Oregon legislators have introduced a new beer tax that would make the state’s beer the most-taxed in the country—at a level nearly twice as high as the next state, and more than ten times the national median. Worse, the rhetoric suggests an explicit goal is to cripple Oregon breweries.
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I am bad at predicting future events—often spectacularly, hilariously so. What’s a good anniversary without a good roasting? To that end, I have a looked back to see what what I predicted about glitter beer, hazy IPAs, and hard seltzer.
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This week Beervana turns fifteen. Throughout the week I’ll be posting some lighthearted material, and today we kick things off with a quick look back. It turns out this blog almost perfectly corresponds to the modern era of brewing in the US.
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Mass market lagers aren’t, let’s be honest, especially interesting beers. They are often made by giant corporations in equally giant plants. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their moments.
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So many forces are now scrambling the beer industry—including Covid, which may change it forever—that the very meaning of “craft beer” is up for grabs. It may help to consider the era through different lenses to take its full measure.
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In May, Pelican Brewery turns 25. For the whole of its life, it has reflected the vision of its longtime brewer, Darron Welch. Yet unlike so many legacy breweries, Pelican is growing and thriving. There’s an important lesson here.
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Having been neglectful about actual, tasty beer, I offer a round-up of recent discoveries, both in trends and individual beers.
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The Covid pandemic has been especially brutal on downtown businesses, and last week claimed one of the most important independent bars in Portland, Bailey’s Taproom. It counts as its legacy a host of breweries it championed and a richer, more interesting beer scene.
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She’s smiling. She has a beer. She’s our new mascot, Maris Otter, and this is the story of how she came to be.
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American brewers invented cream ale as a way to cheaply combat the rise of pale lager. It was neither creamy nor especially ale-like, and it wasn’t until well after Prohibition that breweries found commercial success with the style, none more than Rochester’s Genesee.
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If a world beer hall of fame existed, which beers would you include? And, as interesting as that list might be, would the beers you chose be even more interesting for what they said about you than the list you created? Yes, it turns out.
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