Portland Hit List

Monday afternoon I'm flying out to Portland, OR, also know as Beervana (don't tell Belgium), for the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual meeting. Yes indeed, I am a culinary professional thanks to my work with beer. In fact, I'll be presenting a 90-minute talk on Oregon beer and Oregon-grown ingredients with Full Sail Brewing and Rogue Ales.

I certainly hope to meet a lot of other drink-oriented professionals and make some new friends, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was most excited about the beer. Portland earned its Beervana moniker from the fact that the city is home to 32 (or is it 33 now?) breweries. That's more than any other city in the world. The state itself has more than 100 breweries and while the national average for craft beer consumption is at 5% of the beer market, Oregon's craft beer share is about 30% of the market and I'm told it approaches 50% in Portland. I mean shit, these guys are serious about their beer.

I'll only have a six nights to make my way through the hundreds of great beers this city and state offer, but I'm going to try my hardest to sip their best-of-the-best. When in doubt, or lost, I'll be ordering whatever is local, unavailable back home, new, and fresh.

Pre-Trip Top 10 Beers to Try in Portland

1) India Pelican Ale - Pelican Pub & Brewery - I've been reading about this top-rated IPA for years. No more will I have to drool over my keyboard.

2) Flora Rustica - Upright Brewing - I got to savor a bottle of Upright's Five and now I want more. This, apparently, is Upright's finest.

3) Dunkel - Heater Allen - I love a well-made German lager and you're hard pressed to find better brews of classic styles.

4) Oatis - Ninkasi - An allegedly divine oatmeal stout. I look forward to being the judge of that.

5) HUB Lager - Hopworks - Having tried their big, hoppy beers, my mouth is watering for their session beer.

6) Sang Rouge - Cascade Brewing - These guys make the best sours in the Pacific NW.

7) Workhorse IPA - Larelwood - Oregon loves its hops and I'd love to taste this prime example of that.

8) Black Bear XX Stout - Alameda - Mmmm. Foreign stout. This will make a great dessert beer.

9) Copacetic IPA - Amnesia Brewing - Yes, I'm going to be drinking lots of fantastically bitter IPAs.

10) Kölsch - Double Mountain - Another great session-weight beer from an award-winning brewery.

For more on how awesome these folks are, you can read my IACP article here.