5% 95 IBU)
Coalition Brewing – Serendipity Session Ale 4.5% ABV 25 IBU
Green Dragon Brew Crew – Friar Milk Firkin
Green Dragon Brew Crew – Young Firkinstein
Oakshire Brewing – Oakshire Specially Pilot IPA
Oregon City Brewing – Beast of Burton Imperial Brown Stout
Three Mugs Brewing – McKeenan’s Irish Stout: 5.2% ABV, 38 IBU
Red Ox Brewing – Farmhouse Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter
Gigantic Brewing – TBA
Stickmen Brewing – TBA
Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider – TBA
Ecliptic Brewing – TBA
Base Camp Brewing – TBA
Fat Heads Brewing – TBA