USA: North American Organic Brewers Festival returns to Portland

With a motto to “Drink Organic, Save the Planet, One Beer at a Time,” the North American Organic Brewers Festival will celebrate its 11th year on 13 - 16 August in Portland, Oregon. Designed to raise awareness about organic beer and sustainable living, the festival serves up 50 organic beers and ciders from three dozen breweries. A complete list of participating breweries is available here.

This year’s event will also feature an exceedingly rare opportunity to sample draft beer from Pinkus. Along with Pinkus Ur-Pils and Münster Alt on draft, the festival is introducing the Merchant du Vin Organic Bottle Garden, featuring eleven bottled beers and cider from Pinkus in Germany and Samuel Smith from Yorkshire, England. The event also offers live local music, organic food and sustainability-oriented vendors and non-profits in a beautiful park setting. A kids area offers art activities, face painting and a root beer garden with complimentary Crater Lake Root Beer for minors (and designated drivers).

Festival attendees sample beer from reusable and compostable cornstarch cups made from domestically grown corn by a zero-waste, solar-powered company; volunteers receive organic cotton t-shirts ; food vendors are required to employ sustainable practices; and onsite recycling stations are provided for festival waste. More information on the festival is available here.