Author: Bianca Blankenship

It’s almost summertime, which means warm weather, longer days and beer festivals—lots of them. Here is a rundown of beer fests in Portland that will be serving up cold mugs over the approaching hot days.

Fads come and go in the craft beer community—from IPAs contending for the most bitterness to hops being used at their freshest—and a current trend seems to be catching on slowly but surely in Portland and beyond. The popular culprit? Sour beers.

After four months of renovation and a torn-up Northwest 23rd Avenue, Laurelwood NW Public House is open again.

This week is a reminder that Portland isn’t the only beer-crazed city in America. Craft beer is celebrated throughout the entire country, as American Craft Beer Week is underway as of yesterday.

As the weather heats up, nothing sounds more tempting than drinking a cold beer in the hot sun. Unfortunately, the few bar patios in Portland are either covered, too small and crowded or both. Fortunately, Apex Bar has hit the scene with a great patio and a long list of good beers.

In the world of colleges and universities, prom nights are usually disposed of and disregarded as social nightmares from high school that none of us wishes to relive. Somehow when the term “zombie” is added to the mix, heads start turning—turning all the way around, in fact.

This month, Lompoc Brewing releases three unique beers that are great for summer drinking: the Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Side Porter, Spring Bock and Heaven’s Helles. All three are available at Lompoc breweries and can be found in taprooms and stores around town.

We can only hope that the sun is on its way soon—never mind the hail and bitter cold that hit Portland over the past week.

This week Bridgeport Brewing releases its “Big Brew,” a special beer that comes out once a year. This year their Stumptown Tart takes the same name as it has for the past two years, but its style and flavor have since changed.

When Portland’s Cheers to Belgian Beers started four years ago, the beer festival’s tap list consisted of only 10 beers from 10 brewers. Now, with 28 brewers taking part in the festival and 33 beers on tap this year, Portland’s Cheers is both a popular festival and a striking example of how the Oregon craft beer scene has skyrocketed in recent years.

Rock climbing, river kayaking, high-altitude paragliding and speed flying. Those are just a few of the mountain sports featured at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. This week the festival brings its world tour to Portland.