Beer Festivals in Portland
With beer festivals nearly every month, Portland has thirst-quenching events year-round.
Portland isn’t shy about its love of beer — the city has nearly as many beer festivals as it does breweries. And with at least one beer festival every month, the city has thirst-quenching events year-round. Belly up to some of Beervana’s biggest annual suds celebrations.
January Beer Festival in Portland
NW Coffee Beer Invitational
The annual NW Coffee Beer Invitational at the Goose Hollow Inn unites two favorite Portland beverages in 16 unique brews crafted by local brewers using locally roasted coffee.
February Beer Festivals in Portland
Oregon Craft Beer Month
Previously observed in July, Oregon Craft Beer Month moves to February in 2020. The statewide celebration will bring new releases, tastings, beer pairings and tappings, plus events, including Zwickelmania, Brewstillery (below) and the Oregon Beer Awards.
Zwickelmania
Hosted by the Oregon Brewers Guild over President’s Day weekend, Zwickelmania is a statewide tasting event with more than 120 breweries across Oregon — and more than 40 in the Portland metropolitan area — opening their doors and offering free tastings and food pairings to visitors. Brewer-led discussions and tours give visitors a unique backstage pass to some of the world’s best craft breweries and free shuttle buses ensure safe sipping.
StormBreaker Brewstillery Festival
Celebrating Portland’s perfect storm of microbreweries and micro-distilleries, StormBreaker Brewing debuted its Brewstillery Festival in 2015, pairing beers from 15 local brewers with spirits from eight local distillers.
Hillsdale Brewfest
McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House (Portland’s original brewpub, brewing since 1985) hosts the Hillsdale Brewfest. Also known as the “Battle for the Belt,” this annual competition pits the pros from across McMenamins’ empire against one another — and lets fans taste offerings from all 22 McMenamins breweries in one spot.
March Beer Festivals in Portland
SheBrew
Founded in 2015, the SheBrew Brewfest features more than 30 female craft beer, cider and mead makers as well as musicians and comedians. This two-part event starts with a homebrew competition and culminates in an all-day festival at benefiting LGBTQ charity Human Rights Campaign.
Baker’s Dozen Coffee Beers & Donuts
In a perfectly Portland pairing, the Baker’s Dozen festival offers samples of 13 unique coffee beers and 13 custom donuts, all from local producers. Many of the beers feature coffees roasted in Portland, as well.
April Beer Festivals in Portland
Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival
The Pacific Northwest’s largest festival dedicated to these funky, tart beers, the Portland Farmhouse and Wild Ale Festival has been going strong since 2013. In 2019, the fest, which draws dozens of breweries pouring more than 50 beers, moved to Glendoveer Golf Course in Northeast Portland.
Nano Beer Fest
Good things come in small packages at this festival celebrating pint-sized producers from Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Sample carefully crafted brews from more than two dozen “nano” breweries (defined as those which brew three or less barrels of beers at a time) at the Nano Beer Festival at Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub in Tigard, just southwest of Portland.
Explore “Beervana”
Overwhelmed by Portland’s epic microbrew scene? Start here.
May Beer Festival in Portland
Sip of Spring
Held at the picturesque Rossi Farms in Northeast Portland, the Sip of Spring celebrates spring beers and ciders from more than a dozen local brewers. (Don’t worry about May showers — the event is held under cover in the barn!)
June Beer Festivals in Portland
Portland Beer Week
A celebration of the local craft brewing scene, the 11-day Portland Beer Week (because seven days cannot contain Portland beer) is packed full of tastings, festivals, parties and educational events all over town. Highlights include the Rye Beer Festival, a celebration of the revival of rye beers that features at least 20 special collaboration brews from 19 different breweries, backed by some great food and live entertainment, all at Southeast Portland bar EastBurn.
Portland International Beer Festival
Drawing more than 200 brews from at least 15 countries to a beer garden setting in the Pearl District’s North Park Blocks, the Portland International Beerfest puts Beervana on the map, letting locals punch their passport with worldly offerings like barrel-aged strong ales, barley wines, sours, imperial stouts, farmhouse ales and double IPAs.
BrewFest in the Park
It’s all about organic brews at BrewFest in the Park, and that means more than just beer. Held at Overlook Park in North Portland, this family-friendly festival (kids and dogs welcome!) pours more than 60 organic craft beers, ciders and meads. Enjoy a booze-free “soda garden,” games, food carts and plenty of activities for the kiddos.
July Beer Festivals in Portland
Malt Ball
The Portland Mercury brings together Portland’s best brews and bands for a rocking day featuring one-of-a-kind craft beers and live performances by local bands at the annual Malt Ball. This affair at the Wonder Ballroom is the either the best-sounding beer festival or the best-tasting musical festival out there.
Portland Craft Beer Festival
Debuting in 2015, the Portland Craft Beer Festival rounds out the summer’s plentiful beer fest offerings by restricting its tap list to only beers brewed in the city. With 70 breweries (and counting) in Portland, the selection is hardly limited.
Puckerfest
Featuring brews that range from “slightly funky” and “tart and fruit” to “mouthpuckeringly sour,” Puckerfest has established itself as one of the most popular events during Oregon Craft Beer Month. Adventurous beer lovers can sample from a rotating cast of more than 30 rotating sours, and enjoy numerous “Meet the Brewer” nights where beermongers share stories about their favorite creations, all at Southeast Portland bottle shop Belmont Station.
Oregon Brewers Festival
Held in the last full weekend of July for more than 25 years, the Oregon Brewers Festival brings more than 80 craft brews to Portland for a four-day brewfest, the largest gathering of its kind in North America. One of the country’s longest-running and best-loved craft beer festivals, the event is situated in downtown’s Waterfront Park, on the banks of the Willamette River, and attracts scores of award-winning beers, live music, food vendors, beer memorabilia, homebrewing demonstrations every year.
August Beer Festival in Portland
IIPA Fest
Not for the hop faint-hearted, this annual celebration of bold beers takes place at Saraveza and features more than 30 rotating taps of double and triple IPAs from near and far. The festival offers food (like double beef burgers) along with beers that pack a punch, from the likes of Breakside Brewery, Barley Brown’s, Russian River Brewing Co. and more.
September Beer Festivals in Portland
Oktoberfest
It almost goes without saying that “Munich on the Willamette” celebrates Oktoberfest with gusto. Though Oregon’s largest celebration is about an hour south of the city in Mount Angel, where thousands have been celebrating since 1966, there is plenty of German beer-fair fun to be had in Portland. The city’s most prominent German bar, Prost, has their own annual Oktoberfest celebration, as does Oaks Amusement Park.
Fresh Hops Festival
“Fresh hop” beers – those made with hops picked in the previous 24 hours – are difficult or impossible to make for breweries in drier climates. But at least 75 of Oregon’s breweries lie within 100 miles of hop fields, making the state the epicenter of “fresh hop” beer production. Portland revels in its proximity to hop heaven with an annual celebration of more than 25 bright, earthy, pleasantly bitter brews at Oaks Amusement Park.
October Beer Festival in Portland
Peche Fest
Founded in 2013, Peche Fest was Portland’s first beer festival dedicated to a single fruit: the peach. (The host, Saraveza, has since introduced a similar summer fest for strawberry fans.) Expect a variety of peach-infused beers and ciders, including sours, IPAs and fruity ales.
November/December Beer Festivals in Portland
BrewLights
Since 2017, the annual holiday ZooLights display at the Oregon Zoo has gotten a grown-up spinoff. For one night every November, BrewLights takes over the zoo. Tickets include adult-only access to the festive display, along with samples from more than 40 local breweries.
Holiday Ale Festival
Held under the city’s holiday tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square, the five-day Holiday Ale Festival features more than 50 of the Pacific Northwest’s best seasonal suds, all bracing winter ales designed to fend off the cold chill of a long winter’s night. With a reputation as the premier winter beer-tasting event on the West Coast, the gathering keeps attendees warm and dry under a large clear-top tent that provides cover while allowing for views of the city lights.
Beer Festivals in Portland
Quench your thirst with these local brew festivals.
Oregon Brewers Festival
Portland hosts dozens of beer festivals every year, but none compares to the Oregon Brewers Festival. With offerings from 80 craft brewers, the event draws nearly 70,000 attendees to the downtown waterfront every July.
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