Oregon Homegrown is a new beer collaboration project put together by Celebrate Oregon Beer, a relatively new non-profit dedicated to promoting Oregon’s vibrant beer culture. Two dozen breweries collaborated with nine hop farms, Indie Hops, and Wyeast Laboratories to craft a variety of beers featuring Strata hops. The beers will be available on tap at the various breweries, and will also be featured at a series of tap takeovers around the state, the first of which starts this Memorial Day weekend in Portland.
The full list of participating breweries and their beers are posted on the Oregon Homegrown page. For more details, here’s the press release:
Oregon Homegrown Brings Breweries and Hop Growers Together in a Collaboration that Helps Drinkers Spot the “Oregon” in Their Beer
Celebrate Oregon Beer is proud to announce “Oregon Homegrown,” a statewide collaboration that brings together two dozen breweries, nine hop farms, one hop breeder, and a groundbreaking yeast lab. In the first of an annual series to educate and delight drinkers, breweries will create different styles of beer from a single Oregon-bred and Oregon-grown hop cultivar. For the project kick-off, the two-dozen participating breweries are using Strata hops. Funded by Indie Hops and bred at Oregon State University, Strata was released in 2018 and has quickly become Oregon’s signature hop.
Known for its expressive aromas and flavors of strawberry, citrus, and cannabis, Strata is one of the most versatile varieties grown in the state. Participating breweries will showcase the hop’s adaptability by brewing myriad styles, from IPAs and pale ales to lagers, wheat beers, and saisons. Oregon is one of just three states growing commercial hops, but its cool-weather climate produces region-specific characteristics. Strata hops were bred for Oregon, and nearly every acre grown in the world comes from one of nine hop farms in the Willamette Valley.
The collaboration also includes key support from Wyeast Laboratories, a Hood River-based yeast lab. Founded in 1986, Wyeast was a critical support in building a nascent craft brewing industry. As an added bonus, many of the Oregon Homegrown participants are using strains originally donated to Wyeast’s yeast bank by local breweries.
Beer drinkers will be able to try these beers at participating brewery locations as well as four tap-takeovers in taprooms across the state:
- Portland: Roscoe’s (8105 SE Stark St), May 23-25
- Salem: Westside Taphouse (1594 Edgewater St NW #110), May 31-June 1
- Hood River: 64 Taphouse (208 Oak St), June 6-8
- Bend: River’s Place (787 NE Purcell Blvd), June 7-8
About the Organizers
Celebrate Oregon Beer, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, was formed in April 2024 with a mission of establishing Oregon’s reputation as one of the world’s premier beer regions. Indie Hops funds hop breeding and research at Oregon State University and to date has released five new varieties of hops, including Strata, Lorien, and Luminosa. (More: indiehops.com) Wyeast Laboratories is a pioneering yeast lab that produces premium liquid yeast, cultures, and fermentation products for breweries, wineries, and cideries around the world. (More: wyeastlab.com)
This is a great opportunity to explore the qualities of Strata hops across a variety of beer styles, as well as support Oregon beer in general. Not all two dozen of the beers will be available at the tap takeover events, but it will still offer the chance to try a good selection of them.
