Oregon Brewer's Festival

[billvon 3,120]

This weekend, Thurs-Sun in Portland, Tom McCall park. Noon to 9pm. Anyone else going to be there?

[NWFlyer 2]

Damn, I should look into a cheap flight to Portland. I had a blast at this last time I went with you guys!

Anyone who's near Portland should definitely connect with Bill & Company. How often do you get to see a greenie in a balloon hat?

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[billvon 3,120]

>Damn, I should look into a cheap flight to Portland.

You should. This year there will be an 'experimental' tent where brewers showcase their less-popular, newer beers.

[rlucus 0]

My brother will be there... I will 3000 miles away wishing I was there.

[billvon 3,120]

Report:

Another excellent festival.

This was the first year they had the "buzz" tent, which had the more expensive, more limited quantity experimental beers. Several bourbon barrel aged stouts and porters, a few sours (Sang Royale was great) and some very odd selections (sorry, I just can't handle the pepper beers.) It was also relatively unknown, and so was a good place to escape from the crowds and meet up with friends.

In the main area they had 80 breweries. About half were old favorites like the Raccoon Lodge Raspberry Wheat, Summer Solstice Cream Ale and Grand Teton Bitch Creek. There were some new breweries there like Lazy Boy and Hopworks. Exceptional new beers were:

Alaskan White Ale - VERY drinkable, just the right balance of malt and hops. Slightly bitter/citrusy.

Deschutes Black Butte 21 Porter - a truly amazing porter, aged in whisky barrels.

Deschutes Mirror Mirror - a complex and tasty barleywine.

Dogfish Head Festina Peche - a Berliner Weisse that is clean, drinkable, not too tart and a great summer beer.

Widmer KGB Russian Imperial Stout - Very very big beer, with hops balanced by some sweet malt notes.

Three Creeks Stonefly Rye - a rye beer I really like.

Bayern Brewing Dark Hefeweizen - never had a dark hefeweizen before; definitely worth a try. It's like all the good parts of hefeweizens with none of the bad.


We've learned the secret to this event - go early Thursday, try everything Thurs and Fri, and then Sat/Sun go back for a few hours to try what you liked. That way you don't get overloaded too soon, and can avoid the crowds on the more popular days.

There was an unusually large crowd this year, and by Sunday they were out of almost everything, and were madly hunting around for kegs of stuff to hook up. Everywhere there were handwritten signs on paper plates listing what was hooked up at each trailer, which invariably included mostly IPA's, since overhopped northwest IPA's are rapidly becoming less popular among Oregon beer drinkers.

[rlucus 0]

Deschutes Black Butte 21 Porter - a truly amazing porter, aged in whisky barrels.


I have to get my hands on some of this... BBP is one of my favorite beers.