Beer festivals are so numerous, so commonplace, and so well- attended that one doesn’t have to venture very far from his/her home base to find one. Many of these festivals were founded within the last few years, but there is one beer festival that predates nearly every other one in the nation. I’m referring to the Oregon Brewers Festival, a long- running craft beer celebration now in its 31st year.
This year’s Oregon Brewers Festival is scheduled for July 26 through July 29, 2018 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The event is expected to attract approximately 70,000 attendees with beer lovers arriving from across the United States and the world.
Oregon Brewers Festival focuses on Oregon beer, but the event is not limited to homegrown brew. The taps will flow with beer from neighboring states and will even feature craft beer from the Mexico’s Baja region.
Here is a full list of participating breweries, listed in alphabetical order:
- 54-40
- Agua Mala
- Anderson Valley
- Backwoods
- Baerlic
- Bayern
- Belching Beaver
- Boneyard
- Boulder
- Boundary Bay
- Breakside, Buoy
- Caldera
- Cascade
- Coin Toss
- Crooked Stave
- Depoe Bay
- Deschutes
- Double Mountain
- Ecliptic
- Everybody’s
- Fauna
- Fort George
- Fortside
- Freebridge
- Fremont
- Gigantic
- Golden Valley
- GoodLife
- Great Divide
- Great Northern
- Great Notion
- Heathen
- Heretic
- Hopworks
- Insurgente
- Iron Horse
- Kells
- Laurelwood
- Lompoc
- MadTree
- Maui
- McMenamins
- Melvin
- Migration
- Monkless
- Natian
- New Holland
- Ninkasi
- Old Town
- Oproer
- Oregon City
- Pelican
- Perennia
- pFriem
- Portland
- RiverBend
- Rogue
- Royale
- Rusty Truck
- Sasquatch
- Scout
- Silver Falls
- Silver Moon
- StormBreaker
- Sunriver
- Terminal Gravity
- Three Creeks
- Three Mugs
- Thunder Island
- Transpeninsular
- Upright
- Uptown Market
- Vertigo
- Von Ebert
- Wendlandt
- Widmer
- Wild Ride
- Wolf Tree
- Zoiglhaus
Like all great beer festivals, the attractions go far beyond the beer. Guests can expect to find local food booths, live music, souvenirs, homebrew demonstrations, and more. And if you want to venture beyond the brew, the Oregon Brewers Festival will offer cider and wine, too.
One of the many cool things about the Oregon Brewers Festival is that it is not a ticketed event. You don’t need a ticket to enter the festival grounds and listen to the music. You only need money for beer and food and this is accomplished through the purchase of tokens. They sell for $1 each and guests can redeem four of them for a full serving of beer or one of them for a taste of beer. Sampling beer also requires the purchase of a souvenir tasting mug, which sells for $7 each. Keep in mind, too, that this is a cash only event so be sure to bring cash with you or a valid bank card that you can use in one of the on- site ATM machines.
The Oregon Brewers Festival encourages safety and to help encourage responsible drinking, guests are urged to use the Tri-Met light rail service, which has a station only one block from the festival entrance. If you feel like getting exercise and want to ride your bicycle, Hopworks Urban Brewery has a secure bike corral where you can park your bike free of charge. And for those who want to serve in a designated driver role, Crater Lake Soda Garden will provide complimentary handcrafted soda, completely free of charge. If you bring your children along, they will also receive complimentary Crater Lake Soda when they are accompanied by a parent.
The Oregon Brewers Festival started in 1988 and while there are now hundreds of beer festivals around the United States, the Oregon Brewers Festival is still listed among the nations very best. It’s a craft beer fan bucket list destination for certain and it all takes place in Portland this summer. Make your reservations today, and I’ll see you in Oregon for this incredible celebration of craft beer!
For more information visit OregonBrewFest.com. To follow via social media, visit Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram or search for information using the hashtag #OBF18.
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