Admittedly, It's No Munster, Indiana

Update to the update:  I missed this, from that same BeerAdvocate thread.  It comes from Josh Noel, who originally quoted Floyd in the Chicago Tribune.  Caveat reader:

"I like and respect Three Floyds’ work, as evidenced by my story in the Tribune this week. I stand by how I quoted Nick Floyd regarding Portland beer in the blog post that accompanied the story."

Update:  Hat tip Matthew DiTullo for spotting this at BeerAdvocate:

I would like to say I do not hate Portland or the Portland brewers or brewing scene. I was misquoted in a remark I made about ONE early McManamins pub I didn’t care for.  I f%$@ing love Portland and all its beer I am a good friend of Van Havig.  I drank many times with Don Younger (RIP) and loved him and the Horse Brass, Tony Lawrence from Boneyard ( I know it's in Bend) is a best friend. Portland was the first place I traveled as a professional brewer--to the old Flanders street pub.  Bridgeport is one of my favorites.  It's the first place I saw nicros on draught 9 to 1 over macro beer and at a stripclub.  Portland rules! Put a bird on it!  I love it! Aorry I was misquoted
-- your humble narrator, Nick F 3Floyds

A classic case of blaming the media.  :-)  I'd still like to drink some beers with Nick the next time he swings through--

____________

Thanks to an eagle-eyed Matt Wiater, we have this fine quote to consider.  It comes from Nick Floyd, founder of Three Floyds Brewing:

"If you're not traveling and learning new stuff, you're sort of stuck," he said. "Look at Portland. It's still based on Willamette and Cluster (hops). It's the same (bleeping) beer you were drinking 30 years ago!"

"Portland was great in the 80s and 90s when there was nothing like it," he continued. "It used to be inspirational. It still is. But the more you travel and learn, the better."

A post-1980s barrel room.

There are certain personality traits that make for successful entrepreneurs: brash self-confidence, drive and energy, the risk-taking of a riverboat gambler.  They can even benefit from willful ignorance--of risk, for example.  These traits are not uniformly prized in other areas.  In this case, for example, we might note that a Google search might have disabused Nick of some strange views; and a little humility might have prevented him from offering opinions on topics he has no recent information.

I mean, cluster hops, really?  Quick, aside from that novelty beer Double Mountain made with them last year, can anyone name me a single Portland beer that uses Cluster?  Willamettes are not as vanishingly rare, but suffice it to say we've managed to get wind of some newer strains out here.  (Partly by visiting the hop fields one hour south.)

The great irony is that the reporter led into this quote by explaining that "Floyd loves traveling because it is stimulating and challenging, which he explained by slightly denigrating what's being poured these days in craft beer's early mecca, Portland, Ore."  I have no idea where he might have gotten his ideas about our fair city, but it's clear the one place he didn't get them was Portland.

A stimulating and challenging trip to Cascade Barrel House, Hair of the Dog, The Commons, Upright, Breakside, et al is exactly what I recommend to Nick.  Come on out, man, we'll show you what remains the best beer city in America, two decades running.  No Willamettes or Clusters need be harmed in the making of your adventure.