Oregon Land Trusts collaborates with 8 Breweries on “The Oregon I Am” project
You may have seen the recent spate of beers called The Oregon I Am splashing across your social media feeds this week and wondered what that’s all about. It’s all part of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT) project to celebrate the states diverse landscapes in eight different brewery collaboration beers. Each beer and it’s label artwork is inspired by regions across the state that are highlighted in a new Oregon I Am map that features 81 outdoor sites that anyone can visit - hence the name of the series.
As part of The Oregon I Am project COLT invites the public to grab one of the collaboration beers and join brewers and land trusts for a free, statewide virtual happy hour on June 25 from 4:30-6:30pm. Registration information is included below.
Participating breweries are:
*Crux Fermentation Project (Bend)
Ferment Brewing (Hood River)
Little Beast Brewing (Clackamas/Portland),
Ninkasi Brewing (Eugene)
Oakshire Brewing (Eugene)
Terminal Gravity Brewing (Enterprise)
Von Ebert Brewing (Portland)
Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery (Newberg)
*Brewery to release the beer on June 25
The beers were inspired by place and celebrate the brand new “The Oregon I Am” map—the first-of-its-kind that features 81 outdoor places across the state that anyone can visit, thanks to the work of land trusts.
Each brewery’s beer label features special artwork directly from the map—designed by the local creative firm Jolby—and an invitation to get the map, which is available for download in English or Spanish when you enter your name and email at www.theoregoniam.org
At the onset of the project, COLT challenged the breweries to make beer inspired by Oregon. Each brewery tackled the challenge in their own way—by using all Oregon-grown ingredients, fermenting beer outdoors in a nature preserve using microbes from the air, capturing the essence of a sunny Oregon summer day, and/or collaborating with a local land trust.
“As Oregonians, we love our trees, we love our deserts, we love our mountains, and we love our beer,” said Kelley Beamer, Executive Director at the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts. “Many of our land trust members have strong relationships with local breweries because brewers deeply understand the connection between healthy environments and the healthy water, hops, and malt that make great beer. As we built our beautiful map of accessible properties across Oregon we knew that working with like-minded breweries would be the perfect way to celebrate the incredible bounty of our land and give cheers to these hidden gems in our state.”
All eight beers are available now in limited cans, bottles, or crowlers respectively at each brewery's taproom, and most will receive limited distribution to specialty beer shops throughout the state.
The Oregon I Am Virtual Happy Hour Event Details
Join the breweries and land trusts in celebrating the Oregon landscape through the lens of beer.
June 25, 4:30pm-6:00pm (PT)
Via Zoom
Beer Descriptions
Crux Fermentation Project - Experimental IPA with 95% Oregon-grown ingredients, fermented in the open air at Deschutes Land Trust’s Camp Polk Meadow Preserve, finished with a Norwegian yeast strain. Released in 500ml bottles.
Ferment Brewing - Hoppy Pale Ale brewed in partnership with Columbia Land Trust. The beer is made with Mecca Grade malt from Madras, and hop hash from Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn. Released in 16oz 4-pack cans.
Little Beast Brewing - Sour ale inspired by the bounty of fruit that grows in Oregon. The beer is packed full of marionberries, Oregon’s “unofficial state berry.” Released in 16oz 4-pack cans.
Ninkasi Brewing - Unfiltered NW Pale Ale brewed in partnership with McKenzie River Trust and inspired by volunteer days at Green Island—a diverse ecosystem where the McKenzie and Willamette rivers meet. Released in limited edition 32oz crowlers available exclusively at Ninkasi’s Better Living Room restaurant and taproom.
Oakshire Brewing - Hazy Extra Pale Ale brewed with all Oregon-grown ingredients in honor of the McKenzie River Watershed and the McKenzie River Trust. Released in 16oz 4-pack cans.
Terminal Gravity - Light and fruited sour ale brewed with huckleberries and wheat, inspired by a favorite Oregon past-time—picking huckleberries. The beer celebrates the important work of Wallowa Land Trust. Released in 12oz 6-pack cans.
Von Ebert Brewing - Designed to remind us of being outdoors in Oregon—the beer includes Mosaic, Incognito, Enigma and Mosaic Cryo hops to mimic flavors of pine, evergreen, berries and cannabis. Released in 16oz 4-pack cans.
Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery - Unfiltered Farmhouse India Pale Ale with Oregon-grown Mecca Grade estate malt, Oregon-grown Crystal, Meridian, and Cashmere hops, and wild mustard flowers. Released in 16oz 4-pack cans.
What is a land trust?
A land trust is a nonprofit that works with individuals and communities to conserve land.
About the Coalition for Oregon Land Trusts
The Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT) serves and strengthens the land trust community in Oregon. At COLT, we build connections and advance policies that help protect our natural world—our water, wildlife and open space—for all people, forever. This work helps our 30 coalition conservation members do what they do best: protect wildlife and wild places, defend working farms and forests, provide recreation and parks, drive climate solutions and science, champion clean water for all and engage communities to protect our natural world.