Heard on the Radio: Beervana

Portland, Oregon is considered by many near, if not at the top of the list of most liveable places in the United States. Climate, scenery, politics, "quality of life" are all cited as reasons.

Another reason to love Prtland is the city's passion for beer. Portland has been described as “Beervana”. It has been estimated that in Portland craft beer represents 40-50 % of the beer sold.

Some state that Portland may in fact justifiably claim the title of “Beer Capital of the World”. The are some 71 microbreweries or pubs in Oregon – 26 within Portland city limits.
There are brewery-hotels and the movie theaters serve craft brews with popcorn – there is a micro-brew strip joint.

Consider this: Milwaukee, the fromer beer capital has one big brewery left (SABMiller) and about half a dozen brewpubs. Cologne, Germany has ten-eleven brewpubs. These other cities produce more beer, but it is all one style: lager. Portland does everything.

Celebrating its 21st year in 2008, the Oregon Brewers Festival is regarded as one of the finest craft beer festivals in the world. Seventy-three craft breweries offer handcrafted brews to more than 60,000 beer lovers during the four-day event.

Art Larrance founder of Portland Brewing Company, who also established the Oregon Brewers Festival talks about Portland as Beervana in this "Beer America" segment. He has been a fixture in Oregon's craft brewing scene since its inception, and is a wealth of knowledge and stories.

If you miss the interview on the radio ("Left Jab" on XM Satellite Radio Channel 167 - Saturday at 11 am; repeated Sunday at 1 pm), you can later catch it as a podcast at http://leftjabradio.com