Already established as a hub for wine and beer, Portland takes on craft distilling.
Portland is continuing its run of success with craft beverages by quickly becoming a center for craft distilling.
It’s been trumpeted in the pages of everything from Food Wine to GQ: Just as Oregon has laid claim to pinot noir and super-hoppy pale ales, it’s now become the mecca of the craft distilling movement, with booze-minded upstarts turning out small-batch spirits, ready to take on the big boys like Tanqueray and Grey Goose. According to the American Distilling Institute, of the slightly over 200 craft distilleries currently operating in the U.S., 18 are located in Oregon. Of those 18 distilleries, 12 were opened within the past six years. This weekend we play host to the Great American Distillers Festival, where some two dozen distilleries, both local and from around the country, will be pouring samples for visitors and trading shop talk.
“Portland is the center of the craft distilling revolution, just as we were the center of the craft brewing revolution,” says Lee Medoff, a former McMenamins brewmaster who spent some time in the wine world before opening House Spirits with his business partner, Christian Krogstad. “We’re once again at the epicenter of the whole country.”
Read the full story at Willamette Week.
{biztweet}Portland craft distilling{/biztweet}
