Dave Knows: Portland

The Big One starts today.
In years past I’ve been more excited about this festival than any others. Times change. The Organic Brewers Festival has been my favorite the past few years. The Big One keeps getting bigger, and more crowded, and the good beers run out too damn early. I don’t [...]

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Apparently we aren’t the only ones to notice that Portland’s summers are spectacular; every weekend from June through September a street fair or festival or some other event (often with beer garden!) tempts the rain weary Portlander. Last weekend Heather and I pulled ourselves away from several such events; the Portland Highland Games and [...]

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Head on out to the Horse Brass Pub on Tuesday, July 1st for an Oregon Craft Beer Month kickoff event.
The Oregon Brewers Guild has a comprehensive list of this year’s events. Some Portland highlights:
All month Long
July 1st - July 31st
Eight Guest Taps from Oregon Craft Brewers
Horse Brass Pub, 4520 SE Belmont, Portland
Daily, Monday - [...]

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Camping close to town with no reservations was no problem. In fact no more than 3 of the 30+ campsites at Henry Rierson Spruce Run Campground were occupied all weekend. The rain, the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, and Fleet Week were all going on in Portland. These are all good reasons [...]

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The Oregon Brewers Guild has a new website. One of the new features is On Tap: the OBG Blog. Judging from the nascent posts (first post was on May 31st, 2008), it looks to be the One Stop Shopping place for Oregon beer news, events, and factoids; the Fred Meyers of Beer Blogs, [...]

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The plan is to go camping this weekend; good ol’ American car camping. We’re leaving Portland around 4pm Friday and want to arrive at a campsite before dark to get set up. We don’t have a reservation. Are we crazy, or will we find it easy to find a spot on Friday [...]

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I’m addicted to Oregonlive.com’s Reddit. Apparently I’m not alone.
Steve, at More Hockey Less War, noticed an Oregon Reddit button on Mike Vogel’s blog, and investigated.
The fruits of his efforts is a freely distributed Oregon Reddit button Wordpress Plugin, which you can download from his site.
Oregon Reddit//

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For about the past five years, I’ve lived car free.
Based on my conscious decision to jettison the private automobile, I’ve had to make decisions about where I make my home, where I work, and what sort of activities I pursue.
Now it’s second nature; I don’t consider being car free a sacrifice (that’s why it’s [...]

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Maybe the Times has finally run out of things to write about Portland.
By the Beach, a Town Where Winter Also Has Its Fans
ON the drive south from Neahkahnie Mountain toward Manzanita on the north coast of Oregon, the view is startling: broad cobalt skies above shaving-cream waves that ghost toward shore, all complemented by low, [...]

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Both hops and barley prices are way up this year, and brewers are feeling the pinch; especially local craft brewers, and drinkers, who aren’t fond of adjuncts like corn or rice.
But I am hopeful the result, other than $5+ pints, will be some lighter, more complex beers.
I can appreciate the malty and bitter jolt of [...]

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