TAPPING INTO A REVOLUTION: HOW PROVINCIALISM AND LOCAL HOP PRODUCTION INFLUENCE THE CRAFT BEER CULTURE IN OREGON
Miles Hegg and Dakota Dorn
What started as research that didn’t seem to have much depth and perhaps an excuse to drink good beer, turned out to be quite possibly the most perfect time and place to be studying what we were—Hops and Craft Beer. From the first beer at Solstice Wood Fire Café & Bar in Hood River to the last sip at Base Camp Brewery in Portland, we made discoveries that unveiled ideas in the state of the art topic of Beer Geography. We encourage you to pour yourself a glass of your favorite craft brew and follow us in our research—a journey of tapping into a revolution.
In the 1854, United States hop production was concentrated in four counties in central New York. By 1920, hop production had migrated through the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest—nearly eliminating production on the East Coast. The purpose of this research project is to analyze the historical progression of hop production in this era to provide support to the present craft beer “revolution” in Oregon. In the 1970s, Oregon experienced a cultural movement towards locally made products, and this fostered the development of the state’s craft beer industry. The passing of the Oregon Brewpub Law in 1985 permitted the production and sale of craft beer from one location. To better understand the connection between the migration of hop production, the emergence of craft beer culture, and the particularly provincial nature of the culture, we used Wes Flack’s concept of neolocalism as our guide and historical archives, present day literature, and on-site interviews with brew masters, brewpub owners, hop farmers, and Oregonian beer enthusiasts to examine the ways that craft beer thrives on the geographical ties to ‘place’, thus making local hop production a key factor in the growth of Oregon’s craft beer industry.
Miles Hegg and Dakota Dorn
What started as research that didn’t seem to have much depth and perhaps an excuse to drink good beer, turned out to be quite possibly the most perfect time and place to be studying what we were—Hops and Craft Beer. From the first beer at Solstice Wood Fire Café & Bar in Hood River to the last sip at Base Camp Brewery in Portland, we made discoveries that unveiled ideas in the state of the art topic of Beer Geography. We encourage you to pour yourself a glass of your favorite craft brew and follow us in our research—a journey of tapping into a revolution.
In the 1854, United States hop production was concentrated in four counties in central New York. By 1920, hop production had migrated through the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest—nearly eliminating production on the East Coast. The purpose of this research project is to analyze the historical progression of hop production in this era to provide support to the present craft beer “revolution” in Oregon. In the 1970s, Oregon experienced a cultural movement towards locally made products, and this fostered the development of the state’s craft beer industry. The passing of the Oregon Brewpub Law in 1985 permitted the production and sale of craft beer from one location. To better understand the connection between the migration of hop production, the emergence of craft beer culture, and the particularly provincial nature of the culture, we used Wes Flack’s concept of neolocalism as our guide and historical archives, present day literature, and on-site interviews with brew masters, brewpub owners, hop farmers, and Oregonian beer enthusiasts to examine the ways that craft beer thrives on the geographical ties to ‘place’, thus making local hop production a key factor in the growth of Oregon’s craft beer industry.