Skip to main content
It's May. Game of Thrones is back on the TV. Seasonal beer is coming.
Breweries Oregon-wide have been preparing their lighter, more-sessionable warm weather brews for your livers for a while now, and many of them actually hit taps for the first time this week.
New options from Reverend Nat's, Culmination, the Commons, and out-of-town heroes Russian River all come to Portland taps this week, just as homebrewers nationwide whip up a fresh batch at their local shops this Saturday for National Homebrew Day.
Be sure to make room in the fridge when you're spring cleaning—we bet you'll need it.
Thursday, April 5
Cinco de Mayo ¡Tepache! Bottle Share
Padre Nat West launches his annual batch of sweet pineapple ¡Tepache! with a special bottle share. Guests bring a beer of their choice to blend with the cidery-made beverage, pay $10, and get all the ¡Tepache! and Pacifico they can drink (or blend)—plus a free tamale from Mi Mero Mole—in exchange. If you ask us, that's one smoking Cinco de Mayo deal. Reverend Nat's Hard Cider, 1813 NE 2nd Ave. 4-10 pm. $10.
Cinco de Prairie!
Those looking for an exceptional tap list to go with America's favorite Mexican drinking holiday need look no further: Southeast Portland's BeerMongers pair rare brews from Oklahoma's best—and we assume only (we didn't check)—craft brewery with exceptional tacos of smoked brisket and pork belly. With eight taps that range from a raspberry farmhouse to an imperial stout aged on vanilla, coffee, chocolate and ancho chiles, there's no need for tequila tonight. The BeerMongers, 1125 SE Division St. 5 pm. Free.
Culmination Vienna Lager Release and Naming Party
Culmination asks patrons' help in naming its first-ever Vienna lager, which will tap for the first time this Thursday night. If you've got a good idea for a name for a classic-style amber lager, the brewers might use it, but we're really hoping they call it "Not the Sausage," as one Facebook commenter recommended. It just feels right, you know? Culmination Brewing Company, 2117 NE Oregon St. 6-9 pm. Free.
Russian River STS Pils Debut
Coveted kegs of Russian River's hoppy STS Pils are finally making it to Oregon, and Saraveza is among the first watering holes to get it. A crisp beer that will henceforth appear in Oregon year-round. Celebrate a new awesome option hitting taps this evening, and maybe get one of Veza's rad housemade pretzels to go with it. Saraveza, 1004 N Killingsworth St. 6-9 pm. Free.
Friday, April 6
Cascade Kriek Vertical Box Set Release
Box-set bottle releases pretty much don't matter. Unless it's, like, this one. Only 100 of these four-pack verticals of Cascade Brewing's wonderful cherry-oak-tinged sour kriek will be made, and once the 100th bearded man departs with his complete set of 2012-2015 krieks, you're pretty much screwed until Cascade unleashes another four-pack vertical of something else that's not kriek on June 3. But you know you wanted the kriek and not the snozzberry. Why don't you show up early next time? Cascade Brewing, 939 SE Belmont St. 12 pm. Free.
The Commons' Biere De Garde Release
Spring has sprung, and that means fresh bottles of the Commons' quaffable Northern French-style farmhouse ale. A malt-forward ale that employs Belgian yeast for nuanced flavor the whole sip through, this is exactly the sort of thing you might want to pick up a bottle or two of before the weekend is fully upon you. The Commons, 630 SE Belmont St. 3 pm. Free.
Saturday, April 7
Big Brew for National Homebrew Day
The oldest homebrew shop in America and Oregon's largest homebrew club team up to celebrate the joys of brewing at home. It's great way to find more about making beer at home if you are interested, or to cop a bunch of free homemade brew in a Southeast Portland parking lot if you aren't. F.H. Steinbart Co., 234 SE 12th Ave. 9 am. Free.
Wednesday, April 11
TinLip
North Williams Avenue's Tin Bucket celebrates three years in business like any successful New Portland business does—with an intimate party at a fancy bar on the westside. Good news, everyone: That fancy bar is Bailey's much-beloved Upper Lip, the party is open to the public, and this night will feature several seriously rare pours. The Upper Lip, 720 SW Ankeny St. 6-10 pm. Free.
Willamette Week