Blogtown, PDX

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Drunk Oregon Brewers Festival

Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Jul 26 at 5:41 PM

scaled.obf_2007.jpg

I just stumbled back from a press tour of the Oregon Brewers Festival, which kicked off this morning with the Brewers Parade and is happening at Waterfront Park through Sunday. We got a whirlwind tour of a few of the fest’s highlights, including Laurelwood’s crisp, intensely hoppy PNW Pils; a balanced, surprisingly light organic IPA from one of Portland’s newest breweries, Hopworks (currently under construction and slated to open on SE 29th and Powell at the end of the summer); and Flying Fish’s love-it-or-hate-it bourbon-barrel aged Abbey Dubbel, produced specially for the fest (personally, loved it; big, malty beer with a strong bourbon flavor). There are so, so many beers to try, though (the program boasts “73 craft breweries from across the country showcasing a score of beer styles ranging from Amber to Wit”), that the press tour really just piqued my curiousity. Guess I’ll be going back this weekend.

Entrance to the festival is free; mugs, $4, plus $1 per tasting token (4 tokens fill a mug). Thurs-Sat noon-9 pm, Sun noon-7 pm

Permalink

Comments

It was nice going there on thursday and not having to deal with a crowd (except for you media misfits, moving as a pack.)

Alison: I also think that Laurelwood was definitely one of the best beers. The other I enjoyed a lot was the Whoop Pass Double IPA. On the other hand, I'm not feeling you on the Abbey Dubbel (yuck!).

I have some pics and a report up here: http://publicpress.org/alchemy/entity?action=showEntity&id=7489

Posted by truth | July 26, 2007 8:39 PM

Friday during the day isn't bad, either. It's still a decent crowd, but the frat party quality doesn't kick in until after five. Plus, none of the beers will run out until later.

Which is why I [cough] am feeling a little under the weather [cough] today. Guess I'll have to call in sick.

Posted by Jeff | July 27, 2007 9:01 AM

It was funny watching people try that dubbel. Lots of grimacing. The only one I really disliked—of the beers they offered for the media tour—was the one aged in pinot barrels... can't remember which brewery, it was one of the last ones I tried and my notetaking was starting to suffer at that point. It was a pale ale of some sort. It tasted like plastic.

I'm a sucker for bitch beers and didn't get my hands on any of the fruity ones yesterday— I'm curious about 21st Amendment's watermelon wheat—and there are a bunch of wits I want to try. I'm headed back on Sunday, and I'm already bracing myself (and brushing up on my drunk-old-man-deflection skills). Wish I could make it back today before the crowds set in.

Posted by Alison Hallett | July 27, 2007 11:01 AM

Comments Closed

In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).