A Taste of Portland’s Microbrew Scene

Fodor’s Online, December 2010

Will you be toasting the new year with a frosty microbrew? For a beer-centric trip, consider Portland, affectionately deemed “Beervana” and “Munich on the Willamette,” and boasting 35 craft breweries operating within city limits. That’s more than any other city in the world. Bumper stickers across town toast to Brewtopia with catchy slogans: Just Brew It and SNOBs (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer).

Besides a notoriously misty climate conducive to the brewpub culture, the region is fertile with the essential ingredients that are needed to make high-quality beer, and is surrounded by the largest hop-growing regions in the United States. Fourteen varieties of hops are grown in the nearby Willamette Valley, and Oregon is overall the second-largest hop-growing state in the country.

The Portland metro area triumphs as the largest craft brewing market in the nation. The granddaddy breweries BridgePort Brewing Company and Widmer Brothers Brewing are still landmark institutions—but the future tastes hoppy good with the new generation of brewers emerging.

Read the full article here: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_4330.html