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.