It’s Flag Day so what an appropriate day to have a friendly US versus Belgium beer competition. Four US Belgian-styles will be selected to go against four Belgians. Think wit vs wit, saison vs saison, you get the point.

So join us on Friday, June 14 between 5-10 PM. It’s your opportunity to try some of these beers side by side and let your palette decide your preferred style.

Cost: $15 for 8 – 5 oz tasters.

A PDX Beer Week event. Find out about this and other events at www.pdxbeerweek.com

Four Oregon breweries: Upright Brewing, Pfriem Family Brewers, Lompoc Brewing and The Commons Brewery, four secret sauces created by each brewery for dipping in one pound of mussels and paired with their Belgian-inspired beer.

But there’s only one “Mussels from Brussels”. Who will take the title?

Seating will take place at the top of each hour between 4 and 8 PM on Sunday, June 9. Awards ceremony will take place at 9 PM once all votes have been tallied. Limit of 20 persons per seating. Cost is $25 per person. Advanced tickets may be purchased online at Eventbrite.

Bazi is celebrating two years of Belgian-inspired libations on Sunday, May 26 from 4-10 PM and Monday, May 27 at 5 PM. Here are the details of the festivities taking place on each day:

Fill My Fridge

Sunday, May 26 from 4-10 PM

This is the official release party for Bazi’s recently expanded license which now includes To Go Bottles and Growler refills. Double Mountain’s limited edition Four Horsemen Series will be available for purchase as a 4-pack while supplies last. So get here early, check out the growing bottle list of Trappist beers as well as local favorites and Fill Your Fridge!

2^nd Year Toast Beer and Cake Pairing

Monday, May 27 at 5 PM

Bazi proprietress, Hilda Stevens, spent the last few months brewing up a recipe for a saison with Bryan Kielty of Lompoc Brewing. The result of the Bazi and Lompoc collaboration is the Forbidden Fruit saison. Brewed in a 15 barrel system with 64 gallons of black currant and a secret Belgian yeast, the saison has a delightful tart finish.

Named the Forbidden Fruit due to the restrictions of growing black currant in the US during the 20^th century. Mostly recently, those restrictions were lifted and black currant can now be grown in OR, NY, VT and CT.

Bazi will be pairing the Forbidden Fruit Saison with Jaciva’s chocolate cake, a local award-winning bakery in the Hawthorne area where Bazi is located. The pairing is complimentary until the last piece of cake is claimed.

Dortmund vs Bayern! It is down to two for the UEFA Champions Final.

Doors open at 11 AM on Saturday, May 25, kick off at 11:45 AM. Our friends at Fried Egg I’m in Love will be providing the food until our kitchen opens. I highly recommend the Yoko Ono, but anything they serve for brunch is delicious!

A final match is always better on a big screen – 114″ HDTV that is!

Join Malestis representatives at Bazi (1522 SE 32nd Ave) on Thursday, May 23 from 4-7 PM for a complimentary Stella Artois Cidre Tasting.

Stella Artois Cidre is a crisp and refreshing Belgian recipe cider made from handpicked apples. Full flavors of red apple and peachy, apricot hints, complimented in the background with a subtle flavor of spicy oranges and an almond flowery character. It is medium bodied with a refreshing, crisp taste.

The 4-pack will also be available for sale.

May 13-19 marks the official American Craft Beer Week! Each day take advantage of $1 off beers any time on the following featured breweries:

Monday: Breakside
Tuesday: Epic
Wednesday: The Commons
Thursday: Upright
Friday: Ft George
Saturday: pFriem
Sunday: $8 domestic taster trays

Big Week, Small Breweries!

Make it an “Epic” night on Friday, May 3rd from 5-9 PM. Bazi will be featuring four of Epic Brewing’s award winning Belgian style beers on draft and new to the market – Belgian Style Wit and Straight Up Saison.

The four Epic beers include:

Brainless® IPA – a tribute to the collaborative efforts of innovative brewers. The fruity Belgian yeast and powerful American hops relentlessly tease your pallet.

Brainless® on Peaches – using the double gold medal winning Brainless® Belgian, added organic peach puree and aged it in French Chardonnay casks. It develops nicely as it warms displaying more fruit and wine.

Straight Up Saison – brewed with barley, oats and wheat, this hazy yellow offering’s silky texture is offset by its high level of carbonation. More spice complexity and malt sweetness refresh the tongue as the wheat and yeast work together to finish dry and slightly sour.

Wit Beer – slightly higher in alcohol content than traditional Wits, ours is traditionally brewed, using wheat, oats, authentic Belgian yeast, malts and just a sprinkle of hops. Spices include coriander, sweet and bitter orange peel and grains of paradise.

Epic Brewing will be Bazi’s featured brewery for the month of May, so expect lots of rotation from this award winning brewery. A taster tray of all four beers will be available during the Epic Appreciation Night for $8 – each pour consisting of 5 oz tasters.

Celebrate Koninginnedag “Queen’s Day” on Friday, April 26 from 7-10 PM with a Bols/Upright Kopstootje tasting.

Queen’s Day is celebrated the last weekend of April in the Netherlands and Dutch Belgium every year. This will be the last Queen’s Day, as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced her abdication after 33 years on the throne and her oldest son will become the King in May. So what better way to celebrate a Dutch tradition than with a Kopstootje Biere tasting!

About a year ago, Netherlands based Bols and Oregon’s Upright Brewing partnered to create the perfect pairing of beer and spirits, the Kopstootje Biere. The Kopstootje, or “little headbutt”, is the Dutch version of beer and a shot. A tulip glass is filled to the rim with genever and served with a beer back. Since the glass would overflow if moved, the drinker bends down to take the first sip off the top, following that with a sip of beer. The Bols/Upright collaboration is surprisingly a good match, with the maltiness and botanicals of genever complementing the malt and hops in the Biere de Garde (Bols Genever actually includes hops as one of its botanicals).

Guest bartender Jacob Grier and brand ambassador for Lucas Bols USA will be on-site to answer questions about the collaboration and the Kopstootje tasting tradition. The Kopstootje pairing will be available for $5. Bazi’s cocktail program will feature specials on the Red Light District, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and a few others, all using Bols genever as the base spirit ingredient.

Join Bazi and 50 other restaurants in the Portland metro area on Thursday, April 25 from open to close for Dining Out for Life, an annual dining fundraising event raising money for AIDS service organizations.

Bazi will be donating a portion of food and beverage sales to this great cause. Visit Dining Out for Life for a list of all participating establishments.