Portland Fruit Beer Festival

I love Portland for having something like this — a top quality fruit beer fest — but they need to get a bigger space and find maybe a couple more breweries to join in. I was really excited to try lots of different beers but only ended up getting 2 because I didn’t want to have to wait in the obnoxiously long lines. My friends and I got overwhelmed fast. Great idea! But didn’t work out as I had hoped.

Ugh, I think it’s about time for me to part ways with this festival. It’s grown too fast & the organizers have tried to rectify the situation but failed.
They expanded to the mechanic shop parking lot this time, which created more places to stand. However, you could not carry beer between the two areas because the sidewalk was open. I’m sure it was a permit thing, but it made NO SENSE.
The price, in theory, has not increased past the $ 20 fee. This isn’t really true anymore because there were a lot less single ticket beers and a ton of 2 – 3 ticket beers instead.
Despite the expanded space, it was still a clusterfuck. Super bad line organizations, and insanely slow lines as. We waited in one line for 25 minutes for no obvious reasons. There are too many taps smooshed into the main tables — they would have done well to break up the taps and spread out the lines so people weren’t standing in lines unsure of if they’re in the right place.
I can’t even comment on the beers because I was so frustrated. Two stars because they have tried to work out the kinks, but in the end, it’s just too busy to enjoy it.

Cigarettes galore, and lines. Jeez. Very poorly organized, and the freaking cigarettes were overpowering.

I love beer. I think I love fruit beer. I did not even *like* the Portland Fruit Beer Festival.
Maybe it’s me, but I like my beer festivals to take place in expansive spaces with green grass to sit on and enough space between me and the person next to me that I don’t opt to sit next to a backed up sewer drain to catch my breath.
Alas, this festival is anything but. It’s a parking lot with more people than the fire marshal would allow if it had a roof. Wait, it’s about the beer, right? That’s what I thought too. I think I had 6 – 7 different beers and only one was drinkable. No, this is not beer snob crap. This is, wow… someone actually decided to keg this stuff crap. Our entire crew, who have been around the block a few times, were thoroughly disappointed with the experience.
On the plus side, there were no lines for porta-​potties… but I think that’s cause everyone was always stuck in line.

Overcrowded, crappy beer. No thanks.
If your idea of a good time is being stuck shoulder to shoulder with strangers for bad beer, this festival might be for you.
We had some friends in town so we figured this would be a fun afternoon event. How wrong we were. The setup requires you to pretty much stay in one of about 20 different lines for your entire stay if you drink faster than a 5^th grader (4oz pours, 10 minute wait…). If you want a different beer than your friends, you’re not even going to be talking to them. And you’re going to be cooking in the summer sun the entire time.
This could be a decent festival if it were in a larger facility and someone with some taste screened the beers before allowing them to come.
We couldn’t leave fast enough and will not be back unless I hear drastic changes have been made.

Such good fruit beer here. For $ 20, you get 12 tickets and a glass pint glass. In California, the brewfests have more beer and more tastings, but its harder to find good beers and people mostly go to get drunk and try out some new beers. At the Portland Fruit Festival, it seems to be more about the beer. No one is overly drunk since they limit tastings, but almost every beer was delicious and I hadn’t seen it before.
You definitely want to stick with the rare beers and the barrel aged beers.

I have patronized many different beer festivals in the Portland area over the years, and this by far –was the worst. Some of the beers tasted RANCID. I kid you not. Yes, I have tasted many, tart, sour, and regular fruit ales over my lifetime
The lines were long, as they sold too many tickets –or let too many people attend Saturday, 7, 204. Shade provided for about ¹⁄₅ of the crowd, and by crowd I mean similar to sardines standing in the sun on a warm day. If this your cup of tea, then this beer fest is for you. I am more accustomed to ample shade for all attendees, more room to move about, and strict warnings of buying RANCID tasting fruit ales.
Nothing more to note, other than, I won’t be back.

Still not a well run festival.
Running out of beers, long lines with bad crowd management, few 1 ticket beers compared to the number of 2 and 3 ticket ones, not enough volunteers/​servers for the number of taps slowing down the lines, many warm and under carbonated beers.
For the number of people attending (less than many other festivals in Portland) the lines are longer than at most other festivals and move slower, and I’ve been to almost all of them. When 90% of the crowd there is in a line for beer rather than talking and enjoying themselves while enjoying a beer or a taste somewhere else, things aren’t being run smoothly.
I hope they improve.

I’ve been to this festival since their start and my oh my has it improved! This is my favorite festival of all beer fests in Portland. I cannot get enough of the unquie flavors and combinations.
The cucumber ale I had last year was phenomenal! I have never tasted anything so crisp and refreshing.
I don’t understand why people complain about lines and wait times! This is a beer fest and you are in Portland, lots of people are going to show up! Make the most of the day and the time you have to spend in line. Make friends with the people you are in line beside, discuss what you’ve tried with others, give recommendations to others of what beer is worth waiting for in line, it will make time pass so much faster, I promise you! I might have stood in line for 30 minutes for a beer but I don’t remember because I had so much fun talking with others and sipping on some good beers!
Come drink and enjoy these unique brews!

This was the 3^rd year of this festival and I finally was able to attend. I volunteered to pour beer for the last 3 hours of the festival and it was a lot of fun! There were so many people and the weather was perfect. I was always pouring for someone, but didn’t feel like there was much of a line and if there was, we got through it really fast. After my volunteer shift, we were allowed to try some of the beers since we weren’t able to try them earlier. There were so many unique beers! I really like the red beer, it was almost like a bloody mary. I also enjoyed the cucumber beer, I thought it was really refreshing on a hot day. Next year, I would love to attend this festival as a volunteer and also a regular attendee!

After 3 years, this festival has its ups and downs. I love fruit beer and will definitely continue to go as long as the festival exisits. There is a wide variety of beers to choose from and some can only be found at the festival. The fact that you get a nice tall beer glass instead of those annoying plastic mugs is a nice touch.
Every year that I have gone there are always some changes and inconsistencies; some good and some bad. The first year back in 2011 was alright. There were plenty of breweries to sample from and the rare beers were located next to the restaurant. That area was great because there was more room to walk around and it was shaded in the room. Around 2 or 3 The place was a zoo and it was very hard to navigate.
2012 more beers were available and the rare beers were located at the other side of the brewery. I stayed longer because of the more options available plus I was with great company. Like the year before, it would get very crowded and that would signal for me to head on out. Plus I had brunch earlier so I was able to sample most of the beers on tap.
2013 this year was pretty laid back for the most part. I noticed not many sponsors were not present like in the past nor was there no bands either. The DJ played some decent tunes but wasn’t overtly too loud either. The rare beers were next to the other beers so the lines were a little confusing at times. Plus like the other years, it was hard to tell if people were in line or just mingling in general. The same vendors were present as always so that hasn’t changed. I noticed that some beers on tap were 2 tickets unlike the previous years where most were just 1 except with the rare beers.
I hope for the future years it will be expanded outside of Burnside Brewery’s parking lot. This festival will continue to grow as fruit beer has seen a surge in popularity over the years. The $ 20 admission fee may be steep for some, but it is worth checking out if you go early on or late in the evening. Cucumber and apricot beer is still calling my name…

Checked out the event on Saturday, arrived about 5. It was packed. Glad they quartered off 7^th Ave for additional space. Sun was shining, very warm, but enjoyable overall. A really unique event with enough variety in beers to please any taste. I definitely got my fill with 12 tickets and the glass is something I will keep for a while. Definitely recommend, particularly if the weather is nice.
Pros: Incredible beer selection, lines were long but moved quickly, great value, friendly servers, good food selections and a generally nice crowd.
The space was pretty crowded, but thinned out by 6 or 7. Having all the beers in one area made lines long, but I’m not sure where they could have split it up to break up the lines. They did the best with what they had. Definitely could have used some more shaded area, especially considering how hot it was. The Boltbus took up a lot of space, but helped with sponsorship.
Best beers: The Commons Bier Royale, 10 Barrel Cucumber Crush, Deschutes Currant Event.

Loved the vast selection of interesting beers but the lines were long and it was hard to find shade from the sun, or a place to sit. My biggest complaint was the music which was played way too loud and with too much bass. I wanted to hang out and relax, not have my ears blasted.
Anyway, the reason we were here was to try the beers. By far, the standout for me was 10Barrel’s Cucumber Crush, followed by Breakside’s Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie and Oakshire Brewing Gose.

This was my first time at the Portland Fruit Beer Fest and it did not disappoint.
The price was reasonable for the number of tickets you received and the keepsake glass was pretty great; there was no line to get in when I arrived. Long lines for beer were found, which were expected however annoying when you couldn’t find where the line end and where people were just hanging out. Perhaps queue posts would have been nice like they do at Holiday Beer Fest. I’d agree with other reviewers, it would have been nice to have more shade and seating. Perhaps if they sold a one day pass and you had to pick either day that could minimize the number of people at once. Or if they had 2 different sections to get beer that would break up the long lines in such a small space.
Stand out beers: 10 Barrel Cucumber Crush, Crooked Stave Wild Wild Brett Violet, Stone Ruination IPA Tropical Heat
Where was Cascade?!

I love smaller festivals for avoiding the lines. I think I only had to wait in one line all day. I had mixed opinions on the beer — I really like that you get a lot of interesting beers that might otherwise not make an appearance at other fests. There was also more variety than expected — a couple nice chocolate/​fruit stouts, lagers, an IPA, straight-​up fruit beers, and oddly enough only 2 ciders. A wide variety of fruits were represented — huckleberry, strawberry rhubarb pie, chocolate orange, chilis, black current, apple (in a wheat beer!), and several others.
I didn’t have anything that absolutely floored me, but certainly had more good beers than bad ones. A handful of food vendors, live music, and a reasonable $ 20 entry with a glass and 12 tickets certainly helped.
One question: WHERE WAS CASCADE?

Interesting flavors, spend the extra 5 bucks for vip, well worth it to avoid the crowd and get access to an extra set of taps

This is my first year attending this festival, but it definitely seems like they’ve worked out the kinks from last year. We went on Sunday afternoon and stayed until closing and didn’t experience a single problem. It was crowded, but not so much that we weren’t able to get a seat when we wanted one, and there were practically no lines for the beers. I think only one of the beers ran out by the time we were there, and we were able to sample everything we wanted. $ 20 for a glass and 12 tickets was perfect for two people to share, although we did end up buying a few more tickets for the rare beers. Many local breweries were well represented, as were the various varieties of fruit beers. They ran the gamut from Hefeweizen to stout and everything in between, and the offerings beautifully showcased the versatility of fruit beers. There was music, food trucks as well as Burnside Brewing offering eats & treats. Since the weather cooperated, it was a wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

What a great festival! I didn’t go last year but it sounds like they definitely took care of the issues. They held it outside this time — great call. It’s very similar to the international beer fest. No lines for most tastings (I came Sunday afternoon) — the longest line was maybe 8 people deep. (Although that line did get longer later in the day.) I didn’t have any issue with beers running out… and I was there until about 3pm on Day 2. Free entry; $ 20 for a mug and 12 tickets — most tastings were 1 ticket and a few were 2. Beer was innovative — some great, others not so much, but totally worth it. Great food offerings from Eight-​oh-​eight, Toast, and Fifty Licks. Definitely coming back next year!!!

I’m seriously going to have to get there earlier next year. I had to wait for about 45 minutes in the line to get in and even though I got there fairly early they still had run out of some of the beers in the program. I would suggest holding the event at another venue for more space. I will have to say the beers were fairly good though. I heard Sunday was less crowded. I’m pretty sure this was the first year of this fest Brittany.

So, so disappointed. My boyfriend and I got there at 7 on Saturday (I would have been there at 11, when it opened, but I had obligations) and it was packed! And the layout of the space was not done well; lines were running into tables and causing a major cluster-f*ck. What was such a bummer though was pretty much all the beers were gone. I think there were maybe five or six outside, and most of those were fill-​ins from Burnside Brewery (the host). I really want to give the organizers props for having a great idea and it was only the second year this festival has been occurring, but come on. It’s Beervana. You have got to know that a lot of people are going to show up! It’s really not cool to have run out of beer so soon. Always be over prepared in a situation like this! It’s not like the kegs that don’t get tapped won’t go bad by the end of the day, so order way more next year! My boyfriend and I were encouraged to go into the brewery for dinner and drinks if we weren’t happy with the beer selection. So we did, and the prices at Burnside Brewery are astronomical. I know I’m supposed to be reviewing the festival, but since BB was the host, I had to mention that.
Factoids: Saturday 11am — 9pm, Sunday 11am — 6pm.
$ 15 for a tasting glass and 10 drink tickets. Couples package: $ 25 for two glasses and 15 tickets. $ 1 a ticket. Free for non-​drinkers.
So good on paper… but that paper imploded. Better luck next year! If I’m not busy I think I’ll try it again.