Portland Breweries
Portland is well-known for its microbrewery beer. Oregon Public 
Broadcasting has documented Portland’s role in the microbrew revolution in the United States, in a report called, “Beervana,” a term that refers to a distinctly “Portland state of mind”. Some illustrate Portlanders’ interest in the beverage by an offer made in 1888, when local brewer Henry Weinhard volunteered to pump beer from his brewery into the newly dedicated Skidmore Fountain. However, the renown for quality beer dates to the 1980s, when state law was changed to allow consumption of beer on brewery premises. In short order, microbreweries and brewpubs began to pop up all over the city. Their growth was supported by the abundance of local ingredients, including two-row barley, over a dozen varieties of hops, and pure water from the Bull Run Watershed. The Willamette Valley is one of the leading hop growing regions in the United States.
Today, with twenty-eight breweries within the city, Portland is home to more breweries than any other city in the country. The McMenamin brothers alone have over thirty brewpubs, distilleries, and wineries scattered throughout the metropolitan area, several in renovated theaters and other old buildings otherwise destined for demolition. Other notable Portland brewers include Widmer Brothers, BridgePort, and Hair of the Dog, as well as numerous smaller quality brewers. In 1999, author Michael “Beerhunter” Jackson called Portland a candidate for the beer capital of the world because the city boasted more breweries than Cologne, Germany. The Portland Oregon Visitors Association is promoting “Beervana” and “Brewtopia” as nicknames for the city. In mid-January 2006, Mayor Tom Potter officially gave the city a new nickname—Beertown.