Oregon’s Sustainable Breweries
By Eileen Garvin of Travel Oregon
Special to Road Trips for Foodies
In Oregon, not only do we have great beer to drink, we have beer you can feel great about drinking. Whether they’re brewing organic, conserving energy or sourcing thoughtfully, many of the state’s 166 craft beer companies are brewing a strong culture of sustainability. Here’s a taster’s menu of Oregon’s green beer community.
Portland
Hopworks Urban Brewery and Hopworks BikeBar proudly call themselves eco-brewpubs. In addition to using organic ingredients, the breweries are sustainably built and operated, renewably powered and carbon neutral. Try the HUB Organic Lager or the Hopworks Organic IPA. Laurelwood Public House & Brewery was the city’s first certified organic brewery and offers several organic beers in its yearly lineup. Get a taste of Laurelweisen or Organic Tree Hugger Porter.
Willamette Valley
In Eugene, Ninkasi Brewing Company shows its commitment to sustainability through solar power, carbon offsets, water conservation systems, and thoughtful materials sourcing and recycling. Don’t miss the Total Domination IPA and Quantum Pale Ale.
Columbia River Gorge
Full Sail Brewing has water and energy conservation and systems and buys yeast and hops from the Hood River Valley. Session lager is perfect for summer and the Full Sail ESB is classic. Logsdon Farmhouse Organic Ales crafts organic, Belgian-style ales using Northwest-grown barley malt, whole-cone hops and fruit from their Hood River farm. Try the Cerasus (World Beer Cup 2014 gold winner) and the Kili Wit.
Coast
Fort George Brewery in Astoria is leading the canned beer revolution. That aluminum goes right back into the production stream upon recycling and brewers maintain that cans provide a better tasting beer than glass, which lets light into the bottle. Tuck a six-pack of Quick Wit, Sunrise OPA or Vortex IPA in your pack for an afternoon at the beach.
Central Oregon
Bend’s Deschutes Brewery was the first Oregon brewery to implement a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) approach, which tracks their economic, environmental and social impact. Get a taste of the Twilight Summer Ale and Fresh Squeezed IPA. Also in Bend, Worthy Brewing Company is throwing its weight behind sustainability with solar power, solar thermal water panels, Salmon Safe Hops and more than 12 tons of composted materials. Don’t miss the Lights Out Stout and Pilot Butte Bitter.
Southern Oregon
Standing Stone Brewing Company has been called out as a leader in restaurant energy conservation by the Oregon Department of Energy for its energy-saving systems. The brewery reduced landfill waste by 95 percent in one year and composts all kitchen scraps and spent grain for its chicken flock. Try the I Heart Oregon Ale and the Break Time Ale.
Save the date: The 10th annual North American Organic Brewers Festival takes place June 26 through 29, 2014, at Overlook Park in Portland. It’s your chance to taste more than 50 organic beers and ciders from around the nation.
(Photo courtesy of Deschutes Brewing)
