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For many of us, part of the appeal of living in the Northwest is the commitment to craft industries. And nowhere is that attitude more prevalent than the taphouses, pubs and bottle shops of greater Portland, many of which are rounded up in this week’s issue of WW.
But I get it: Craft beer isn’t for everyone. My mother once heaved so loud after sniffing the IPA I ordered her at Bistro Montage that the entire 7,000-foot-long table snapped their little heads to see what scandal had just occurred.
So I ordered her a PBR and I drank the beer that scandalized the entire table. And I loved it.
I love the skunky, woodsy, lemony tang of hops on the vine. I love the sweet sour perfume of barley as it ferments. I vacation in Newport so I can go to Rogue Brewery. A picture of me posing with their infamous Beard beer was one of the first pics on my Instagram grid. Seriously, I never feel more like a Portlander than when I’m relaxing on a beer porch on a late summer’s day, thighs and toes out, sipping saison.
And this season, between new craft brewers like Steeplejack and the non-alcoholic craft brews Jon recommends, I can keep living my leggy lager fantasy lifestyle without also dying of a three-beer hangover the next day.
That’s what we’re discussing on this week’s episode of the Dive podcast.
We’ll learn how Anna Buxton, brewmaster of Steeplejack Brewing Company, feels about the femme energy in her converted church brewery. We’ll talk more about her Steeplajack’s recent Oregon Beer Award for best new brewery, and get Buxton’s own taphouse recommendations, before examining a new trend in craft beer—non-alcoholic IPAs, stouts, lagers and more—with perennial beer expert and WW contributor Jon Abernathy.