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I'm in Portland right now. The number of breweries in Oregon is mind blowing. I just visited a town of 7,000 people that has multiple craft breweries[1]. The re

I'm in Portland right now. The number of breweries in Oregon is mind blowing. I just visited a town of 7,000 people that has multiple craft breweries[1]. The reason Oregon has so many is the hipster foodie demographic, good water, a most importantly a plentiful supply of both hops[2] and barley from Pacific Northwest farms. [1] http://oregoncraftbeer.org/breweries/ http://oregoncraftbeer.org/breweries/ [2] http://www.oregonhops.org/ http://www.oregonhops.org/

davidw 9y ago
I think Bend stacks up pretty nicely on a per-capita basis. Unpopular opinion: I wish the US did more wine though. Beer is great when it's hot and sunny out, but when it's cold/rainy/snowy out, I'll take wine or bourbon or a cocktail or something.
- nkrisc 9y ago
  Sounds like the perfect weather for a nice, dark stout. I always look forward to the great seasonal stouts in the fall/winter.
  - davidw 9y ago
    To me it's about a smaller volume of something that is stronger and not very cold. I'm not thirsty with those weather conditions, usually.
- ghaff 9y ago
  ?? The US is the 4th largest wine producing country in the world. To be sure a significant portion of that is low quality wine made with grapes from California's Central Valley. But the US is a big wine producer across a wide spectrum of quality and cost points. Wine production isn't really as widespread as beer in the US but that's partly a function of the climates where grapes grow well (and economically relative to their quality). Add in fruit wines and things are a bit more widespread.
  - davidw 9y ago
    Yeah, I used to live in Italy, which is 1st, and that's with a population of 60 million. I miss my wine: it's good and not expensive. I used to like to take friends on a tour of the agricultural high school where my mother in law worked, and they produced some pretty good wine.
- mmanfrin 9y ago
  Come visit California. We have too many wine regions to name.
- poulsbohemian 9y ago
  Bend is a great location. If you like wine, come over to Walla Walla sometime, it's a 5 hour drive from Bend and 4 hours from PDX.
  - brightsize 9y ago
    A nod to your username, that's one of my favorite coffee shops on the Wet Side of the state. If one were to make the WW booze pilgrimage I suggest it would be worth also checking out the Spokane fermentation scene. It seems like there's a new craft brewery opening every week here and there are wineries and craft distilleries sprinkled all around the greater GEG area.
tspike 9y ago
Oregonians seem to overcompensate for their beer and undercompensate for their skiing. I came from Colorado; when I say Oregon skiing's good I get strange looks, but when I say the beer scene is equal, them's fightin' words.

davidw 9y ago

I think Bend stacks up pretty nicely on a per-capita basis. Unpopular opinion: I wish the US did more wine though. Beer is great when it's hot and sunny out, but when it's cold/rainy/snowy out, I'll take wine or bourbon or a cocktail or something.

nkrisc 9y ago
Sounds like the perfect weather for a nice, dark stout. I always look forward to the great seasonal stouts in the fall/winter.
- davidw 9y ago
  To me it's about a smaller volume of something that is stronger and not very cold. I'm not thirsty with those weather conditions, usually.
ghaff 9y ago
?? The US is the 4th largest wine producing country in the world. To be sure a significant portion of that is low quality wine made with grapes from California's Central Valley. But the US is a big wine producer across a wide spectrum of quality and cost points. Wine production isn't really as widespread as beer in the US but that's partly a function of the climates where grapes grow well (and economically relative to their quality). Add in fruit wines and things are a bit more widespread.
- davidw 9y ago
  Yeah, I used to live in Italy, which is 1st, and that's with a population of 60 million. I miss my wine: it's good and not expensive. I used to like to take friends on a tour of the agricultural high school where my mother in law worked, and they produced some pretty good wine.
mmanfrin 9y ago
Come visit California. We have too many wine regions to name.
poulsbohemian 9y ago
Bend is a great location. If you like wine, come over to Walla Walla sometime, it's a 5 hour drive from Bend and 4 hours from PDX.
- brightsize 9y ago
  A nod to your username, that's one of my favorite coffee shops on the Wet Side of the state. If one were to make the WW booze pilgrimage I suggest it would be worth also checking out the Spokane fermentation scene. It seems like there's a new craft brewery opening every week here and there are wineries and craft distilleries sprinkled all around the greater GEG area.

tspike 9y ago

Oregonians seem to overcompensate for their beer and undercompensate for their skiing. I came from Colorado; when I say Oregon skiing's good I get strange looks, but when I say the beer scene is equal, them's fightin' words.