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In recent numbers released by the Brewers Association in New Brewer magazine, we can see the performance of a number of larger “craft breweries.” Here’s a chart that shows their performance over a five-year span—along with a provocation in the title.
About three months ago, Von Ebert launched a fascinating experiment. They dropped the price on their gold-medal light lager, Clubhaus, to an astonishing three bucks. The effect it has had on their business offers an intriguing lesson for breweries struggling in hard times.
The story of Cascade hops stretches all the way back to 1955, and is one of the keys to the beer we drink today. In anticipation of the all-Cascade Oregon Homegrown collaboration, I have the fascinating history of America’s most important hop.
The latest Oregon Homegrown collaboration kicks off this week. Fifteen breweries are making beers with Oregon yeast and an Oregon-bred and Oregon-grown hop variety in a project that highlights how special Oregon beer culture is. And this year’s hop, Cascade, features a new twist.
Steve Luke has sold his Seattle brewery to Yakima-based Bale Breaker and is moving with his wife to New Zealand. While it may be a good move for Steve, he will leave an empty space in the Pacific Northwest when he goes.
Yesterday Google announced a new era in the way they mediate web searches, using AI to scrape the internet to provide summaries rather than links, so people never have to visit the pesky websites from which Google stole the information. It is going to be very bad for sites like this one.
You know the history of hazy IPAs, right? It goes back to Vermont’s Alchemist Brewery and its iconic double IPA, Heady Topper. But did you know the role a hurricane played in the story? Or the fact that Heady is a slightly awkward avatar for the current style? Or what Alchemist founder John Kimmich thinks about hazy IPAs? Listen and learn!
American wheat ales are among the oldest beers brewed in the craft era, and enjoy the virtue of being a largely native style. Despite garnering very little attention these days, they still sell pretty well. There’s even some signs they’re starting to evolve.
While I do my civic duty and sit in the Multnomah County Courthouse waiting to be called to serve on a jury, I have another interesting case of civic life in America in 2026. It involves clandestine political events, a Latino brewery and Cinco de Mayo.
Craft beer has bumped up against a volume ceiling in recent years, topping out at about 15% of the market. Hidden within that bad news is an opportunity. Are there customers breweries just aren’t attracting? pFriem’s new Tropical Hazy IPA is an attempt to find out.
At the Craft Brewers Conference, people were talking about good vibes. Yet the industry’s performance, measured by dollars, anyway, is pretty grim. Is this a contradiction, or should the Brewers Association just be measuring different stats?
Portland’s Great Notion Brewing is turning ten, and we are celebrating by giving out two free tickets to their anniversary party in June. In addition to the usual music and fun, they’ll be offering more than three dozen special beers, most of which you won’t find anywhere else.
In the event, it’s a can of Hamm’s and something water-clear that smells of grain alcohol. (Which turned out to be a kamikaze.) Mark ordered one each for the three of us to sample on our little ethnographic exploration. Tab: $12. For all three.
Notes about the latest episode of One Iconic Beer, plus a program note or two from the road in Philadelphia.
The Brewers Association has their annual year-end numbers out for 2025 and as expected, it’s a bit grim. Yet within the overall dark picture, there are a few fascinating trends and details, and I have ‘em all for you.
Pop quiz: which state has more expensive beer, Wisconsin, Colorado, or Texas? The folks at Toast have some numbers out this week, and they’re quite interesting.
With ten varieties released in the past year, hop breeding enters its most prolific era. Three trends define the hop industry: commercial consolidation, the arrival of small players, and the overall decline in acreage. Let’s look at the new varieties and where things stand today.
We are about to go through a massive, society-wide disruption I don’t think most people see coming. It has to do with the written word, not beer, but as a practitioner of the former, I have a few thoughts.
Last night, the Oregon Beer Awards were handed out in a joyful celebration. A few notes on some of the winners, and how the mood of the night may suggest a transition in the beer industry.
Increasingly, states are hosting their own beer competitions, and the way they organize them tells us a lot about what kinds of beers people are actually drinking. And here’s a cool thing: we can discern regional preferences in them.
Celebrate Oregon Beer is looking for some volunteers — and all you have to do is visit breweries to help. What could be easier? We’re also looking for an Oregon-based podcaster.
Exactly ten years ago, I predicted where beer would be in 2026. Well, how did I do?
Where naming is concerned, meeting customers where they are seems like sensible advice. Describing your beer as a black lager will appeal to more people than “schwarzbier” would. There are limits to this advice, however.
What is the main driver of the way a base malt tastes, the barley variety or the malting process? In a long-overdue part two on my series on malting, we learn the answer.
I am very excited to announce the launch of a new podcast: “One Iconic Beer.” It will land in your favorite email service on Monday, and in the meantime, here’s an introduction about what it’s about.
A quote from a founding-era craft brewer about why he started his brewery got me thinking. Maybe less romance would be a helpful way to think about it.
In the final post celebrating this blog’s 20th anniversary, I revel in the weirdest stories, happenings, and trends of the past two decades. There were a lot of them!
BrewDog has been sold, and for the astounding, low, low price of $40 million. Once again, Tilray was the buyer. Increasingly beer industry’s buyer of last resort, the erstwhile cannabis company now owns 15 breweries, most bought on the cheap.
How do hot Springs affect a hop crop? After an alarming story by local TV station KGW about Oregon’s crop this year, I reached out to several hop growers to get the lowdown. Fortunately, they painted a happier picture.