Love for Oregon beer

Between the ever-increasing number of craft breweries in Oregon as well as the Oregon Brewers Festival, it’s no big surprise that Oregonians love their beer. What may be shocking is that other people like our beer too.

Formerly known as microbreweries, craft breweries are exactly what they sound like: beer as an art form. And if there is anything Oregonians are known for, it is random forms of art. Oregon beer is unique and widely known as great beer because breweries are so careful about the brewing process, as well as the fact that they make so much of it, which is why “micro” no longer applies.

During spring break this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Alaska Brewing Company in Juneau. Having had a long-term appreciation for Alaskan beer, I was excited to do a beer tasting of their wide selection. What I hadn’t expected was for them to be excited I was there.

The brand manager, Cindy Burchfield, was incredibly surprised to see an Oregonian in the brewery, especially one that was aware that the Alaskan brewery existed. Upon her wall, she had an empty bottle from just about every Oregon brewery I have ever heard of. According to Burchfield, Oregon is widely known in the alcohol world for making great beer.

Oregon does have a lot of breweries. Portland alone has at least 30 craft breweries. Encompassing one-third of Oregon’s total breweries, according to Oregon.com, Portland has more breweries and brewpubs per capita than any other city in the United Sates.

Why is Oregon beer so prevalent and successful? It turns out that people have been brewing beer here long before Oregon became a state. Simply put, Oregonians are really good at it. It turns out that Oregon’s climate is ideal for barley and hops, and 17 percent of the United States’ hops are grown right here.

Plus, there are tons of varieties of beer, located all over the state. While individuals in other states may not always choose a craft brew (Bud Light is still the most popular beer in America), people in the Northwest, Oregonians especially, love their craft brews.

Think about it. We have so many choices every time we go out for beer. We can even find breweries in Portland that have restaurants, like Bridgeport. And honestly, when given a menu of beer selections that includes craft brews, how many people would still select Bud Light? I’d hope people who eat in brewpubs have enough taste to choose a finer selection.

While running craft breweries seem to be the popular thing to do, especially in Oregon, brewers still need to side on caution. If one of these smaller independent breweries manages to leak out fully into the mainstream, they run the risk of becoming a new version of Budweiser or Miller. If that happens, then they could no longer be considered a craft brew, but would be run-of-the-mill, ordinary beer.

We need craft breweries to keep beer alive and ever-changing. Craft beers are far more flavorful than national brands, and the formulas are constantly being adapted to make sure that the taste is exactly what is intended.

National brand beers are, simply put, dull and boring. Granted, they have been around for a long time now and have many devoted followers. But there is no change or originality. It also seems that national brands are less likely to experiment with, or alter, their recipes. Since the boom of popularity, some national brands have attempted to mimic the craft brews, to no avail. On the Web site for Miller Genuine Draft, they even refer to their breweries as a craft. But real craft breweries, especially in Oregon, are more willing to change and try new things until they find a new brew, where the national brand imitation craft breweries are not.

Oregon craft brews are so popular simply because they are well made and brewing is treated like an art form here. After several attempts, brewers can make multiple works of art through trial and error and don’t have the ego to think that what they have is good enough. But Oregon beer is good, and local breweries will keep it that way.