The older I get the less I'm interested in receiving stuff as gifts, preferring instead to receive experiences. Don't get me wrong, I'll never look a beer-toting gift horse in the mouth and in fact, in my mind "experiences" include edible gifts.
For those of you that are behind the eight ball in buying a gift for the craft beer person in your life or you need to send some suggestions to the panicked relative that calls mere days in advance here's a short list of experiences that have the added bonus of being available for online purchase with online delivery.
Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom
Imperial is one of the best combo bottle shop/taprooms in town and by purchasing a gift card from them you're giving the gift of beer without the worry that the bottles picked out are going to be up the recipient's liking or figuring out how to get those bottles to them since as we all know, it's illegal to ship beer.
Portland Craft Beer Festival
The folks behind the festival, which debuted this year and takes place July 1 - 3, 2016 at The Fields Neighborhood Park, are on the ball and have made sure that you can purchase festival tickets as holiday gifts. To sweeten the pot a $25 ticket includes mug and 15 beer tickets (for the same price at the door it's only 10 tickets).
Brewvana Brewery Tours
Brewvana offers multiple tours weekly, as well as specialty tours (like the January 8th Join the Dark Side tour that includes dark beers, chocolate and coffee) and gift certificates can be purchased in multiple amounts, redeemable for any tour or even merchandise.
July is Oregon Craft Beer Month and right away there's a brand spanking new beer festival happening. The Portland Craft Beer Festival is taking place over the 4th of July weekend, Friday through Sunday, at The Fields Park.
In Portland our cup runneth over with beer goodness including a vast array of beer festivals so new entries into the crowded field need to find a way to differentiate themselves from the pack. The biggest thing that sets the #PCBF apart from the rest is that you'll find beers made exclusively IN Portland - nothing from Bend, nothing from Lake Oswego, nothing from Hillsboro. That doesn't however mean the beer won't be plentiful. Attendees can expect to find beers from 45 breweries as well as ciders from Reverend Nat's and Cider Riot, wines from Coopers Hall and those delicious difficult-to-categorize fizzy wines from Hi Wheel.
Another thing that sets #PCBF apart is that they are attempting to strike a balance between a 21+ festival and a family friendly festival. If you're like me and prefer the lil'uns to be somewhere besides the beer festival, go on Friday or Saturday. If you don't mind knee-high humans and strollers or if you have them and want to bring them along, attend on Sunday when the festival is family friendly. And by family friendly they don't just mean you don't need to prove you're 21 to enter, they'll also have a family yoga class, children's market and free vision testing for kids by The Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation. The Oregon Lions is one of three charities, along with the James Beard Public Market and the Oregon Brew Crew, that funds from the festival will benefit.
Portland Craft Beer Festival
Friday, July 3, 4 - 10 pm | Saturday, July 4, 12 - 10 pm | Sunday, July 5, 12 - 7 pm
The Fields Park, NW 11th Ave & Overton
Tickets: $20 both at the door & in advance but if you buy them by July 2 you get 15 tickets instead of 10 in addition to your tasting mug
