Oregon Brewers Star in
2008 World Beer Cup
By Fred Delkin
Brewers from five continents and no less than 644 beweries in 58
nations entered 2,864 beers in every category drinkable for the 2008
World Beer Cup staged by the Brewers Association in Boulder, CO. When
the judges finished sipping this massive array of potables, two Oregon
 brew crafters earned honors among the top five ...
Tonya Cornett from Bend Brewery in the small
brewpub category and Darron Welch from Pelican Pub
in the large brewpub category. They were joined
by Warren Quilliam of Coors' Blue Moon division,
Peter Bucher of Privatbraueri Hoepfner, Karlsruhe,
Germany and Tomme Arthur of San Marcos,
California's Port Brewing.
These are extraordinary honors for Pelican and
Bend. Pelican, sited at the base of Cape Kiwanda
on Pacific City's scenic ocean beach, has been a
consistent winner of regional and national judging
awards. Bend brewery is a newcomer...a pub
situated on Mirror Pond in downtown Bend.
These honors underline Oregon's claim to being the
best source of handcrafted beers outside Germany and Belgium. The
Brewers Association has also just released a list of the top 50
national craft brewers by sales volume. Pyramid, which acquired
Portland Brewing and has administrative offices in both Seattle and
Portland, ranks #5 nationally, Deschutes of Bend is #7, Full Sail of
Hood River #9. Other ranked Oregon suds producers are #21 Rogue Ales
of Newport, #31 Bridgeport of Portland and the ever-spreading
McMenamins of Portland.
Widmer of Portland (#11), Pyramid (#13), Deschutes (#16), Full Sail
(#19), Rogue (#34) and Bridgeport (#44) are also among the top 50
"overall U.S. brewing companies" in 2007 sales volume. Anheuser-Busch
(Budweiser), Miller and Coors easily lead this category.
Chinaman tops wine auction record
An unidentified Beijing-based Chinese entrepreneur has set a new wine
auction record by bidding $500,000 on a lot of 27 bottles of French
Romanee Conti burgundies. Vintages included were '61, '66, '81, '90,
'92, '05, '96, '99, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Spokesman for the
London-based auctioneer, Antique Wine, declares this was not bought as
an investment, but to drink.
We suspect some notables attending the 2008 Olympic Games will
participate in consuming these vaunted beverages. This bidder
previously pungled up $59,880 for a case of '82 Fench Chateau Petrus
burgundy. Would that some currently-cellared Oregon Pinot Noirs could
reach this monetary level of desirability! Malcolm Forbes, late
publisher of Forbes' magazine, held the previous record wine auction
bid in 1985 when he paid $162,750 for a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafitte
Bordeaux.
Portland Flugtag (German for "flying day") Entries Sought
Red Bull, the Austrian beverage that presents a truly jolting dose of
caffeine, is returning to Portland with the Flugtag human flight
craziness and is seeking local entries. Tom McCall Waterfront Park
drew some 50,000 spectators for this event in 2004. Story link:
Thirty teams of five members each are sought to push homemade
contraptions off a 22-foot ramp and into the Willamette river. This
nonsense began in Vienna in 1991 and since over 40 Flugtags have been
held around the world. U.S. destinations this year are Tampa Bay,
Chicago and our Rose City.
Entrants will be judged on a pre-flight skit, their craft and, of
course, airborn flight distance. Current record for the latter is 195
feet set in Austria in 2000. The current U.S. record is 155' set last
year in Nashville. All flying machines must be entirely human-powered,
under 30' wide and weigh less than 450 lbs. including the pilot. First
place finishers in the U.S. events will be flown to Salzburg, Austria
for a tour of Red Bull's famed Hangar-7 (www.Hangar-7.com). Second
place finishers will get a VIP trip to a U.S. Red Bull Air Race (real
planes) and third place earns skydiving with the Red Bull Air Force at
the Oregon international Air Show this summer in Hillsboro. The
Portland event is free and open to the public. For applications,
photos and video from past Flugtags, visit
http://www.redbullflugtagusa.com/ by May 10.
© 2008 Oregon Magazine
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