Portland, Oregon home brewers stumped over law...keeping Portland Weird!

Mainstreet Homebrew Supply Company

We have bumper stickers here in Portland that says "Keep Portland Weird!"  I don't know how really weird we are.  We do allow people to keep and even rent chickens inside the city limits. I find that unusual.   But weird did come to mind right away when we began talking about the new ruling by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission on home brewers and their right to compete in our state fair or even share their brew.  They would like for us to live up to the letter of the law and home brewers don't agree.    I began to think...maybe we are just a teeny tiny bit strange.

OREGON BREWERS FESTIVAL...a little background!
The Oregon Brewers Festival is back in town...Portland Metro area young people are learning to drink good quality beer...again.  Those of us that are not that young know good beer and we love this festival too. Yesterday this advanced aged beer lover headed downtown for an afternoon of relaxed tasting along with a horde of young people from around the metro area.

Because my husband is a home brewer, I am interested in the micro-brew scene and several blogs I have written recently talked about micro-breweries and Portland's propensity for all things beer.  It has become big business so our brew fest is a big draw for brewers from across the country.  Up until now the brewers have lived in peace it seems, sharing knowledge and applauding each others success.  Micro-breweries compete annually at our brew fest on the Willamette River water front in Tom McCall Park.

Even home brewers were included in the love fest that spread around the state like wild fire.  Supplies are readily available and home brewers have become so sophisticated that it is hard to tell the micro-brew from the "homemade stuff".  We were operating in a free wheeling style and have been for quite a while.  Our Oregon State Fair in Salem attracted sophisticated home brewers to compete for ribbons and a little money.  If you love to brew beer, this was where you could go each August and strut your stuff.  Everyone was happy until someone blew the whistle.  Note:  It is not legal to brew wine or anything else without a license from the state but beer was exempted from that law.

THEN IT GOT VERY WEIRD
The fair could have been what caused the uproar...I am not really sure. Maybe the competition at the fair encouraged more home brewers thus cutting consumption at the local brew pubs.   Or maybe home brewers were carrying beer to events sponsored by the micro-brew company.   I know we have carried bottles of beer to location outside our home.  I'm not going to say where but vendors of beer would not necessarily have been happy.  (There may have even been signs but we did not notice them!) No one said anything and I think we were going on the premise that it is better to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission.  Whatever it was, I suspect that these practices were cutting into the big business revenues.  

So within the last few weeks our newspaper reported that a major micro-brew company wrote to the state asking for a ruling on home brewers sharing beer outside their homes and in competition!   It turns out a very old law that may date back to prohibition bans the transporting of home brewed beer...anywhere.

"Is it illegal to go to your neighbors and let them taste test? By the letter of the law, yeah," said Mark Jaehnig of the OLCC.  But Jaehnig says it's only possible because that's how the department of justice sees it.  Which the OLCC views as a glitch law.  Which home brewers like Neal hope can be worked resolved by new legislation sooner than later.  (Home Brewers Fear Breaking Long-Standing Oregon Law | KEZI
URL: http://kezi.com/news/local/181298)

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN...well here you have it folks.  The beer competition at the Oregon State Fair has been deemed illegal and will not be featured this year or any year soon unless the state legislature sees fit to change the old law.   The lawmakers will not be in session until January of 2011.

So I should not take my beer next door and I should not  take a case of it to Arizona to share with friends...not if I am going to follow that letter of the law mindset and am a law abiding citizen.   Home brewers could be asked to tow the line and all things beer in the Portland Metro and around the state may not be a love fest anymore.  What are you going to do?  Darn!

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Yes, You Can Brew Beer! Links to Information!

We are a little most sophisticated than this!  Image via Wikipedia

     My husband brews homemade beer.  I help him drink it.  It is a plan that has worked out pretty good for us.  Since Portland Metro is the micro-brew capital of the world (maybe) it was only natural that sooner or later my husband would give birth to the idea that he could brew beer himself.  Our children were always at a loss for gifts and they saw an opportunity for many years of gift giving.  This is a beautiful plan that came together....it was so perfect.  Every birth should be as perfect of this was.    Now we are all enjoying the results.
        Here in Hillsboro the go to location for everything beer is Main Street Homebrew & Bread Supply Company.  They have anything you will need to brew beer,  Not only does my husband get quality supplies, the owner gives very good advice when he needs help.
    So I am here to tell you that brewing beer is not hard.  You can do it!  You can go online and learn everything you need to know as well as places to order supplies.  Every person that ever has brewed beer loves to talk about it so there are many discussion site available too. 
LINKS

• Starter Set (similar to the one my husband started with)
• Recipator
• Tasty Brew (recipes and discussions)
• All Recipes.com (beginners information)
• Beginning Equipment
• Beer 101 (what to eat with your specialty beers)
• Cooking with Beer
• Beer Recipes.org  (beer mug choices)
• Gluten Free Beer
• Bottled Gluten Free (location)
• How-to Home Brew Magazine
• All About Beer Magazine

BACKGROUND
     My husband and our children brewed their first beer in a warehouse over in Tigard.  It has been at least 13 years ago.  Someone one had the idea that if they set up enough carboys and big kettles for brewing they would come.  And so they did...come that is.  The family set up an appointment and went to the warehouse where they purchased ingredients and learned to brew their own beer.  The rest is history.  We have been enjoying the fruits of this lesson in brew ever since.
     Back in the beginning the kitchen was our lab.  Our children bought my husband a starter set of equipment at Costco for his birthday.   We brewed, sanitized, stirred poured and waited...all in the kitchen.  When the brew had fermented for the allowed amount of time we added the sugar, bottled the beer using a syphon and clamped lids on the bottles.  The we put the beer in the garage and we waited for the brew to self carbonate.
    The first bottles we opened of that homemade beer were served with a cheese soup.  It was a crisp fall day and we had gone with our family and friends to pick pumpkins.  It must have been October.  I remember the beer was a little young but we could not wait.  We raised the glasses in a toast and took a sip.  The look of surprised around the room was something to see.  OH MY GOSH!  THIS IS REALLY GOOD! came out of mouth and we all cheered.  My husband was a little insulted I think.  Still who knew we could make this wonderful brew at home.
     Since that time he has purchases coils for cooling, beer brewing books, a conical fermentor and equipment I cannot not even name or explain but have seen in use.  We even have a special refrigerator with a carbonating system like the one used to give you soda pop at the fountain.  I think he found these on Craigs List second hand. The result is draft brew served in our garage.   He will brew a batch with our daughter-in-law in July.
    If you are interested at all, buy a starter kit and give it a try...it really is fun and the cost for a bottle of beer will pay for you equipment or we tell ourselves it does.  PLUS, you will be the most popular people on the block!  How can any of this be a bad thing?

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