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The bitter cold of winter is met with delicious high-alcohol beers this week, as longtime favorites and new specialties emerge from the cellars of some of the finest breweries in the West.
One thing's for sure though: None of these are going to fit with your New Year's resolutions to get healthy. Then again, after a few pints of bourbon barrel-aged barleywine, IIIPA, or massive imperial stout, your body will be thanking you in a different way—at least until the next morning.
Thursday, January 5
Flight of the Pelicans
A fresh batch of Pelican's always-delicious bourbon barrel-aged Mother of All Storms barleywine taps tonight at Belmont Station, accompanied by brewers and a slew of other coastal favorites. Try a stair-step drinking pattern tonight, starting with a pint of the brewery's brand new honey citrus pale ale and moving to a nitro pour of their Tsunami Stout before shifting your palate into the eye of the latest year's storm. Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St. 5-7 pm. Free.
Friday, January 6
3 Baptists Walk Into a Bar
New Year's weight-loss resolutions aside, it's stout season. Baptize your year with whiskey-aged Baptists from Epic: cocoa-nib and coffee Big Bad Baptist Imperial stout, a version with cinnamon, and a version made with whiskey-aged coffee. Oh, and a Hook n Orchard sour from Epic that'll be the only one you'll find in Portland. Tin Bucket, 3520 N Williams Ave. 5 pm. Free.
Gigantic & Behemoth Too Big To Fail IIIPA Release
Two small breweries with big names team up to release one massive hop bomb this Thursday, part of a cross-the-globe partnership between Portland's Gigantic and New Zealand's Behemoth Brewing. A bitter, 10.6% batch powered by a blend Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, Citra and Lemondrop hops, this one is so yuge that a few pints could take down an actual giant. Gigantic Brewing Company, 5224 SE 26th Ave. 5-10 pm. Free.
Saturday, January 7
Belgian-Style Beer Bash
The 23rd Ave. Bottle Shop is busting out a whole mess of Belgian-style beers on a taster tray that includes a strong golden from 21st Amendment, Deschutes' pinot sauvage, a couple Goose Islands, Ordnance Brewing's Saison Af Urt and a red wedding saison made by Ruse and Culmination. If you need a bribe, they're also knocking 10 percent off the price of all Belgian beers in the bottle shop. Prost/Salut! 23rd Ave Bottle Shop, 2290 NW Thurman St. 10 am. Free.
Pie & Beer
Royale and The Commons serve up their finest ales alongside beer-infused pies at the Toffee Club this weekend, marking the occasion with the release of a three way collaboration beer also brewed with Wyoming's best-known hop haven, Melvin Brewing. No word on specific beers or fillings yet, but—let's be perfectly honest— it's hard to imagine you can really go wrong here. Toffee Club, 1006 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 12-11 pm, January 7-8. Free.