There's been quite a bit of turmoil in the craft beer scene this month. As the Oregonian reported, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is now prohibiting home brewers and winemakers from drinking or sharing their carefully crafted stouts and pinots outside their homes. Violation is a Class A misdemeanor. Home brew competitions from the State Fair to an event planned at Deschutes Brewery have been shut down in light of the strict interpretation of the law. The consequences of squashing the ability of our state's basement brewers may have wider consequences than OLCC anticipates. 

Double Mounatin Brewery & Tap Room in Hood River. My hands down favorite brewery in Oregon (and really great pizza too)!

While it took me a little while to be won over by the bold flavors of Oregon brews, they have since risen to the top five in my list of favorite things about Oregon (a thriving natural food market, proximity to the ocean, and floating the Rogue River all volley for top position). Oregon currently boasts 93 breweries, which means one brewery for every 40,753 Oregonians, the lowest ratio in the United States. Only Washington, Colorado, and California claim more actual breweries. Sounds like a competitive advantage to me.

Oregon is known across the nation and world for being at the fore of the craft beer movement, both for the brews themselves, and the high quality hops (a key component) that we produce. As it stands, Oregon's craft beer industry generates about $2.33 billion in annual sales. Those brewmasters, qua entrepreneurs, started  somewhere. A good chunk had their beginnings 'playing around' at home and sharing pints, notes, and inspiration with other home brewers at gatherings and events, the likes of which are now prohibited.

When looking for ways to reintroduce domestic manufacturing into our local economies, why not look seriously at beer? John Kerry and the Wall Street Journal certainly are. In a recent, and beautifully punned article from the WSJ ("Can Beer Stimulus Hop Up the Economy?) they state:

So-called craft brewers are one of the few industries to thrive through the recession. The segment grew from 7.2% by volume last year and 5.9% in 2008. The segment has even become a haven for budding entrepreneurs that have been let go from corporate jobs. “There’s not that many success stories in American manufacturing today and craft beer is one of them,” says Jim Koch, founder of The Boston Beer Co. which makes the various Samuel Adams beers. Mr. Koch — whose company is in Mr. Kerry’s home state — has been leading the charge for a lowering of the excise tax on small brewers.

Marion county 1946. This woman is picking hops by hand on Delbert Haener's place. Photo courtesy of Salem Public Library

If those guys on the east coast are hip to the importance of craft beer to revitalizing the economy, where are we in the Pacific Northwest? I'm going to go ahead and pass a  biased judgment and say I'd take just about any Oregon brewed IPA over a Sam Adams any day of the week. Not only can we saturate our local beer consumption markets, but the beer industry can also allow local (and rural) breweries to reach out to national and international markets.

What's more, some of the most exciting breweries in Oregon are popping up in rural communities. Terminal Gravity of Enterprise, Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City, and Double Mounatin in Hood River all produce absolutely killer beers (again, personal bias alert), and create employment and generate revenue in rural communities. Going beyond jobs in the production of beer, the breweries also serve as a great draw for tourists.

Imagine what would happen if we ramped up the hop production to meet all the needs of some of the larger craft brewers in Oregon like Deschutes and Rogue? Jobs planting, harvesting, drying, processing, and all that production money tied into the local economy, recirculating and creating prosperity. Not to mention very happy locals getting to know each other over cold pints.

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