Oregon Brewers Festival Recap
And what a weekend it was. As we look back on a great weekend at the Oregon Brewers Festival, it's pretty amazing to think that there's still nearly an entire week left to enjoy Oregon Craft Beer Month. But before gearing up for the home stretch, I wanted to offer up my impressions of the OBF.
Having moved to Portland just after last year's fest, this was my first Oregon Brewers Festival experience. Overall, I thought the festival was great. While beer obviously plays a central role in any beer festival, I appreciated the fact that OBF includes a variety of festivities and experiences that work to create a real festival atmosphere. Unfortunately, I missed the opening day parade and keg-tapping, but in reading reviews from others in attendance, it's obvious that the opening ceremony really helped set the tone for a great weekend.
Before the festival got started on Thursday, I had posted my picks for the Oregon Brewers Festival. These were all beers I had never had before. And after visiting the fest a couple times this weekend, I'm pretty happy that I was able to try all but one on my list (sadly, the beer I wasn't able to try was Flying Fish Exit 4 - which was well received and made several peoples' best of the fest lists).
People travel from all over the world to drink beer at the OBF.
After reading It's Pub Night's initial reactionsto the beers on Thursday (before I had a chance to hit the fest), I was somewhat surprised to see three of my picks on Bill's list of dislikes. I didn't dislike any of these three (Great Divide Hoss, Rock Bottom Oud Heverlee, and The Bruery 7 Grain Saison), but they weren't among my favorites either.
My favorites from the fest included: Boundary Bay German Tradition Dry Hopped Pale Ale, Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, The Bruery Oude Tart (an unexpected surprise at the buzz tent, poured from bottles when the fest opened on Saturday at noon), Vertigo Friar Gone Wild IPA, and Lompoc Son of C-Note IPA. To my surprise, especially after hearing the reactions of others, I thought Caldera's Hibiscus Ginger beer was quite good - and perfect for a hot afternoon at the fest. I also liked Sierra Nevada Tumbler and Rogue 21, but think I would appreciate them more on a cool fall day.
It sounds like one of the biggest changes this year from years prior was the structure of the Buzz Tent. Instead of requiring an additional admission fee, the Buzz Tent simply charged double tokens for tastes of rare or otherwise special beers (at least that was the intent). While I liked this structure - especially because the increased price appeared to keep the lines to a minimum - I couldn't help but wonder why some of the beers being poured at the buzz tent were selected. Many I thought, weren't buzzworthy (I like Seven Brides, but why was Seven Brides IPA poured at the buzz tent?). Apparently, the Buzz Tent was more popular than expected; it was closed on Sunday. Next year, I hope OBF can offer a greater variety of rare treats. If it were up to me, I wouldn't publish the beers in the program book. Rather, I'd leave the beer drinkers in suspense and surprise them throughout the weekend in hopes of generating some really big buzz.
The one other question I heard time and time again at the fest was: How are the beers organized? I still don't know the answer. While some would prefer to organize beers alphabetically by brewer or by style of beer, I couldn't help but think about what would happen if the beers were organized into two groups: beer and fruity beer. The long lines tracing back from the stations pouring Maui CoCoNut Porter or 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat were impenetrable at times. What would happen if there was another tent just for these kinds of beers?
I'm glad I had the opportunity to make it down to the Oregon Brewers Festival twice this weekend. I'll be making note to take at least one weekday off next for year's fest in hopes of tasting all the beers I want to try before they run dry, and to avoid some of the bigger crowds. In the meantime, I'll be looking for some new favorites and those I missed at taprooms and breweries around town.
July 28th, 2010 - 17:36
Hey Brady – all of the beers are delivered to one site in advance of the festival. As they are delivered, they are loaded into the semi trailers. That’s why they aren’t organized in any particular way – logistically it would be nearly impossible to pull off. Some beers don’t show up until Wednesday night (or in one case, Thursday morning) – they get put in the end of a trailer. Cheers!
July 30th, 2010 - 13:20
Chris, thanks for the response on this. I figured that the beers were organized based on some kind of logistics. In some ways, walking down the line of beers without looking at the program book/map is pretty fun – you never know what you’ll find at the next trailer. Thanks for all your effort with the OBF, it sounds like this year was another success!