North American Organic Brewers Fest Wrap-Up part 2
For $5, you get a cup, which is plastic-like and reusable for all of your tastes. The cup’s made of cornstarch and as you can see in the photo, it’s 100% compostible.
NAOBF takes place in Overlook Park on the Willamette. I don’t know if it’s because of the location, or the fact that all of the 70+ beers are organic, but this festival attracts a different crowd than the ones in downtown Portland. Think giant frat party downtown. Think mellow families for organic.
Tony C., Hsin-Yi, and I watched an (all white?) hip hop band on Friday and the highlight was a 12-year old rapper they brought up for a song. She’s got a future. To be polite, I’ll avoid mention of the bands that played on Sunday.
Eventually we located my coworker and friend, Erin, and her partner, Jade*, and we called some other friends floating around the fest to divulge the sweet location we’d scoped on the lawn. Andy* joined us, as did Joe**, Lindsay, and random friends and coworkers who’d float in and out of the circle.
The highlight on Friday, beerwise, was Alameda’s IPA. Not only were the pours generous (above the green line on the cup), but the beer had a perfectly refreshing hoppiness. I confess that I sampled that one several times. I also tasted an organic malt liquor and some other light beers.
On Sunday, my wife and I returned to the festival. I’m ashamed to say I’d already composted my first cup, so I had to buy a second. The nice thing is that I got a dollar off because I showed my MAX ticket — evidence we’d arrived by public transit. Anyway, supporting the festival helps a number of good causes.
This time we ran into coworker, Mike, and our friend Laurie, who always has an entourage of other friends. We ended up with a table near the stage and about nine people sipping. This time I snagged an Alameda again, but sampled a few heavier tastes as well: porters, stouts, and a Belgian.
It sprinkled a little, but since Portland had hit 100, it was pretty refreshing, just like the organic beers. I’ll see you at the festival next year!
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*homebrewer
**professional brewer
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[...] weekend is the return of the North American Organic Brewers Festival. You’ll recall that I attended two days last year. It’s free to get in, but if you want to buy the compostible tasting glass, you [...]