Five Ways to Celebrate Fall near Portland, Oregon

 This story was originally published on my now-defunct website Coast to Prost on October 4, 2017.

The harvest season is upon us! Within an hour's drive in almost any direction, you can find a bounty of beverages, food and other products that are made with locally grown crops. Add in the beautiful natural scenery and lingering summer sunshine and you have the perfect recipe for enjoying fall in and around Portland.

Drink Some Fresh Hop Beers

Commercial hop production in the U.S. occurs primarily in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, thus making Portland and the Pacific Northwest an ideal place to sample these unique beers. Many breweries offer fresh hop beers only during the months of September and October as they are made with freshly picked hops. The harvest typically starts in late August and continues through mid-September. Brewers add the fresh or "wet" whole cone hops to the brew kettle, often on the same day they are harvested, to preserve the aroma and "green" flavor of the perishable flower.

Some breweries package their fresh hop offerings in limited edition bottles and cans. Beer bars often devote some or all of their taps to a rotating assortment of fresh hop beers from the region. There are also festivals dedicated to fresh hop beers and ciders. Plus you can always stop by your favorite bottle shop and ask what they have in stock.

Wherever you choose to imbibe, do it soon. These beers won't be around long and are intended to be consumed immediately.

Go Wine Tasting

The Willamette Valley harvest season typically starts in late August and ends by early October. It's a beautiful time of year to visit the region, as the vines begin to change from bright green to gold, competing with the trees already exhibiting their fall colors. The most common grape varietals are pinot noir, pinot gris, and chardonnay, but you can try many wonderful and unique wines from over 500 wineries located from Portland to Eugene. Many tasting rooms are still open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but be sure to check their website or call ahead to verify hours. Also check the calendar for harvest parties, winemaker dinners, and other fun fall activities.

Pick Your Own Fruit

Fall is the perfect time to visit the Hood River Fruit Loop, one hour east of Portland. Farms along Hwy 35 offer an abundance of apples, pears, pumpkins and gourds, some of which you can pick yourself. Farm stands feature fresh cider, apple butter and other locally made products. There are also many wineries and breweries in the area. Don't forget to stop by Cascade Alpacas of Oregon to visit their fluffy camelids!

Get Lost in a Maze

Just over 20 miles northwest of Portland, the largest island on the Columbia River is comprised primarily of farmland and a dedicated wildlife refuge. Sauvie Island is always a peaceful place for bicycling, hiking, boating and bird watching. But, in the fall, most people bring their family and friends to tackle one of the three corn mazes in addition to enjoying a multitude of pumpkin patches, hay rides, climbable hay pyramids, petting zoos, and other kid (and adult) friendly activities.

Go Leaf Peeping

The Pacific Northwest is known for its old-growth forests of coniferous Douglas firs and western hemlocks. The average age of these giant trees is 350 to 750 years old. They are beautiful to look at and walk among any time of year, as they are evergreens. For a few weeks in fall, you can also enjoy the colorful foliage of deciduous trees, which are primarily located in and around cities but can be found all over the state if you know where to go.

One of my favorite places for leaf peeping that's right here in Portland is Washington Park. Here you can experience a couple of unique outdoor spaces that are filled with fall color: Hoyt Arboretum and the Portland Japanese Garden. An added bonus is that you can visit the park without a car by using the free shuttle from the Washington Park MAX station. You'll still be walking a fair amount, but that's the best way to fully experience the beauty and solitude of these two natural attractions.

Another go-to spot is the Banks-Vernonia State Trail. This multi-use trail was the first in Oregon to repurpose an abandoned railway corridor. Located about 30 miles west of Portland, the 22.7 mile long trail is mostly level and is paved the entire length. It is suitable for wheelchairs, walking, bicycling, inline skating and horseback riding. In the fall, the lush greenery of Douglas firs contrasts with the vivid reds and yellows of the alder, ash, cottonwood and maple trees among other deciduous varieties. Don't miss the 80-foot-tall curving Buxton Trestle near the Buxton Trailhead.

Going Straight to the Source

A Weekend Class Inspires a Portland Beer Writer to Visit the Pilsner Urquell Brewery

This story was originally published on my now-defunct website Coast to Prost on September 26, 2017.

I didn’t plan to go to Plzeň -- Pilsen in German -- during my trip to Europe this summer. In fact, I was specifically focused on researching and exploring the emerging craft beer scene in the Balkans and eastern Europe. But when I had to find a way to get from Munich, Germany to Szczecin, Poland in early June, I realized that if I went by train I wouldn’t have to deviate too far off the most direct route to visit the world-famous Pilsner Urquell brewery. 

The seed of this idea was actually planted in my mind months before, when I attended OSU’s Origins of Beer Flavors and Styles course in mid-March. The two-day course covered everything from the sensory evaluation of beer to brewing techniques, ingredients, styles and defects. Pilsner Urquell was featured several times, in the fermentation lecture as well as the history of beer styles. Class attendees even got to sample representative beers and Pilsner Urquell was among them.

First brewed in 1842 at the newly built Burghers’ Brewery in Plzeň, the beer was created as a better tasting and higher quality alternative to the top-fermented dark ales that were widely available at the time. In addition, the brewery allowed the burghers (citizens) to retain control of the entire brewing and sales process, and to better compete in the local market. The meaning of the beer’s name is the same whether you use the German urquell or the Czech prazdroj; it translates as “pilsner from its original source.” This year is the 175th anniversary of the first batch of golden lager brewed in the Burghers’ Brewery. It was high time that I paid my respects at the birthplace of pilsner beer.

I entered the expansive Plzeňský Prazdroj complex through the historic Jubilee Gateway built in 1892 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Burghers’ Brewery. The complex includes a visitor center, souvenir shop, restaurant, beer garden, conference center and administrative buildings, along with the brewery and packaging hall. I showed up without a tour reservation which I don’t advise, especially during the busy summer months. The number of daily tours in English varies according to the season; there were four when I visited on a Monday in early June. However, the first tour was already fully booked, so I had to wait for the next available one that afternoon. After browsing around the visitor center and gift shop, I settled in for a pint in the beer garden and watched a steady stream of tourists entering the complex.

Finally it was time to meet up with the tour guide. Our group of almost 40 people included visitors from every continent except Antarctica. The tour started with our guide giving us a brief history of the brewery and a look at some important documents and awards from the late 1800s.

Our next stop was the 100 liter pilot brewery, which is used for training employees, testing ingredients, brewers experiments, and to make special batches like a beer for the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman. From there we took an environmentally friendly bus running on CNG (compressed natural gas) to the packaging hall. Completed in 2006, the 20,000 square meter building houses state of the art filtration and pasteurization technology, two new packaging lines capable of processing 120,000 bottles and 60,000 aluminum cans per hour, and a distribution warehouse.

The bus took us back to the learning center where we rode the largest passenger lift in the Czech Republic to a panoramic cinema and watched a film about Pilsner Urquell beer production as the floor rotated. Then we entered the sensory exposition hall which features hands-on exhibits of the special ingredients used in the beer including Czech barley malt, Žatec (Saaz) hops, soft water from Pilsen and special brewer’s yeast.

Next we entered the brewery, first admiring the early 20th century brewhouse with copper kettles dating back to 1931, then the modern one built in 2004. Below the brewery is an exhibit on the people (brewers, maltsters, coopers, etc.) that have had a hand in making Pilsner Urquell what it is today. I was amazed to see the original copper kettle in which the first batch of golden lager was brewed in 1842.

Finally we descended into the damp, cool underground cellars which comprise almost nine kilometers in length all together. The constant 7℃ year round temperature is perfect for lager fermentation in open wooden vats and maturation in oak casks. Since 1992, only a small amount of beer is made this way; the rest is kept in modern stainless steel and glycol-jacketed conical fermenters.

For me, the highlight of the tour was sampling unfiltered, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell tapped directly from an oak lager cask. This special beer is available exclusively to tour guests and those who participate in the brewery’s šalanda programs. It tasted completely different from the bottled version that’s available worldwide and also distinctly different from what I drank earlier in the onsite beer garden. Add to that the experience of drinking this unique beer in an underground cellar dating to 1839 while surrounded by massive 28 hectoliter barrels. It was surreal!

After emerging from the cold darkness of the tunnels, I couldn’t resist having another pint in the sunshine of the beer garden. While it was good, it didn’t compare to the freshness and sensory pleasure of drinking Pilsner Urquell straight from the source.

For more information and to book a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery, please click here: Plzeňský Prazdroj

Footnote

I was awarded a scholarship from Pink Boots Society to attend the Origins of Beer Flavors and Styles course. This article is part of my Pay-It-Forward obligation requiring scholarship recipients to pay forward the knowledge they gained from their scholarship course within six months of completing the course.

For more information about Pink Boots Society, please click here: https://www.pinkbootssociety.org/