Happy 2012!
In
1988, The Last Emperor was the big winner at the Oscars; Steve
Winwood's "Roll With It" was the longest running number-one single; US
diver Greg Louganis won back-to-back titles in the Summer Olympics
after hitting the springboard with his head; and three Portland
breweries came together to put on a beer festival in Waterfront Park.
This year, the Oregon Brewers Festival will celebrate 25 years since that fateful summer event. Today, the
OBF is one of the nation's longest-running and highly regarded craft
beer festivals. Nearly 80,000 people attend from all over the world each
year. The 25th annual festival will take place Thursday, July 26 through Sunday, July 29, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. 
In
the beginning, the OBF was at the forefront of exposing craft beers to
the public, and it continues to do so. This year, 80 craft breweries
from all parts of the nation will serve more than 25 beer styles. There
will be an additional tap devoted to the Collaborator project and, due
to high demand, another for a gluten-free beer. An additional 50 or so
small batch, one-off beers will be available for tastes in the Buzz
Tent. There will also be live music, food, vendors, homebrew
demonstrations, beer displays, and more.
The
Oregon Brewers Brunch will take place on the morning of July 26 at the
Cascade Brewing Barrel House at SE 9th & Belmont, and the parade
will travel from there across the Morrison St Bridge to the festival
grounds. Tickets will go on sale for the brunch in March; we'll send
out an email letting you know when the link is live.
We
are currently pre-selling packages to the festival, for those who want
to purchase them as gifts, or avoid long lines at the mug/token tent.
You'll still have to wait in line to get your ID checked, but once
inside the gate, the pre-sale lines should move much faster. You can get
the pre-sale packages here.
We
are sending out brewery applications this week, so if you have a
brewery that you'd love to see at the festival, ask them to send an
email to chris@oregonbrewfest.com and she'll get them the application. We will announce the participating breweries in early March.
Whether
you're joining us for the first time or you've been with us since the
beginning, we encourage you to raise your mugs in celebration of the 25
years since America's first gathering of independent brewers.
Cheers!
*thank you to Chris Crabb for keeping all of us #pdxbeergeeks in the loop! We appreciate updates and press releases like this that we can share with all of our fans!*
