Hopworks Urban Brewers, filling translucent people up with solid craft beer.
Portland is our personal Xanadu. It’s home to the most important subcultures required for decent humanoid living: donuts (Voodoo); literature (Powell’s); sports (Nike); and the vast natural beauty of the great outdoors (the slick, cloud-covered forests of the Pacific Northwest). Let us not forget beer. In Portland, the beer flows like (um) wine. In 2016, according to the Oregon Brewers Guild, there were 70 breweries in Portland and 105 in the Portland Metro Area. That’s bonkers.
Hops also contribute largely to the Oregon and Portland economy. As the second largest hop growing state in the country, Oregon had a 2016 crop value of $34,564,000, according to the OBG. One of our favorites, Crosby Hop Farms, is in Woodburn, Ore., a mere 40 minutes from Oregon’s biggest city (that’s Portland). What a place, right?
Heck, you don’t even have to leave the airport (PDX) to enjoy the rich business culture of Portland. Travelers can shop Powell’s, Nike and Columbia Sportwear (also based in the Rose City — that’s Portland), and there’s plenty of local beer to booze on. Rogue Ales and Spirits and Laurelwood Brewing Co. have been holding the brew torch high with bars at PDX for years, but alas, that’s changing. Those brands are being somewhat replaced by Deschutes Brewery and Hopworks Urban Brewery pubs.
Deschutes will be moving into the Concourse D space currently occupied by Rogue, and Rogue will be departing next year as their 10-year lease expires. Hopworks is taking over Laurelwood’s Concourse E location — one of two Laurelwood pubs at PDX.
Wait, are those growlers to go?
It’s been announced that SSP America has won the contract to open up these two new bars in the Port of Portland. SSP America, a division of SSP Group, is a leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations. From an article on Frontier (an international travel retail industry publication):
Port of Portland director of PDX terminal business and properties Chris Czarnecki said: “With more than 260 craft breweries throughout the state and 19 million annual brewery visitors, the craft beer industry is a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest experience and a tradition embraced by locals and tourists alike.
…
SSP America CEO Michael Svagdis said: “At SSP America we believe restaurants are at the heart of every community’s story, and airports play a leading role in telling that story. Bringing these two extraordinary breweries to PDX is a wonderful example of our passion for community anchored dining at the airport.”
Hopworks hopes to open their airport pub in fall of 2018. No word on that Deschutes beer bistro.
