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Celebrating Oregon Beer
Your fortnightly round-up of all the beer and hop news from the Beaver State.
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Happy #PubJanuary to you all! A quarter of the month has already come and gone, and we hope you've been out patronizing your local breweries. This is the first of the weekly newsletters we'll be sending out during the month, and it is packed with amazing activities for you to consider. Of course, you don't need an activity, either. Some good company and a warm pub make for a wonderful couple hours. Get out to you local brewery soon!
If you are looking for more news and conversation between these emails, visit our feeds at Instagram, Facebook, or Bluesky.
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News
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Hop Harvest Down
In an effort to bring supply in line with the demand and large surplus, hop-growers were forced to substantially reduce acreage in 2024.
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Surgeon General Announcement
The US Surgeon General says beer cans should contain warnings about the risk of cancer.
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Dry January's Effects
Willamette Week has a detailed look at the winners and losers created by the Dry January movement. Read to the end, and you'll see a mention of Celebrate Oregon Beer.
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Upcoming Events
This week, since we have so many events, we'll do shorter announcements. Note that we are not listing live music and trivia nights--they are legion! Check your local brewery for those listings.
Meanwhile, send us all your #PubJanuary events at the following email so we can include them in our weekly roundups: events@celebrateoregonbeer.com
January 8-14
- Yoga and Beer. Jan 9, 6pm, Ferment Brewing (Hood River)
- Karaoke Competition, Jan 9, 6 pm, Deluxe Brewing (Albany)
- Giggle & Gulp Comedy Show, Jan 10, 8 pm, Gratitude Brewing (Eugene)
- Speed Painting. Jan 10, Level Beer (Level 1, Portland)
- Pancake Pop-up. Jan 11, 8-noon, Breakfast at Weekend Beer Co. (Grants Pass).
- Supercross Saturday. Jan 11, Boneyard Pub (Bend)
- Drag Brunch. Jan 12, 10:45 am, Breakside Slabtown (Portland)
- Cribbage Tournament. Jan 12, 3 pm, Crooked Creek (St. Helens)
- Community Fly Tying. Jan 13, 6:30 pm, Falling Sky (Eugene)
- Craft Night. Jan 13 and every Monday in Jan is the night of making vision boards. Heater Allen (McMinnville)
- Chess Night. Jan 14, 5-9 pm, Living Haus (Portland)
January 15-21
- Family Chess Night. Jan 15, 6-9 pm, Lazy Days (Beaverton)
- Crafts & Drafts Paint Night. Jan 16, 6-8 pm, adult painting, Craft Kitchen & Brewery (Bend).
- Macrame Workshop. Jan 17, 6pm, Bevel Brewing (Bend)
- St. John’s Winter Beer Festival. Jan 17-18, StormBreaker Brewing (St. Johns location, Portland)
- Baltic Porter Festival. Jan 18, noon-9pm. 10 local versions + Polish bottle share, Threshold Beer (Portland)
- 8th Annual Wassail Festival. Jan 18, 3-8pm. Live music, parade, costumes, all amid the trees, 20 cideries. McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse (Portland Metro)
- Beers with the Brewers. Jan 18, 6 pm, brewers talk about their beer with tasting & small bites, Bevel Brewing (Bend)
- S'mores and Pours. Jan 18, 5-7 pm, the s'mores are free! Cascade Lakes (SE Bend & Redmond pubs)
- Royal Coachman Dinner, Jan 20 evening featuring Doug Adams' barbecued short ribs, Grand Fir Brewing (Portland)
- Dungeons and Flagons. Jan 21, evening, D&D night for beginners or old pros, Level Beer (Level 1, Portland)
- Chess Night. Jan 21, 5-9 pm, Living Haus (Portland)
January 22-31
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Spotlight
Making Sense of Oregon's Falling Hop Harvest
The USDA's final numbers on the Oregon hop harvest were not good news: Oregon harvested 1,187 fewer acres in 2024 than 2023, a 17% drop. This was part of a general restructuring that affected Washington and Idaho crops as well. A few structural factors have led to the falling acreage: large surpluses dating back to overproduction in past years; a slight downturn in overall demand; and a shift from the aroma varieties Oregon specializes in to higher-alpha varieties that grow well in the hotter climate of WA and ID.
Hop acreage and overall production shift quite a bit over time, and it's important to note that while 2024 was down substantially from 2023, the US still produced about 15% more hops than it did a decade ago. So, to get a better sense of what is going on, and how long it might continue, we reached out to two growers in Oregon, Gayle Goschie of Goschie Farms and Max Coleman of Coleman Agriculture.
Equilibrium?
Oregon, with its cooler, wetter climate, produces a different mix of hop varieties than WA or ID. What is the situation here--have we reached a point of equilibrium between supply and demand? Maybe.
Coleman points out that it's more nuanced than merely up or down. "I think that is still unclear at this point, but I would say it's still more about the surplus in certain varieties than it is about the fewer hops needed at this point. As of now, prior to hop convention, we are looking at remaining about the same, outside of some rebalancing/replanting to align acres to pounds of hops (ie cycling out older fields with higher disease/virus pressure)."
Goschie believes we have another year of assessment ahead. "The word on my street (it’s rural and not very long) is as growers we have one more year to remain at our reduced acres before we have clarity in what varieties of hops are best for each of our farm operations to once again produce. I hope this is true and in the very sophisticated world of hop brokering, hop brokers will support hop growers."
Issues Specific to Oregon
As the beer industry recalibrates, high-alpha cultivars are offsetting some of the losses elsewhere, but that's not true in Oregon. "I think that Oregon has two main difficulties, our slower start times and lack of super-high alpha varieties suited for Oregon," Coleman said. "Super-high alpha hops like CTZ and HBC 682 (formerly Pahto) don't seem to have great disease resistance for Oregon. Also, I think that alpha planting will slow or reverse as German growers and American growers race to the bottom on price." He points out that it takes longer for Oregon hops to get established, resulting in lower yields in year one and two of a planting, than WA and ID achieve.
Goschie adds that at her farm, they're paying close attention to the volatility of conditions. "If you’re expecting to make sense of the numbers when it comes to looking at acres grown vs production yields, another factor may need to be included; climate events and effects on certain hop varieties over the past 3-4 years." As a result of heat spikes, Goschie isn't currently growing high-alpha varieties.
Less Predictability
Finally, the watchword in among growers is "unpredictable." That's partly because, as Goschie puts it, "the consumer base for beer is not as predictable as it has been in the past; we live in a world of options! With so many options all consumables are fighting for market share."
Coleman echoes Goschie's comment about the climate, which confounds matters in both directions. "We've seen weather have very different impacts by variety. For example, in the 2021 heat dome, some varieties dropped to 10-15% under their historical average and others came up by 10-20%. So in any year-to-year comparison of production, it's hard to say what is driving it."
Reasons for Hope
We've learned that farmers are philosophical by disposition. There are so many unknown factors, they have to plan for the worst and hope for the best. On that note, Coleman leaves us with this: "For bright spots, I do anecdotally feel like Oregon hops are starting to get more recognition as having a different/desirable character than the other two PNW producers, and hopefully it isn't just me seeing what I hope for!"
Fingers crossed, Max!
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Keeping Up
For everything Oregon, please visit the Celebrate Oregon website. On it you’ll find information about the state’s brewing heritage, breweries (including region by region travel guides), the state’s unique hop regionand characteristic varieties, and info about our amazing fresh hop beer and season. We have a searchable, sortable database of all Oregon’s breweries and taprooms (though the full information for each brewery is not fully completed) as well as a map so you’re never far away from a tasty pint. In the coming year, new features will appear at least as often as this newsletter, where you can stay informed. Next time, we'll have a look at Oregon's ten most unusual breweries.
Celebrate Oregon Beer is supported by the Oregon Brewers Guild and Oregon Hop Commission.
Excellent journalism is of the many ways Oregon is so special. In between newsletters, be sure to check out these sites for the latest happenings:
See you again in two weeks!
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