Oregon Trail Brewery and Old World Deli in Corvallis, OR

Last weekend on our action packed travel to Corvallis, we learned that the college town was about more than just Oregon State Beavers and their prosperous Division 1 sports programs. The seat of Benton County, Corvallis is home to over 50,000 people as well as a thriving craft beer community.

Orange and black lights up the streets where the Beaver faithful seem to never waiver from cheering on their favorite school. In fact Oregon State University offers a Fermentation Science option that is approved by the Institute of Food Technologists program. In recent news, Indie Hops, an Oregon  supplier of aroma hops, donated $807,000 toward a new program for aroma hop research at the university in the College of Agricultural Sciences. In total, the hops merchant has provided over $1 million toward hops breeding and chemistry research. This is not only good news for OSU and Oregon, but it’s great news for much of the North American craft beer community.

One of Oregon’s most anticipated brew events kicks off this Saturday. On February 13, 2010, the second year of Zwickelmania, a celebration of craft beer, gives thirsty beer lovers across Beervana an inside glimpse into daily Oregonian brewhouse operations and even better, provides them with tastes of what we love.

Running from 11 am to 4pm, Zwickelmania, in conjunction with the Oregon Brewers Guild, is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers.

Here’s some highlights of this year’s Zwickelmania that we recommend you check out if you get the chance.

More Top 5 lists. You gotta love it!

Looks like fellow blogger, Jeff over at Beervana, has posted his own short list of highlights/trends in beer in 2009. Here is our own take on the matter.

Top 5 Oregon Beer Stories of 2009

1. The announcement of 19+ breweries and brewpub opening in Oregon in 2010 (Beer Around Town, Beervana)

2. Representative Ben Cannon’s 1900% beer tax increase fails

Brewpublic visits BridgePort Brewery to check out the new Highland Ambush Scotch Ale, the latest in their Big Brew Series.

In this video, BridgePort’s assistant brewmaster Jeff Edgerton explains the work that went into producing this new barrel aged beer.

Today you can enjoy two one of a kind Portland, Oregon beers aged in bourbon barrels!

Alameda Brewhouse

4765 NE Fremont

BridgePort Brewing Company Holds 25th Anniversary Block Party

On August 15th from 4 – 10 p.m., Bridgeport Brewing Company will close down NW 13th in the Pearl District to celebrate. The brewery’s 25th anniversary bash will feature live music along with BridgePort beer and food.
One dollar from every beer sold at BridgePort’s 25th anniversary party will go directly to The Portland Audubon Society. BridgePort Brewing Company and the Audubon Society of Portland have been teaming up to bring great beer with a purpose to Portland for more than 20 years. The two businesses first partnered in 1987 to produce BridgePort’s Blue Heron Pale Ale as a special release specifically for the Audubon Society as they were petitioning with the state to name The Great Blue Heron Portland’s official city bird. Over the years BridgePort Brewing Company has donated the use of the Brewpub many times to allow the Audubon Society to kick off new initiatives and celebrate environmental victories.

Green Bottling has been bottling up a storm around Portland. Here’s a couple new beers they’ve capped up for your drinking pleasure:

BridgePort Stumptown Tart

The latest in BridgePort’s Big Beer Series, Stumptown Tart, will be released on June 25, 2009. According to a press release from Molly GIlbert of the brewery’s promotion team, R-West, this year’s beer “This logo is different from last year’s Stumptown Tart because we are using 2,000 lbs. of Yamhill County cherries instead of the Marion berries that were used in the recipe last year.”

Here’s more on this beer brew from the source:

With the gorgeous weather we’ve been getting lately in the Pacific Northwest, the only regret about the weekend is that it didn’t last longer.

After work on Friday, we found ourselves at a favorite haunt in Bailey’s Taproom. Bustling with a variety of beerovore species ranging from the Quaffasauraus to the Canus Lupulus, the joint was teeming with thirsty folks both inside and out who know what’s good for ‘em. A tall victorian pint filled with Laughing Buddha…er…Trade Route Brewing’s Mango Weizen was a rewarding spritzily carbonic quencher. I recently enjoyed a bombastically bitter Infidel Lime IPA.  The Trade Route boys don’t do anything extreme, but they are quite inventive with their Southeast Asian-inspired beers of consistently nobel quality.

Red Hook Brewing Company has just announced that they will be releasing a limited edition Belgian-style Tripel.