Let’s face it, we all have a little Homer Simpson in us, and sometimes leaving the house to replenish the beer supply is just too much. Enter ManCäve Brewing Company: “Give us a call and we’ll deliver your beer,” co-owner Brandon Woodruff says. As of early June, ManCäve officially has its license to do same-day home deliveries through OLCC’s Malt Beverage Delivery Privilege program. ManCäve will now deliver six packs, 12 packs and growlers within a 2-mile radius of the brewery (540 Fillmore St. in Eugene). “No one else is doing it,” Woodruff says of the local brew scene. See mancavebrewingcompany.com for details.

Elk Horn Brewery has expanded from a 7-barrel to a 20-barrel brewing system “because we couldn’t keep up,” co-owner Colleen Sheehan says. Sheehan adds that the brewery will have its liquor license July 1. “We’re buying all the rare whiskeys we can find in Oregon,” Sheehan says. Elk Horn is gearing up to get their brews in cans as well. “We’ll be canning by football season,” Sheehan says.

The Bier Stein owners Kristina Measells and Chip Hardy. Photo by Todd Cooper.

Happy Birthday to The Bier Stein! The formidable beer hall turns 10 years old on July 6. The Bier Stein has come a long way from its old pad on 11th Ave., where it only had 10 taps. Now it hosts up to 25-plus rotating taps (at the current location, 1591 Willamette St.) plus what must be thousands of bottled options. The Bier Stein writes: “Since we were the first place to serve Ninkasi’s Total Domination, Oakshire’s (then Willamette Brewing Company) Watershed IPA and Hop Valley’s Alphadelic (then Alphaholic) IPA, we will be tapping kegs of those (note: not from those first batches) and charging our old school price of $3.50/pint (those pints are now half-liters, 16.9 oz).” Other unusual goodies will be tapped for tasting as well, including an Agrarian-Bier Stein collaboration — “Decadence,” a Belgian-style golden strong ale.

Nature lovers and beer drinkers unite! This April, Oregon Wild announced the creation of the Oregon Brewshed® Alliance. It’s a partnership between brewers and conservationists intent on preserving clean water and habitat. According to Oregon Wild, “brewshed®” refers to “the watersheds that brewers and breweries source for their water” to make craft beer — good for Oregon and good for beer. Local breweries participating include Claim 52 Brewing, Elk Horn Brewery, Ninkasi Brewing and Falling Sky Brewing. 

In other beer and nature news, Falling Sky Brewing partnered with Friends of Trees in April and donated $1 towards planting a tree for every sale of its Tree Line Pale Ale. Tree Line is sold out, says Falling Sky co-owner Rob Cohen, and sales raised more than $1,000 for the nonprofit. Now, Cohen says, Falling Sky is launching its Springer’s Summer Ale, named after spring Chinook salmon — for each pint sold, Falling Sky will donate $1 in support of the Western Environmental Law Center’s work toward protecting salmon. 

Don’t forget to vote: The Hammered Lamb, which opens downtown in August, is hosting I’d Tap That: Back Alley Brewfest — a sort of crowd-sourced tap event to help the pub choose what to put on tap. Expect to see local brews from Hop Valley, Oakshire and Plank Town and wild cards from Columbia, Bigfoot and Point Break distributors. The Brewfest is free entry and runs 1 to 5 pm Saturday, July 18, at 150 W. Broadway Alley.

Hops at Agrarian Ales. Photo by Todd Cooper.

Invest locally. As of January 2015, Coburg farmhouse brewery Agrarian Ales started selling shares thanks to the state’s new Community Public Offerings tool pushed through by Hatch Oregon, “a brand new economic engine for growing community capital.” Oregon residents can buy shares of Agrarian Ales for a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500. “We’ve raised about $65,000 so far,” Agrarian manager Todd Perlmeter says. “I think we’re going to cut it off at $90,000.” Perlmeter says the money is going towards new bathrooms and hop field expansions. “We’re just about to finish up our first-ever bathrooms out here, which is very exciting for us,” Perlmeter says, laughing. “We’re moving to become a true estate brewery.” Agrarian joins nine other small Oregon businesses under the Hatch Oregon umbrella, including Red Wagon Creamery. Visit agales.com.

Colby Phillips, co-owner of the new taphouse beergarden. on 6th Avenue, says to keep an eye out for its official grand opening — follow beergarden.’s Facebook page for updates. Phillips adds that a full-out Oktoberfest at beergarden. is in the works. “We’ll be doing that for the entire duration of the actual Oktoberfest,” he says, which runs Sept. 19 through Oct. 4.

Think of it as a beer scavenger hunt: The Eugene Ale Trail, launched last year by visitor center Eugene Cascades & Coast, is an ongoing program offering prizes to beer lovers who visit eight of 11 participating breweries in the Eugene-Springfield area. The program has a printable “passport” online, and once you collect eight stamps in your passport, turn it in for a free amber growler. Bonus points for visiting Brewers Union Local 180 in Oakridge. Check out the Ale Trail at eugenecascadescoast.org.

Up the river: McKenzie River Inn in Vida plans to open a brewery onsite. Owner Bert de Klerk has applied for a brewpub license, but planning for the brewery is in its very early stages.

From Salem to Rachel Maddow and back again: Earlier this year, Salem’s Gilgamesh Brewing released Hoot Attack, an India session ale, or as the brewery puts it — “a drinkable reminder of the owl attacks that occur in Salem’s Bush Park. The light body and bright hop flavors pair nicely with a mangled scalp and tired legs.” Back in February, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show picked up on the spate of owl attacks, and Maddow jokingly presented yellow warning signs with symbols of an owl swooping down on a pedestrian and suggested Oregon’s capital city should hang them up. Salem did just that, and now you can see that same image on the Hoot Attack label. The First National Tap House will start serving the brew in August.

New Kid on the Block: A new brewery, ColdFire Brewing, will be operating at 263 Mill St. by the end of October. The brainchild of brothers Stephen and Dan Hughes, ColdFire’s press release says its “initial beers will seek to build upon and refine European brewing tradition while adding a touch of Northwest personality.” Expect IPAs, stouts and “German and Belgian favorites like bock, kolsch, dunkleweisse and saison.” Bryan Taylor, brand director for ColdFire, tells EW that it was important for the brewery to be in a neighborhood. “It’s currently a warehouse,” Taylor says of the space. “We’ll start at 263 Mill and then hopefully expand into a larger tasting room.” Dan Hughes is the manager of SacredHeart Medical Center at RiverBend Hospital’s sterile processing department. Stephen Hughes, currently a medical lab scientist for PeaceHealth Labs, will be head brewer. Stephen Hughes has done some guest brew spots at Agrarian, Sam Bond’s Brewing and 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend. “He’s been honing his own craft to the point that he’s sort of a perfectionist,” Taylor says.

In early July, The Barn Light opens a second bar and cafe in the Northwest Community Credit Union building at  545 E. 8th Ave., across the street from Sam Bond’s Brewing Co. in the Foundry building. Owners Thomas Pettus-Czar and Mark Sheppard say they want to help strengthen the connection between campus and downtown in the new location. They were drawn to “the future of that area,” pointing out new developments such as Whole Foods. While it will keep the same name, Pettus-Czar says, the new space will be smaller and cozier and have a different ambiance. “It’s not going to be this sort of rustic, industrial aesthetic, but more of a brighter, cleaner, more modern sort of space,” he says. Sheppard adds, “With huge south-facing windows. So there’s tons and tons of light streaming in.”

The free 2nd annual Westside Warehouse District Summer Block Party runs 2 to 10 pm Saturday, July 19, at 560 Commercial St., featuring Viking Braggot Company and Claim 52, joined by local wineries, food carts and live music.