Oregon Brewers Festival

Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is a four-day craft beer festival held annually since 1988 at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, except 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled.[1] OBF has become the most popular outdoor beer festival in North America, based on attendance.[3]

Oregon Brewers Festival
The festival in 2007
BeginsThursday before last full weekend in July[1]
EndsLast Sunday in July
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon
Years active1988–2019, 2021–
Participants85,000 (2014)[2]

Admission is free, but to sample the festival's beers, attendees, provided they're at least 21, must purchase that year's OBF tasting glass as well as $1 beer tokens each token is good for a sample that has varied in volume over the years,[4] while a "full pour" costs 4 tokens.[1][5]

Each brewery brings one beer.[1] OBF also features a root beer garden, which offers free root beer for designated drivers and minors, besides anyone loathing alcohol; the latter must be accompanied by a parent.[5]

History

Year Sample
size[4]
19916 oz
19946 oz
19965 oz
19976 oz
20015 oz
20024 oz
20036 oz
20054 oz
20074 oz
20104 oz
20124 oz
20133 oz
2014[6]3 oz

Live music was introduced in 2001.[7]

In 2005, OBF expanded from a three-day schedule (Friday to Sunday) to four, adding Thursday.[8]

The 2011 Oregon Brewers Festival featured 85 craft beers from 14 states; it attracted 80,000 people over four days.[9] Nearly 2,000 volunteers worked at the festival, selling tokens and pouring beer, among other tasks.[9]

In 2013, OBF added a fifth day, moving the opening to Wednesday; they also replaced the annual plastic mug, which had been used since the festival's beginning, with a tasting glass, which for 2013 costs $7.[8] The previous year's 14-US-fluid-ounce (410 ml) mug was replaced by a 12.8-US-fluid-ounce (380 ml) glass, which reduced the size of a full pour.[4] For 2014, there are 88 beers available, in 30 styles; that does not include the more than 100 available separately in OBF's Specialty Tent.[10]

After two years with tasting glasses made of glass, for 2015, OBF switched to a polycarbonate tasting glass;[2] the change was in response to safety concerns raised by the Portland Police.

In 2018, OBF changed back to a four-day festival, moving the opening to Thursday. That same year, the festival added two hard ciders to the lineup, and four wines –– 2 red and 2 white –– for the first time in the festival's history.

In 2020, the event was cancelled for the first time in history caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; the 33rd was deferred to 2021.

In recent years OBF has anchored a month of beer-related festivals in Portland, including the North American Organic Brewers Festival, the Portland International Beerfest, and the Great American Distillers Festival.[11]

gollark: Well, they speak all languages.
gollark: API? They're just directly run by GTech™ apiaristic intelligence.
gollark: ?urban apioform
gollark: If you're using spacewarp storage or digitally serialized particles or whatever, you're still *storing* them somewhere.
gollark: As they are "saved for later use", this obviously means they are stored somewhere (a "facility", if you will) from whence they can be deployed.

See also

References

  1. "FAQ". Oregon Brewers Festival. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  2. Hale, Jamie (April 17, 2015). "Oregon Brewers Festival will stop using glass after Portland police cite safety concerns". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  3. Foyston, John (July 23, 2014). "Beer begins flowing at 'America's Oktoberfest'". CNN. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  4. Dunlop, Pete (July 21, 2013). "What's Up with OBF Pour Sizes, Anyway?". BeervanaBuzz.com. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  5. Perry, Douglas (July 24, 2008). "Brewers Fest FAQ: What you need to know". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  6. Cheney, Cathy (July 14, 2014). "Oregon Brewers Festival fans: It's that time again". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  7. Miller, Trisha; Schrag, John (July 11, 2001). "Beer Wars". News Buzz. Willamette Week. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  8. Foyston, John (February 5, 2013). "Wednesday is the new Thursday: Oregon Brewers Festival will grow to five days this year". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  9. Culverwell, Wendy (August 2, 2011). "Brew Fest breaks attendance record". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  10. Harrison, Lacey. "Hopped Up Eugene – The Oregon Brewers Festival". EugeneDailyNews.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  11. Watts, Joseph (June 25, 2008). "Brew Fest breaks attendance record". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2011-10-14.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.