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Friday May 1
Tapping the Stout Bout Winner
From many, one. The Portland Brewers Collectiveâs annual Stout Bout collects all of the finest dark homebrewed ales in the land, judges them, and spits out a single champion to be brewed on Portland U-Brew and Pubâs small commercial system for limited public release. Homebrewer Chuck Maculusoâs American stout took the gold this year, the best example of dark, roasty malts sitting in harmony with strong American hop bite that was developed in a kitchen, garage or Portland basement this year. The Beermongers, 1125 SE Division St., 234-6012. 6 pm. Free.
Saturday, May 2
Big Brew/Oregon Beer Growler Pale Ale Tasting
The National Homebrewers Association puts on its annual Big Brew Day extravaganza once a year, where homebrewers, friends, and various members of the professional brewing community get together and celebrate their favorite hobby, typically in or around their local homebrew shop. Join members of the Oregon Brew Crew at FH Steinbart to learn a bit about brewing and remember the best possible motto a hobby can have: Relax, donât worry, have a homebrew. Stick around for Oregon Beer Growlerâs free pale ale tasting, if your palate isnât too wrecked from that two-year-old, homebrewed lambic your new best friend keeps pouring you 22-ounce pints of. FH Steinbart, 234 SE 12th Ave., 232-8793. 9 am big brew, 1 pm tasting.
Rock Bottom Knockout Special
Head down to Rock Bottom to grab a dozen wings, two ballpark pretzels, and a growler to go, all for the low, low, price of $12. Then watch two grown men beat the shit out of each other for tens of millions of dollars in the sanctity of your own home. Guess the winner of the fistfight correctly and you win a free meal at Rock Bottom, up to $15. Remember, drinking is like fightingâ¦itâs just with your liver. Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 206 SW Morrison St., 796-2739. All day.
IPA Tasteoff Round 1
N.W.I.P.A., the awesome local bar with a very important niche, hosts its IPA tasteoff in two rounds and a championship, where average locals and discerning beer nerds (often the same people) may blindly pick a favorite of Oregonâs IPAs over the course of three events. Today is round one, so bring your opinions on Mosaic and take a seat. Last yearâs winner, Breakside IPA, went on to take gold at the Great American Beer Festival, so, you know, Portland got it right. N.W.I.P.A., 6350 SE Foster Rd, 279-5876. Noon-7 pm. Free.
Sunday, May 3
FredFest
Legendary beer writer Fred Eckhardt is one of the most universally beloved people in the Portland beer scene. What started as a one-off 80th birthday party has turned into an annual ale and lager extravaganza, now in its 10th year. With a tap list that includes some of the rarest and most delicious beers in the world, and giant bowls of candy to pair it with, FredFest is one of those festivals that reminds you why Portland really is the beer capital of the world, a moniker it was generously gifted by the man himself. All proceeds go to the Oregon Zoo Foundation. Hair of the Dog Brewing, 61 SE Yamhill St., 232-6585. 1 pm-5 pm. $65, advance tickets only.
Tuesday, May 5
UnipIPA Release Party at Green Dragon
There arenât many people in Portland as instantly recognizable as the Unipiper, the flaming-bagpipe wielding unicyclist who often dons a Vader mask. Well, Buckman Botanical Brewery trapped him, roasted some habanero peppers over his pipes, and threw them in an experimental IPA they have been working on. Behold: the UnipIPA. Come meet the mythical demigod himself, and try some of his new suds. Event organizers say that tiki garb is âencouraged.â The Green Dragon, 928 SE 9th Ave., 517-0660. 5 pm. Free.
Saison de Mayo
What better way to wash down a taco than with Franco-Belgian farmhouse ales, am I right? The righteous folks over at Hop and Vine have hand-picked some of the nationâs finest saisons, and hope that you will pair their spicy, estery, goodness with some salsa, guac, and whole lot of delicious, slow-marinated meat. Sounds pretty damn fine to me, a hopped up version of taco Tuesday, where snifters of the good stuff replace cheap cans of Tecate and lime. Hop and Vine, 1914 N Killingsworth St., 954-3322.
WWeek 2015