Last summer Sheryl and I went to Oregon on a beer vacation. We actually drove from Phoenix to San Diego, spent the night and took a train from San Diego to Portland. I’ll spare you the details of that trip, but we finally made it to Oregon with three days to drink before heading to Vancouver, another place we discovered some great local beers.
While in the Portland area, we headed to Bend so I could play golf and visit some local brewing companies. In Bend alone we visited Deschutes Brewery, Boneyard Beer, Crux Fermentation Project and 10 Barrel. Boneyard Beer was small and we learned a lot while there. Did you know all their brewing equipment was donated by 3 Floyds, a small brewing company in Munster, Indiana?
We had a great time in Oregon and I can’t wait to go back. The other day, knowing that I’ve been to Oregon, my co-worker Jim Bellington brought me a pamphlet called Your Guide to All Things Beer in Oregon. Inside is a laundry list of brewing companies, advertisements and more about brewing companies in The Beaver State state.
Flipping through I found ads for the Horse Brass Pub and Pelican Pub & Brewery, places we visited in Oregon. But what excited me the most was the alphabetical index of brewing companies in the back. From 1188 Brewing Co. to WORTHY BREWING, this pamphlet was filled with information about craft beer.
The pamphlet also divided the state into different regions and marked locations of the brewing companies on a map. For example, The Coastal areas and the region of Southern Oregon were uniquely separated into craft beer zones. There was also a nice list of beer events in the back. We won’t be able to make it to Bend again this year, but this pamphlet definitely inspired another trip in the near future.
Oh, and there was a list of popular beer festivals in the state, too. While there seems to be a beer fest in Arizona every weekend to keep our attention, reading about Malt Ball, Cheers to Belgian Beers and Zwickelmania might be inspiration enough to return sooner than later. Maybe next year we can go back during Oregon Craft Beer Month. Yes, while we in Arizona get a solid week… Oregon, celebrates craft beer for an entire month!
Remarkably there are over 225 breweries in Oregon. That sheer quantity gives Oregon the distinction of ranking no. 1 in the United States for breweries per capita, percentage of dollars spent on craft beer and economic impact per capita. Check out www.OregonCraftBeer.org to learn more.
Jim, thanks for the pamphlet. I owe you a beer. Cheers!
