50 Best Oregon Beers

Lager, Pilsner, Kölsch & other German Styles
Pils | Heater Allen Brewing, McMinnville
This crisp, refreshing, and substantial pilsner is a classically European pale brew that’s cold-conditioned for six weeks plus. It’s the beer you want in summer, and Heater Allen—currently doubling capacity to meet demand—makes the best in the state, if not the entire country. 4.8% ABV
HUB Lager | Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland
HUB introduced this grainy, golden, 100 percent organic, formerly draft-only brew spiced with Zeus hops in 16-ounce cans just last summer. It already feels like a mainstay. 5.1% ABV
Na ZdravÍ Pils | Southern Oregon Brewing Co, Medford
True to style, this Czech-inspired pilsner is grainy, bready, spicy, and full-bodied, with a smack of spicy “noble” (read: delicate, hard-to-grow) hops. 4.8% ABV
Pilsner | Breakside Brewing Co, Portland
Suddenly Oregon is awash in great pilsners (a welcome development), and Breakside’s is among the best of the bunch, with biscuit-like maltiness and a light, tangy, citrusy kick. 5.3% ABV
Session Lager| Full Sail Brewing Co, Hood River
Barbecue-friendly stubby bottles, critically acclaimed pre-Prohibition-style recipe ... what’s not to love about this crisp, golden brew? It comes in six-packs, but it’s wise to buy by the case. 5.1% ABV
Kölsch | Occidental Brewing Co, Portland
A clear, dry, golden ale that’s cold-conditioned like lager, kölsch—the traditional brew of Cologne, Germany—is a great thirst quencher. Occidental’s, with spicy Perle hops, nails it. 4.4% ABV
Sterling Pils | Ninkasi Brewing Co, Eugene
“We love to make lagers,” says founder Jamie Floyd. It shows. This malt-forward, German-style pilsner with spicy, crackling hop notes may be your new summer standard. 5.1% ABV
Omission Lager | Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland
Widmer’s gluten-free lager has the ample body and crisp, hoppy finish one expects from the style, minus the offending proteins. 4.6% ABV

American-Style Gold, Wheat & Pale Ale
Sweet As! Pacific Ale | GoodLife Brewing Co, Bend
Pale gold and faintly sweet at first sip, this wheaty brew’s mellow, marmalade-y tang from Pacifica and Galaxy hops grown in New Zealand is set off by a crisp, dry finish. 6% ABV
River Ale | Deschutes Brewery, Bend
It’s fair to call this a session beer—sociably low-alcohol, makes for extended sipping—but ample Cascade and Crystal hops kick this light golden ale up a notch. 4% ABV
ISA| 10 Barrel Brewing Co, Bend
A hugely refreshing ale with a late dose of grapefruity-tasting Cascade, Summit, and Centennial hops, this one is fast becoming a standby—if on the high side of “session.” 5.5% ABV
The Vaporizer | Double Mountain Brewery, Hood River
Hazy-gold with a sweet, grainy start and a dry, lemony finish, this dry-hopped summer sipper is brewed with pilsner malt and Challenger hops grown in Washington’s Yakima Valley. 6% ABV

IPA & Imperial IPA
Watershed IPA Oakshire Brewing Co, Eugene
Now in 12-ounce cans, this hazy amber, floral, citrus-kissed brew has just enough resinous hop character to satisfy the jones without overpowering those caramelly malts. 7.1% ABV
RPM Boneyard Brewing Co, Bend
Gorgeous coppery color? Check. Massive hop flavors from four Pacific Northwest varieties? Check. Juicy, citrusy taste, faint cereal sweetness, and clean, crisp finish? Check, check, and check. RPM nails it. 7% ABV
Chainbreaker White IPA | Deschutes Brewery, Bend
Named for a legendary mountain bike race, this delicious cloudy-gold ale is a lovely hybrid of Belgian wit—orange peel and coriander-spiced—and tangy, Northwest-style IPA. 5.6% ABV
IPA | Long Brewery, Newberg
Paul Long’s one-man wine country operation is proof that big brews can come from small places. His American-style IPA, brewed and dry-hopped with six hop varieties, bursts with bright, floral, tropical notes. 6.2% ABV
Workhorse IPA | Laurelwood Brewing Co, Portland
The best thing about this pungent, biscuity West Coast–style IPA? You can fill an empty growler postsecurity at PDX (concourses A and E) and take fresh beer to your next port of call. 7.5% ABV
Blue Dot Double India Pale Ale | Hair of the Dog Brewing Co, Portland
Next to brewer Alan Sprints’s barrel-aged beasts, Blue Dot seems tame by comparison. But few Imperial IPAs are this well behaved. It’s brawny and resinously hoppy without the acrid finish that can mar lesser interpretations. 7% ABV
Whole in the Head | Gigantic Brewing Co, Portland
As intended (“a freakin’ hop bomb”), the latest Gigantic offering—an Imperial IPA—assails the taste buds with massively delicious waves of citrusy Northwest hops. 8.5% ABV

ESB, Amber, Red & Brown Ales
Ashland Amber | Caldera Brewing Co, Ashland
A bready, slightly honeyish brew with a mellow, herbaceous tang, this isn’t a complex beer—but it is super-smooth and satisfying on cool Oregon summer nights. 5.4% ABV
Red War | Double Mountain Brewery,Hood River
Using yeast from famed southern Belgian brewery Brasserie d’Achouffe, this burly scarlet brew has ample fruitiness and complexity, and finishes pleasantly dry. 8.4% ABV
FS Pub Series Brown | Full Sail Brewing Co, Hood River
Released as part of the limited, seasonal “Pub Series,” this spring nut brown ale has clean, pecan-like flavors and a pleasantly spicy, hoppy finish. 6% ABV
Kill Devil Brown | Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland
Caribbean mainstays like blackstrap molasses and palm sugar amp up this approximately English-style brown aged in Puerto Rican rum barrels and spiced with fruity Calypso hops. 9.5% ABV

Farmhouse, Saison & other Belgian Ales
Quick Wit | Fort George Brewing Co, Astoria
To the classic, unfiltered Belgian wit (or “white,” made with wheat, coriander, and orange zest), these bold coastal brewers add bright lemongrass and elderflower. 5.2% ABV
Urban Farmhouse | The Commons Brewery, Portland
The accolades just keep coming for this little Southeast Portland operation. A traditional saison, this mellow brew pours bright gold, with floral overtones and a dry, lip-smacking finish. 5.3% ABV
Seizoen Bretta | Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales, Hood River
With a gold medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival, this earthy, complex Belgian-style farmhouse ale set a new national standard. 8% ABV
Flemish Kiss | The Commons Brewery, Portland
The kiss in question: Brettanomyces, a wild yeast prized by Belgian brewers, which gives this dry, flowery pale ale an earthy kick. 6.5% ABV
Golden Farmhouse Ale | Ambacht Brewing, Hillsboro
Former beekeeper Tom Kramer named his little brewery the Dutch word for “handmade.” His spritzy, dark straw-gold saison is yeasty with a kiss of blackberry honey. 6.5% ABV

Wild, Wood-Aged & Sour
Gose | Upright Brewing Co, Portland
Say “goes” and walk into history with this obscure, nearly extinct northern German style, subtly seasoned with salt and coriander. It’s tart, Champagne-like, and überrefreshing. 5.2% ABV
Ching Ching | Bend Brewing Co, Bend
This tart Berliner Weisse beer is accented with hibiscus and pomegranate purée, imparting a gorgeous, rosy-pink hue and mouthwatering, lemony, pink-grapefruit taste. 4.5% ABV
Sahalie | The Ale Apothecary, Bend
Brewer Paul Arney’s vinous, Belgian-style pale ale is a tour de force, with intriguing layers of earthy, angular flavors derived from wild yeasts. 9.3% ABV
Ferme de la’ Ville Provision | Block 15 Brewing Co, Corvallis
This small-batch annual is an opulently bright and fruity saison-style beer that’s been barrel-aged, imparting wine-like acidity and subtle hints of vanilla and oak. 6.75% ABV
Vlad the Imp-Aler | Cascade Barrel House, Portland
Vlad is among the most sought after of Cascade’s pucker-inducing brews, with tart angles akin to green apple and lemon balanced by warming, woody bourbon notes and spice. 10.3% ABV
Adam From the Wood | Hair of the Dog Brewing Co, Portland
Founder Alan Sprints’s first commercial beer, Adam, still leads his pack, especially this ruddy brown, brewpub-only version aged in buttery American oak barrels, which deepen the flavors of leather, caramel, and smoke. 12% ABV
The Dissident | Deschutes Brewery, Bend
This lusciously tart, wine-like occasional release is loosely modeled after oud bruin, or “old brown,” ales of Belgium. It tends to be copper-hued, with sour and earthy notes derived from ample use of cherries and wild yeasts in oak wine casks. 11.4% ABV

Fruit & Vegetable Beers
Peche ’n Brett | Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales, Hood River
To his world-class oak-aged Seizoen Bretta (a funky, grassy, oaky saison beer) brewer Dave Logsdon adds a pound and a half of organic peaches per gallon, resulting in lush, ripe fruit flavors with an impressive kick. 10% ABV
Apple Ale | Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland
This tart, cidery refresher made as a blend of beer and pressed apples was a hit at last year’s Portland Fruit Beer Fest—and quickly ascended to the full-time lineup. 5.8% ABV
Cascade Apricot | Cascade Barrel House, Portland
Bright and hazy orange with a zingy, lemony tartness up front, this Belgian-style ale flows with waves of delicious, ripe apricot flavor. 8.5% ABV
Sweet Heat | Burnside Brewing Co, Portland
Lesser chile beers crash the palate party and leave. But Burnside’s is brewed with apricot purée and Scotch bonnet peppers, which supply a lingering, welcome heat. 4.9% ABV

Strong British & Belgian Ales
Billy the Mountain | Upright Brewing Co, Portland
This interpretation of British “old ale” makes use of a rare strain of wild yeast to commingle bright hoppy notes with the earthy, leathery, funky flavors of pinot noir barrels. 9.1% ABV
Mother of All Storms | Pelican Brewing Co, Pacific City
Ruby red, with rich flavors of buttery wood, toffee, and dark fruits, this beer is a squall of boozy complexity—but it still sips like a breeze. 13.5% ABV
Strong Dark | pFriem Family Brewers, Hood River
With flavors akin to ripe figs, plums, dark chocolate, and toffee, this one is similar to a big, Belgian-style abbey beer. It’s draft only for now, but will be bottled shortly. 10.3% ABV
Conflux #1 | Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Hair of the Dog Brewing Co, Portland
Amazingly, there are a few bottles left out there of this blend of Deschutes’s and Hair of the Dog’s most-sought-after wood-aged beers, full of sherry, tobacco, whiskey, and fig flavors. 11.6% ABV

Porters, Stouts & other Dark Ales
Raw Wheat Dunkelweizen | Flat Tail Brewing Co, Corvallis
These adventurous brewers breathe life into an ancient German style that found favor here in the 1980s but then faded. It’s got the spicy tang of a traditional wheat beer with additional cocoa-like notes from dunkel, or dark, roasted grains. 4.5% ABV
Black Butte Porter | Deschutes Brewery, Bend
It’s been around so long, it might be tempting to look past this iconic, jet-black Oregon brew. Don’t. It’s as great as ever, with all the silky, chocolate-like flavor and zingy hops that made it a classic. 5.2% ABV
Secession | Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland
Whatever you call it—Cascadian Dark Ale, Black IPA, etc.—this style of beer is meant to marry massive hop profiles with deep, dark roasted malts. HUB’s version is seriously drinkable, with nicely piney and astringent flavors. 6.5% ABV
Cavatica Stout | Fort George Brewing Co, Astoria
Named for the black barn spider, this imperial stout will, the brewers promise, “stain your clothes.” It’s a pleasurable wall of caramel, coffee, wood, toffee, and chocolate notes that hang in balance. 8.8% ABV
Topsail bourbon barrel aged Imperial Porter | Full Sail Brewing Co, Hood River
This bourbon barrel–aged elixir of deep mocha and vanilla-bean flavors begs to be sipped in a snifter; add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and life is complete. 9.5% ABV
Black Flag Imperial Stout | Beer Valley Brewing, Ontario
A massive wallop of malts and grassy, pungent hops endows flavors of black licorice, soy sauce, vanilla, grapefruit, and espresso—which taste far better in concert than one might suspect. 11.1% ABV
The Abyss | Deschutes Brewery, Bend
Deschutes’s annual silky, carbon-black imperial stout reserve is brewed with licorice and molasses, then aged in French oak and bourbon barrels, lending bottomless layers of chocolate, vanilla, and oak flavors. 11% ABV