Welcome to Oregon. Whether you plan to visit for a day or two on your way through PDX, or spend weeks exploring points from Brookings to Enterprise, you’ll have an opportunity to drink some of the best beer in the world.
Where to Go
Oregon is a large and diverse state, with temperate rainforests, mountain ranges, lush valleys, stark high deserts, and cities large and small. Wherever you go, breweries await—be sure to explore our handy guide to the state’s seven regions. If you are planning to organize your trip around beer, here are several regions to consider:
- Portland Metro area. Portland has had a continuous tradition of brewing since the 1860s, and was one of the earliest centers of craft brewing, beginning in 1979. Today it is home to over 80 breweries.
- Bend and Central Oregon. Bend got started only a little later than Portland, in 1988, when Deschutes Brewery got its start. That fired a passion in Central Oregon unmatched in the country. Today, over 30 breweries dot the small communities of Bend, Redmond, and Sunriver.
- Willamette Valley. The Willamette Valley stretches out south of Portland, and includes wine-country capital—and now beer destination—McMinnville, the state’s capital city (Salem), as well as college towns Eugene and Corvallis. This is where you can sip a beer in a hop field, next to a monastery, or in the shadow of a stadium. In all, over sixty breweries can be found in twenty-plus cities and towns.
- Astoria and the North Coast. Astoria sits on the mouth of the Columbia, and to the south lie the famous beach towns of Cannon Beach and Seaside. Together these small communities boast more than a dozen breweries.
- Hood River area. Like Astoria, the small town of Hood River (population 8,000) punches above its weight, with seven breweries. It’s just an hour’s drive down the beautiful Columbia River Gorge from Portland.
When to Visit
Anytime is a good time to enjoy a frothy pint, but the seasons do offer different virtues. The summer weather in Western Oregon is hard to beat—warm, sunny days and cool nights (and few mosquitos!), and breweries, taprooms, and restaurants open their patios to all two- and four-leggeds. Perhaps the best time to visit is autumn, during fresh hop season [link], the time locals go crazy for beer made with fresh (undried) local hops. Few people travel in the winter months, but there is hardly a better time to enjoy a pint in a cozy pub. Finally, the tempestuous spring is the time for gamblers. You might get a cool rainy day, or a spectacular sunny one—but either way, the floral explosion is unmatched.
Calendar of Main Events
February: Festival of Dark Arts, Zwickelmania
March: SheBrew
June: Portland Beer Week, Eugene Beer Week
July: Portland Craft Beer Festival, Fuji to Hood
August: Brews for New Avenues
September/October: Portland Fresh Hops Fest, Hood River Fresh Hops Fest, Mt. Angel Oktoberfest
December: Holiday Brew Fest