6 Events to Keep Craft Beer Lovers Happy at Feast Portland 2018

Craft beer might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Feast Portland. The renowned culinary gathering tends to skew more towards cocktails and wine…not that there’s anything wrong with that! Sometimes though, you need a crisp and refreshing brew to cleanse your palate in between gorging on tasty food for several days straight. Luckily Feast offers a smorgasbord of events that will not only have solid craft beer options from a slew of Pacific Northwest breweries, but they also offer plenty of events that are undoubtedly perfect for beer lovers. To get you psyched for the marathon of deliciousness going down September 13 – 16, we put together a list of events that will satisfy craft beer lovers based on brewery selection, food offerings, and overall beer-friendly vibes. Time to Feast!Note: Some of these events still have tickets available but others may be sold out.

80s vs. 90s

It’s tough to say exactly how it will work when chefs from around the country are forced to cook in a theme based on two different decades, but damn if I don’t want to find out. What would even be considered “80s” or “90s” foods? One thing is for certain: it’s going to be a throwdown of radness. Fizzy libations will be flowing from Full Sail, Deschutes, Lagunitas, and Widmer Brothers. Tubular!

Grand Tasting

One might argue that the smaller, more niche events of Feast are where the real party is at, but the fact is that the Grand Tasting – held on Friday and Saturday – is the marquee event of the festival. Here you get your classic food festival format with an endless array of chefs, restaurants, breweries and wineries all sampling their goods. It’s probably safe to say that other events may afford a bit more intimacy, but the sheer scale of the Grand Tasting makes it a worthy spot. Plus, it caters to beer lovers with a solid showing of breweries including Buoy, Crooked Stave, Dirty Pretty, Yachats and more!

Night Market

The freaks come out at night! This year’s Night Market theme is Ring of Fire, which doesn’t mean smoked meats (see Smoked! for that one). Here we will get a culinary focus on the West Coast and places like Peru, Mexico, and East Asia, all of which are geographically located in the volcano-lined ring of fire. Beer isn’t a showcasing actor here but it certainly goes well with all of the foods from the countries showcased, which will include Hawaiian pork, fresh seafood, and undoubtedly a taco or two.

Smoked!

Smoked meat and smoked veggies and smoked fish, oh my! If the name didn’t give it away, this event showcases food cooked with the age old method of flame and smoke. With who’s who lineup of Portland chefs going up alongside major names like Nina Compton (Compere Lapin), Angie Mar (The Beatrice Inn) and Miguel Vidal (Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ), expect the dishes served up to go well beyond your classic burgers, dogs and pulled pork. Of course, you’ll need to wash all that smoky goodness with some refreshing brews and Lagunitas, Olympia and Widmer Brothers will be there to quench your thirst.

Basically Bar Trivia

Anyone who’s enjoyed a pint or five at their neighborhood watering hole has probably witnessed or participated in bar trivia. That’s really the only reason why this event is included here. But seriously, with Bon Appétit editors Julia Kramer and Amiel Stanek as quiz masters, and guest chefs as team captains on randomly-assigned teams, this sounds like a lot of fun and good chance to make some new foodie pals.

Sunday Tailgate

If there are two words that scream beer, they are “Sunday” and “Tailgate”. But this tailgate is a bit more elevated than chugging Coors and grilling weenies in the parking lot before a football game. Karl Holl (Spatzle and Speck, Portland), Joshua McFadden (Ava Gene’s, Portland), Adam Sappington (The Country Cat, Portland), Melissa McMillan (Sammich PDX, Portland), Rick Gencarelli (Lardo, Portland), Don Salamone (Burger Stevens, Portland) will be serving up a menu that will include lobster rolls and oysters among many other delicious morsels. This is the final day of Feast, so it promises to be an event where the beer flows like wine and the chefs are blowing off steam.