BEERVANA

Portland is beer heaven for good beer lovers. The Spring Beer & Wine Festival took place this past weekend (April 8-9) at the Oregon Convention Center, indoors so no one got wet. The event featured 80 beers, most made by 40 West Coast breweries. Food was also available and there was a great seminar about artisan cheeses, as well as the Chefs Stage, where several renowned chefs gave short cooking seminars.

As I've said before, Portland is the greatest town in the U.S.A. for good beer lovers. No offense to Bud and Miller, but most Portlanders would much rather drink Blue Heron Ale, Terminator Stout or hundreds of other local brews. And, since Portland currently has an incredible number of microbreweries -- per capita the most anywhere -- it's easy to find really excellent hand-crafted beers, ales, porters and stouts.

The Fulton House has a microbrewery within easy walking distance, within 5-1/2 short blocks. There are 28 microbreweries within City limits and numerous ones in the suburbs.

Also, don't miss one of the premiere events for good beer lovers: Portland hosts a huge beerfest in Tom McCall Park every summer, where breweries from around the country and several from Canada and Europe feature their beers. Admission is cheap and so is a beer glass, if like me, you don't like drinking beer out of plastic. I'll post the dates and additional details as soon as I know them.

The Fulton House has a city bus stop half a block away, which will take you right there or a trolley and light rail hook-up which will get you close. That means you avoid the inevitable hassle and expense of parking and can really sample the beers without worrying about a DUI on the way home or having to flip to see which poor devil becomes the "designated driver" and can't drink.

There are numerous other special functions throughout the year in Portland celebrating microbreweries and their offerings. Keep up on this blog or puchase the Friday Oregonian and check their "a & e section" for upcoming beerfests.

See you in Beervana!