John Foylston of The Beer Here, a fantastic Oregon beer blog, is taking the next few days off from writing so it gives us the perfect little opportunity to scoot in and cover for him while he’s gone. So without further ado…

Deschutes Brewery updated its site this past week with a new summer newsletter. What stood out was some new info about the long-awaited Deschutes The Dissident, the brewery’s follow-up to Black Butte XX in the Special Reserves Series. Describing the beer: “The Dissident — a distinctive, Belgian-style, sour brown ale, brewed with cherries from Central Washington. Fermented for 18 months with wild, Belgian yeast, we had to isolate this brew so as not to risk wrecking our primary cellar.” The tentative release date is Monday, August 18, though the brewery will release it when it is ready (as they should).

In addition, The Full Pint got hold of a press release for Deschutes Jubelale. This is the 21st bottling of the winter warmer, Deschutes’ first-ever bottled beer. It will be out in October both on draft and in stores. [Click the pic to the right for a full image.]

This has also spread around over the last two weeks but is worth noting. Firestone Walker Brewing is sending its Double Barrel Ale out of California for regular distribution for the first time. The beer should be available in bombers sometime this month in Oregon retailers. While this may not seem like a big deal, the foot-in-the door theory might suggest that Oregon could become the first state to get Firestone Walker Reserve sent there. That may be a pipe dream but worth crossing your fingers for, Oregonians.

Wondering about tickets to the Oregon Brewers Festival taking place during the weekend of July 24? Don’t worry, there are none because admission is FREE (albeit you need to buy a taster glass for $5). The list of participating breweries is here. The fest is one of many events taking place this month in Oregon considering its Oregon Craft Beer Month.

Finally, up in neighboring Washington, the Baron boys are at it again. Portland Beer Blog has some news on #2 in the Baron Brothers Grimm Series. Baron Rumpelstiltskin Rauchdoppelbock will be available beginning on July 10. Drink-a-pint also chimes in with some info on that beer and two other new releases from the brewery: Baron Uber-weisse and Baron Rauchbier.