Brewers Association releases the top 50 breweries of 2012.

Yesterday the Brewers Association released the top 50 craft breweries of 2012 and the top overall US brewing companies.  Deschutes was the highest Northwest brewery at number #5 in the top 50 craft breweries.  Also lots of other interesting Craft brewing statistics on the BA website that are worth taking a look at. Craft brewing facts, Sales, Number of breweries as of March 2013, Capita per brewery, Market segments, and Craft Brewer defined. 

Drink a beer while reading the statistics....I did.

Oregon Garden Brewfest 2013

Coming up at the end of the month (April 26-28) is the ninth annual Oregon Garden Brewfest. 62 breweries will be presenting their products, for a total of 125 beers, ciders and mead. Here is the list of participating breweries.  See info below.

WHAT
The 9th annual Oregon Garden Brewfest. The Willamette Valley's biggest beer festival will feature 125 beers, ciders & mead from 62 different breweries over three days. Located in the historic town of Silverton, just an hour’s drive from the Portland metropolitan area, the Oregon Garden Brewfest also showcases live music from 22 area bands, food, tasting lessons by Women Enjoying Beer and a homebrew competition presented by Capitol Brewers. The event takes place among the beautiful grounds of The Oregon Garden, all decked out for spring.

WHEN
April 26 – 28, 2013
Noon to 11 pm Friday & Saturday, and Noon to 6 pm Sunday

WHERE

The Oregon Garden ( J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Pavilion and Event Tent)

879 W Main St  Silverton, OR 97381

COST

Advance admission includes a one-day pass for $15 that features a tasting glass, seven tasting tickets, and express entry; a three-day pass for $30 that includes a tasting glass, 15 tasting tickets, and express entry; and a VIP pass for $50 that includes a tasting glass, 45 tasting tickets, a T shirt and a food voucher. Advance sales are available at http://ogbf2013.blogspot.com.

Tickets at the door are $15 for one-day entry and increase to $20 after 5pm, and include five tasting tickets. Three-day entry at the door is $30 and includes 10 tasting tickets and no express entry, and VIP entry is $50 and includes 35 tickets and no express entry. Designated drivers pay a cover charge of $5 and receive a bottled water. Once inside, a full glass of beer costs four tickets, and a taster costs one ticket. Additional tasting tickets may be purchased for $1 apiece. The event is cash only, with an ATM on-site. Parking at The Oregon Garden is $5 per car; free shuttles will be available to various locations in town. The Oregon Garden Brewfest is for ages 21 and over on Friday and Saturday; minors are welcome all hours on Sunday.

OTHER

Silverton is an hour away from Portland; avoid drinking and driving and make a night of it. The Oregon Garden Resort is offering a package for $189, available April 25 through April 28, that includes accommodations, breakfast for two, two one-day tickets to the Brewfest and two food booth vouchers. Reservations are available at http://oregongardenresort.com/Packages.htm or call 503-874-2500.

INFO
www.oregongardenbrewfest.blogspot.com

OBF

The Oregon Brewers Festival sent out some information about the Oregon Brewers Brunch, Beer festival beer list, and some news about OBF founder Art Larrance and a recent Zagat Study/list about the best beer cities to drink beer in.

Here's a quick update on news you might be interested in...First, this year's Oregon Brewers Brunch tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, May 1st at 8am at www.oregonbrewfest.com. This year's brunch will take place on Wednesday, July 24th from 9am to 11:30am at BridgePort Brewing Co, 1313 NW Marshall Street in Portland.

Brunch tickets cost $40 apiece, which includes a delicious brunch, two beers, a T-shirt, the OBF tasting glass and four tokens. Tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE, so be sure you want them before ordering them. Also make sure to select the accurate T-shirt size when placing the order: T-shirts are unisex sizing, and you will get what you order - there is no exchanging of sizes. Sorry, the shirts do not come in x-small. We do not have the brunch menu yet, that will be announced at a later date. Only 400 tickets will be sold, and they will go quickly!

Following the Brunch is the Oregon Brewers Parade. More than 600 beer lovers will walk from BridgePort Brewing Co. to the grounds of the Oregon Brewers Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, with traffic assistance from the Portland Police. This year's Grand Marshal is John Foyston, longtime beer writer who currently writes The Beer Here column in The Oregonian. John will join event founder Art Larrance, who will be chauffeured along the parade route in style courtesy of PDX Pedicab. We'll also be accompanied by the funky sounds of the Transcendental Brass Band. The parade will leave from NW 14th & Marshall Street at 11:30 am sharp. The route is just shy of two miles.

The Oregon Brewers Festival beer list is now up. There are still a couple of TBDs - we'll fill those in, along with beer descriptions, once we have them. We are also working with a company to provide an awesome app for this year's event, so you'll be covered once on-site.

A couple of cool things happened recently: first, our founder, Art Larrance, received The Brewers Association Recognition Award at the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, DC. The award is presented each year to an individual or company whose inspiration, enthusiasm and support have contributed to the brewpub and microbrewery movement. Raise a toast to Art!

Zagat Survey just released a list of "Can't Miss Beer Cities Around the World" that names 14 cities that are the best for drinking beer. Portland is, of course, on the list, with a specific shout out to the Oregon Brewers Festival - we'll drink to that!

National Beer day!

Today is National Beer Day! 80 Years ago on April 7th, FDR passed a law making the sale of low-alcohol beer legal again. This marked the beginning of the end of Prohibition.....I'm going to go drink a beer and you should as well.