Oregon at the GABF

Note the update below, which clarifies the GABF selection process.

Every year the GABF comes and goes and I cast a momentarily longing eye toward Denver--then whinge with indignity that our breweries didn't sweep the medals. Well, for once, my eye won't be longing. I applied for and was miraculously granted a media credential. This means I'll be able to try to sample a vast array of American beers without having to travel a vast array of miles--handy for someone writing a book on beer. It also means I'll be blogging about the fest. To the extent possible, I'll give you a blogger's-eye-view of things, with maybe a dish or two along the way.

For today's post, we have news about the attendees. I was surprised to see the Oregon contingent ringing in at an impressive 27 breweries--or 5.7% of all breweries in attendence. They are:
  • 10 Barrel Brewing Company
  • Barley Brown’s Brew Pub
  • Bend Brewing Co.
  • Breakside Brewery
  • BridgePort Brewing
  • Cascade Lakes
  • The Commons Brewery (Beetje)
  • Deschutes Brewery
  • Full Sail Brewing Company
  • GoodLife Brewing Company (Bend)
  • Hop Valley Brewing Co.
  • Hopworks Urban Brewery
  • Laurelwood
  • MacTarnahan’s Brewing Company
  • Ninkasi Brewing Company
  • Oakshire Brewing Company
  • Pelican Pub & Brewery
  • Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Clackamas
  • Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Salem
  • Rogue Ales
  • Seven Brides Brewing
  • Silver Moon Brewing
  • Standing Stone Brewing Company
  • Steelhead Brewing Company
  • Three Creeks Brewing Company
  • Upright Brewing Company
  • Widmer Brothers Brewing Co
That's nothing compared with California (84,* 18% of all breweries) or Colorado (74,* 16% of all breweries), but pretty good. Washington, incidentally, has 24 breweries in attendance. The full list can be seen here.


Update. Thanks to a comment below, I realize it may not be obvious by this post how the GABF selects breweries. Answer: it doesn't. It's not like Sundance, where even getting into the fest is a big deal. Pay your shekels and you're in. You don't even have to be a craft brewery. So the numbers I cited for participation are purely based on the interest of the breweries in the states themselves.
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*It's actually a little hard to calculate numbers because contract brewing and mergers screw things up. For example, Genessee, Pyramid, and Magic Hat are listed as "Oregon" breweries. Miller is listed as a Colorado brewery. I trimmed the Oregon list and did what I could with CA and CO, but I wouldn't consider these bulletproof counts.