"Portland -- Beervana of the Northwest"
Excerpt from
The Brewpub Explorer
of the Pacific Northwest
by Hudson Dodd,
Matthew Latterell,
Lani MacCormack
and Ina Zucker
Reprinted by Permission
Johnson Associates International
P.O. Box 313, Medina, Washington 98039
Online address jasibooks@aol.com
ISBN 1-881409-16-3
The Willamette Week refers to Portland reverently as "Beervana". The Oregon Brewers Guild calls this city "Münich on the Willamette". Of the over 50 breweries and brewpubs in Oregon, more than one third are located in the Portland Metro area. Twenty of the 28 Oregon McMenamins establishments are found in and around Portland. The city is home to some of Oregon's largest and smallest microbreweries. The microbrewery revolution began in Oregon in 1884 with the opening of Bridgeport Brewing Company. The brewery began with a small "tasting room" modeled after those found in wineries. The open spaces, simple menu and variety of beers and serving styles have made Bridgeport a prototype of warehouse brewpubs.
The revolution might not have come so soon to Portland, however, if it were not for places like the Horse Brass Pub, located at 4534 S.E. Belmont. This pub, serving up the finest British and German beers to a crowd thirsting for full, rich flavor, was an inspiration to many brewers. It still serves as a showplace of the best of both Pacific Northwest and European lagers and ales.
Today, Portland boasts 16 breweries with nearly 40 brewpubs. McMenamins alone has 20 pubs, six of which brew. Four of these operations, Star Brewing, Saxer, Multnomah and Hair of the Dog, are exclusively breweries, supplying bottled and draft beer to local pubs and national markets.
Three of Oregon's largest microbreweries, Portland Brewing Company, Nor'Wester and Bridgeport, began in the Portland area. Oregon's smallest brewery, Philadelphia's Steak and Hoagies, with an annual production of about 150 barrels, has been brewing in Portland since fall, 1994. And the opening of brewing operations in the Portland area has not stopped --- McMenamins is renovating the historic Crystal Ballroom, and Beaverton, just south of Portland, will soon have a new brewpub. Rumors and plans of other new ventures will bring several more into the area.
There seems to be no end to the growing interest in microbrewed beer. Flavor, quality ingredients, higher alcohol content and local pride are some of the many reasons people are trying and switching to micros. With so much fine beer in the Portland area, however, is the market getting saturated? Consider that microbrews account for less than 2% of all beer sales in the United States. In the Portland area, that number is approaching 10%. Even in "Beervana", there is tremendous room for growth, as more and more beer drinkers discover the wonderful taste of craft brews.