OREGON BREWERIES

Oregon has a long history with beer. Shortly after the first European-Americans started arriving in 1843, breweries were already starting to pop up. Brewing was a staple of the early US expansion into the west, with Hiram Binghan noting in 1829 the cultivation and malting of barley for making beer and men stationed at Fort Vancouver importing beer. Shortly after this, there is evidence of hops being grown in the region around 1849. While early hop farming was a small-scale production at first, with little more than 20 acres grown, it was notable for being the first on the Pacific Coast. This was not specifically used for beer, as hops had a myriad of uses in the frontier, from use in cooking, home decor, and even for medicinal purposes. From this meager yield, Oregon became the largest hop producer in the country from 1905 to 1915 and again from 1922 to 1943, with prohibition giving only a short hit to production.

While hop production hummed along smoothly, the brewing industry in the area was significantly changed when, in 1914, 5 years before national prohibition, Oregonians voted to ban alcohol. This battle had predated statehood, with efforts to ban alcohol dating to 1859, and gaining steam with the Local Option Act of 1904, which allowed cities and counties to hold elections to ban the sale of alcohol to residents. Consumption fell and breweries shuttered. It wasn’t until the late 1970s and early 1980s that fortunes reversed. With the rise in craft brewing and Oregon's role as one of the country's biggest hop producers, second only to Washington, Oregon has become home to some of the best breweries in the country in a range of styles, from Belgian-inspired barrel aged beers, unfiltered German-inspired lagers, and, of course, classic west coast IPAs.

Cheers! 

Plumpjack Wine & Spirits