For the first time since 2019 Oregon’s premiere beer festival returns to Tom McCall Waterfront Park this weekend. The Oregon Brewers Festival dates back to 1988, and at its height welcomed about 70,000 people to Portland over a 5-day festival, not including side events like the Brewers Dinner and pre-fests and post-fest events. This year’s event has a tepid comeback, preferring to err on the side of caution organizers are playing it safe with a muted program but just as much excitement as the past 33 years.

In 2018 the Oregon Brewers Festival began playing with their traditional 5-day structure that was previously established as Wednesday through Sunday. In 2018 they scaled back to 4-days running Thursday through Sunday, in 2018 they moved it forward back to Wednesday but cutting Sundays for the first time ever. This year they have went even further bringing it down to 3-days Thursday through Saturday. This takes into account the lack of workers downtown, a much slower tourist season, plus COVID-19 wary crowds at a festival that was already losing steam pre-pandemic. This year there was no pre-fest brewers brunch, and no parade to march to the kickoff. With a lot less of the normal hoopla surrounding the festival, it’s being made up for by renewed enthusiasm after 3 years without one of this countries premiere beer festivals.

For festival goers the most obvious changes are to the size and cost of the event. The beer selection has scaled way back from 101 beers and ciders in 2019 to 43 in 2022, and as they did pre-pandemic the breweries are now Oregon only. With less than 50% of the selection of previous years, they shrunk the festival footprint down significantly and that may be the first thing you notice if you have attended in the past. The event now encompasses just the south side of the previous area from SW Oak street to the Morrison Bridge. Controversially organizers have eliminated the old wooden drink tokens in favor of printed paper tickets, but are allowing exchanges if you still had some in reserve from previous years. Unfortunately, the festival originally promised that you could turn your tokens in for a one-to-one exchange rate but have since backtracked on that. Since the paper drink tix are now $2 instead of $1, you need 2 wooden tokens to get 1 paper ticket. The general admission also went from $20 for a 12oz mug and 10 drink tickets in 2019, up to $30 for the same amount this year.

With the rising cost of goods, and huge increases in raw material to breweries, the raise in price was warranted, but makes OBF seem much less affordable than years past. Still, there is more than enough for any one person to have a great time, and more beers than you can drink in a day or two. That said, I gave it my best try to get through as many of this years 44 beers (and one cider) as possible to share some recommendations for what to try and what to skip. The following is not a reflection of every single beer, but more of a highlights real from what stood out.

Recommended:

Crux Fermentation Project: Tangy Boomerang

Creamsicle beers are nothing new, but Crux pulls it off better than most with a tart bright bite of acid from tangerine juice rather than Orange. The vanilla brings out sherbert flavors and the mild sourness counteracts the sweetness to make it all to refreshing on a hot and humid OBF weekend in Portland. Buyer beware though, this is a 2 drink ticket pour for a 5.2% ABV beer which equates to a $1 an ounce. Hopefully we will see this beer again in cans or on draft outside of the fest at a lower price point.

Breakside Brewery: Float

If your looking for a full flavored lager that is not new school hoppy, then Breakside Brewery’s Float Mexican-style Lager is easily worth your drink ticket. Unlike many Mexi style lagers, the grist on this one is 100% malt with no corn adjuncts or flavorings such as lime. It’s just smooth, soft, creamy, and mildly nutty with a full body but light and crisp finish.

Cascade Brewing: Incontrovertible

When you think of Cascade Brewing you don’t think hazy IPA, so it will then surprise you as much as I that the best NE-style hazy at the festival was theirs. Cascade does do fruit exceptionally well, and while no melons, berries, or stone fruit was harmed in the making of this beer it nonetheless has the biggest punch of hop citrus that blurs the line between IPA and juice. They pulled out all the hottest tropical hop varieties to achieve this: El Dorado, Idaho 7, Ekuanot, and Wai-iti. From here on out I will be trying more Cascade Brewing IPA’s.

Deschutes Brewery: Hachimitsu Mai Lager

An experimental take on the Japanese-style rice lager with puffed jasmine rice and a Chilean Ulmo honey added. This is a light lager with just a kiss of hops and a delicate touch of honey and jasmine that you could easily miss in the raucous OBF crowd, but you will be rewarded if you pause for a moment to take it in. The honey is subtle, but serves to add a perceived sweetness that rounds out the inherent dryness, and the jasmine is barely there but complimented by the beautiful botanical notes of the honey in the aroma primarily.

Double Mountain Brewery: Ring My Bell IPA

This collaboration between the Columbia River Gorge breweries Solera and Double Mountain is a showcase of YCH frozen hops to leave a sticky piney, stonefruit, and slightly pungent hop flavors coating your mouth in a modern light-bodied IPA. In typical old school fashion the bitterness is a bit higher than current American IPA trends, but the flavors are fresh and in vogue. This is a beer for the West Coast and San Diego-stye IPA fans out there.

Hopworks Urban Brewery: Tequila Barrel-Aged Cactus Attacks

The best bang for your buck at the festival at 8.9% abv and only 1 drink ticket a pour (or 3 tickets for a full mug!) was also one of the best beers of the festival. Hopworks managed to make a boozy barrel-aged beer seem summertime appropriate with a very lightly sour base beer with the juicy tang of watermelon-lime flavors of Prickly Pear Cactus. The tequila barrel-aging comes through with oak vanilla tannins, just a hint of spirit alcohol, and that signature Agave flavor that makes you feel like sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere.

Monkless Belgian Ales: Passionfruit Saison

I wasn’t sure what to make of notoriously smoothie material Passionfruit in a style of beer that is supposed to be dry and peppery, but Monkless makes it work in this untraditional take on a saison. You get some of that phenolic like bubble gum character present in some Belgian yeast strains and that actually complements the passionfruit, a pink and black peppercorn adds nuance, but most essentially the beer is slightly tart and thus dances wildly across the palate like a nimble boxer.

SteepleJack Brewing: Kotbusser

I am not familiar with the obscure German-style from Cotbuss, but enjoying this beer without any info going in was enjoyable and surprisingly familiar. I don’t know if the Germans created Hazy IPA and I never heard it, but this Hazy-Lite was a pleasant sessionable and balanced easy drinker with moderate bitterness and semi-sweet honey cheerios tasting grist.

Sunriver Brewing: Something Dank This Way Comes

Along with Double Mountain’s beer at the fest, this Sunriver Brewing entry are the highest recommendations for fans of West Coast-style clear IPA’s. Sunriver Brewing isn’t afraid to add a little bit of crystal malt to steady the whopping 6 different hop varieties that are split 50/50 between old school favorites and new school flavor. Don’t get me wrong, this beer tastes modern with a crossing of dank berries, and stonefruit jam notes out of the hops. I will take a pint please.

Threshold Brewing & Blending: Cheeky Dribble

This is a straight up fruited quick sour Gose-style base beer with fuzzy peaches and a scoop of vanilla. Similar to the Crux beer, this is going for a creamsicle flavor combo, but doesn’t go as far as the former with the intense flavors and is a bit more restrained in the fruit and vanilla. Did I detect some hops as well? Reminded me a bit of a dry-hopped kettle sour with a stone fruit and vanilla twist added onto it, if this type of beer is up your alley you will not be disappointed.

Zoiglhaus Brewing: Lime Leaf Kolsch

Based on Zoiglhaus Brewery’s award winning year-round kolsch, this version has a more herbal than citrusy lime that doesn’t overpower the bready Kolsch flavors. Usually when you get lime in a beer it tastes either pithy/tangy or artificial, in this one it approaches more of a smooth and grassy flavor like muddled fresh herbs.

Not Recommended:

Caldera Brewing: 25th Anniversary Hoppy Lager

It’s entirely possible that Caldera Brewing knows something I don’t, but when they describe this beer as German in style I don’t expect it to be chewy carmel malts and then loaded up Mosaic and Centennial Cryo hops for a punch of bitterness. In the end it just tastes like a throwback 90’s style malty and bitter IPA with the classic touch of oxidation.

Coin Toss Brewing: Black Hohl

Not many are going to want a dark beer in this weather, but I am always down to give it atleast the 4oz try and I am a fan of the Cascadian Dark Ale style. Unfortunately Black Hohl leaves with an astringent roast bitterness like reused coffee grounds, and the malt body doesn’t back it up enough to pull off the thinness and neither does the hop flavor.

McMenamins Breweries: Tropic Heat

I am usually a big fan of combining fruit with a tropical orange, yellow, or red hot pepper but this one doesn’t pull it off. The choice of using Guava as the fruit rather than something like pineapple, apricot, or mango is an unusual decision that unfortunately doesn’t work because guava has more of a puree, soft, ice cream quality that is flatter and doesn’t have the natural tartness to both cut and amplify a tropical pepper heat. Instead it’s all a bit muddled and muted.

33rd Annual Oregon Brewers Festival

Location: Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 300 SW Naito Parkway, Portland, Oregon 97204. Enter on SW Oak Street or under the Morrison Bridge.

Dates:

Thursday, July 28 to Saturday, July 30, 2022

Times:

Noon to 9 pm; mug & ticket sales close at 8:30 pm

Cost:

The Oregon Brewers Festival is not a ticketed event, and there is no admission charge to enter the Festival grounds. In order to consume beer or cider, you purchase a tasting package for $30 that includes a 2022 souvenir tasting mug and 10 tasting tickets (mugs are available on their own for $10 and tickets are $2 apiece). Patrons pay three tickets for a full 12 oz mug of beer or cider, or one ticket for a 4 oz taste. Additional tickets are $2 apiece. Mugs and tickets can be purchased at the festival, or in advance at https://www.merctickets.com/events/124181416/oregon-brewers-festival-2022

Cash or Credit?

The mug/ticket sales booth accepts cash or credit/debit cards, no checks. The festival does provide ATM machines on premise.

Minors Welcome

Minors are welcome all hours of the festival with a parent. Parents of minors between the ages of 14 and 20 will be required to sign a form acknowledging the responsibility of preventing children from consuming alcohol and the penalties for the parent and child.

No Pets Allowed

For the safety and happiness of our furry friends, and for venue cleanliness, please leave your pets comfortably at home. Service animals are welcome.

Safe Ride Home

The Oregon Brewers Festival encourages responsible drinking and urges patrons to take Tri-Met; the MAX Light Rail has a station one block from the main Festival entrance. Attendees who ride bikes can park them for free in the Hopworks Urban Brewery secure bike corral.