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For reasons no one can quite identify, a disproportionate number of brewers have decamped from Detroit to Portland, where they founded some pretty impressive breweries. For Montavilla Brew Works’ 10th anniversary, they’re doing a cool collaboration.
In an annual tradition, today we salute all those independent breweries out there toiling to make the best beer they can in an increasingly difficult environment.
Are GMO yeasts that eliminate diacetyl production a good thing? There’s no “right” answer to this question, but listening to brewers from different generations wrestle with the question turns out to be enlightening in other ways.
One of the more interesting Oregon festivals is expanding. This July, Portland will host the MXPDX (Mexico to PDX) fest. In this post, I offer a rich discussion I had with the organizers, one that got me very excited for the fest.
Yeast—the final frontier. This microscopic galaxy contains uncountable strains of wild yeast, many of them Saccharomyces. Here’s the story of two breweries who collected their own strains and now use them in their regular beers.
Life has intruded on my blogging—damn life!—but here are some deliciously-curated links to other stories that might interest you.
Tilray acknowledged it was closing Redhook’s Brewlab, ending the company’s 44-year run as a Seattle brewery. The brand will still be brewed in Portland, but with the closure Redhook will lose its last physical location.
How many is too many styles? In a year of exuberance, the Brewers Association has added seven new styles to the OED-sized compendium kept under glass in a corner of Bart Watson’s office. Plus one temporary style. I have thoughts.
Hamdi Ulukaya bought the Anchor Brewery a year ago. When he did, he purchased both a beer and (sort of), a style. But it might be that the two can’t both survive—one must pass for the other to live.
The wonderful brewing historian Martyn Cornell died suddenly yesterday at 72. He was a wonderful man, kind and gentle, and his writing transformed the way we understand beer and the people who made it.
The internet put all human knowledge at our fingertips, transforming the way we understood the world. A recent technological “innovation” may give us answers even faster, but take a wrecking ball to our basic information.
The tariffs are on; the tariffs are off. The tariffs are—it’s exhausting. Last night a federal court ruled they’re off again. But beer fans take note, not all of them, including two biggies.
Travel Oregon, the state’s quasi-independent, tax-funded travel commission. was in the news last week, and I want to clarify my role in the reporting.
Sierra Nevada recently won the World Beer Cup gold medal … for ESBs. Violating Betteridge’s law of headlines, I explain why they got it right, including in my analysis a different rule, beer’s One Iron Law.
Two dozen breweries, nine hop farms, four taprooms, one hop breeder, and a yeast lab have all joined together for a statewide collaboration called Oregon Homegrown. It’s going to be special!
For most of the craft beer era, Oregon’s major newspaper has assigned someone to cover beer. The accurate, credible information they’ve provided beer fans over the decades probably plays a much bigger role in our beer culture than we appreciate.
Assembly Brewing, Portland’s first and only Black-owned brewery, is closing. After just six years, it had become one of the city’s landmark breweries, and owner George Johnson became one of Portland’s most engaging and interesting brewers. It’s a terrible loss.
If you’ve noticed a downtick in blog frequency and quality, you’re not wrong (at least to the former). A brief update on what’s going on. You may be able to relate.
On this week of the Craft Brewers Conference, when much of the news is a little dour, let’s consider a little context. More and more people are drinking so-called craft beer each year, and it is becoming part of our cultural furniture. There’s a lot of upside to that.
How long does it take to make a proper pale lager? Some Czech breweries take months. Most of the books and websites tell you six weeks is more common. What would you say to three weeks? Zoiglhaus’ Alan Taylor learned how to brew in Berlin, and he thinks three is just fine.
Industries in trouble aren’t very silly. Silliness arises amid bounty. We could even advance a measure—call it the “silliness quotient”—to discern how healthy an industry is. By that measure, things may be looking up.
Midway through the can of Pure Project’s Neon Bloom, I realized I was having an experience shift. The beer smelled and tasted like a hoppy ale, but I was slugging it down like a lager. Was I drinking a West Coast pilsner or a West Coast Pale ale? Did it matter?
The Oregon Beer Awards announced winners of their 2025 competition last year, the tenth of the competition. Competition Director Ben Edmunds shared all the winners by year, and I pored over them to identify trends. This post contains pretty graphs!
The Brewers Association has their official end-of-2024 report out, and along with it their list of the largest US breweries. One thing you can’t help but notice: it’s a lot easier to survive as a larger brewery with a little help from your friends.
Remember that brown-label, gray-market “Corona Mega” I discovered at a Mexican restaurant in Tillamook, Oregon a year ago? Lawyers have gotten involved. (Plus a brief, unrelated comment on the tariffs.)
Modern cask bitters have evolved. Many include juicy new world hops and modern IPA hopping techniques. But to achieve the delicacy and harmony bitters are famous for, breweries have to do more than just adding Citras.
It’s taken pFriem 13 years to expand from their original location in Hood River. On Monday, April 7th, they take their next step, with a beautiful, expansive new pub and restaurant in the old City Hall building in downtown Milwaukie, just south of Portland.
Why aren’t Americans drinking beer? Maybe because they’re too busy sucking down water, sparkling water, sports drinks, energy drinks, “natural beverage,” and real and artificial juices.
In our final Coronavirus dispatches, Zoiglhaus’ Alan Taylor looks back at the positives and negatives wrought by the pandemic, and offers some hope for why he sees a rosier future.
Last week, VinePair published an article about the birthplaces of famous beer styles. It included some hinky information—offering me the opportunity to explore an important topic: the “romantic fact.” That is, a story shot through with fascinating, possibly nostalgic details that turn out to be hogwash.