Spring Beer and Wine Fest

as per the 2015 fest. None of the beers this year were THAT outstanding. They told us at the gate that we could use last years glasses. When we went in, the brewery volunteers told us that in a meeting that the directors told them we were not allowed. Why not? We were allowed in previous years! I understand that they have to make money but this was just poor customer service. Bad service to give us the run around. 2016 attendees should take note of this. I think I will skip next year.
agree with another reviewer: I didn’t come here to buy pillows or knives or a timeshare.
I will add an addendum later to let you know which brews scored high marks on our voting sheet. yes we are nerds we vote.
Please read previous review…

Call it what you will, but I’ll call it a lucky happenstance.
I wanted to go to Portland in April. Did I have friends there? No. Any real reason? Nope. I simply wanted to visit, and I randomly picked this weekend. I did forget about Easter Sunday, and the fact that that probably increased the plane ticket price. At any rate, I was checking out things to do the weekend we were coming down, and since my friend is a huge beer aficionado, it was like it was meant to be. We purchased advanced tickets for Saturday only, which I think was something like $ 20 for a plastic beer cup and 10 tokens.
The way the tables are set up is a bit… Not quite chaotic, maybe scattered is the right word. You’d find four beer vendors across from someone selling chocolates, or other knick knacks. And the things you could purchase there? Ridiculously expensive. I mean, why on earth would I pay $ 8 for a 5 ounce bag of candy that I could make at home for a fraction of the cost? And I kept seeing that price, across the board. Even if I had WANTED to make a purchase, there was no way the cost/​size could rationalize it to me. So we stuck with the free samples or token samples of things. It was pretty easy to ignore the vendors, so it wasn’t too annoying.
PROS:
Tons of local beers, liquors, and chocolates to sample.
Almost every candy, cheese, or chocolate vendor had samples. I had some cheese that literally made me want to cry, it was so delicious. Cypress Grove, Humboldt Fog.
They had a thing on Friday – first 500 folks got in for free.
I liked the Chef’s Seminar stage. We saw a panel with local Liquor purveyors, and they gave out free samples.
There was a station set up, where you could rinse out your glass between pours. Neat.
Plenty of table space. There were a bunch of tables near the food, restrooms, and along the sides.
Very friendly vendors. They would amicably chat with you, give you suggestions for breweries or places to check out.
Some people were very generous with their pours.
Easy to find the Convention Center. It has its own MAX stop.
Not very expensive. An early pass was about $ 20 for one day, with 10 tokens and a beer mug.
No obnoxious, fratty people. No screaming, drunken woo girls.
It was inside, so I avoided the sun. It’s a detriment to my pale skin, so I try to avoid it when I can.
Line waits weren’t very extensive, maybe as much as 5 minutes? It did seem to pick up after 12, though.
CONS:
Everything was scattered and mixed together. Beer vendors next to cider, cider vendors next to knick knack sellers, knick knack sellers next to chocolatiers.
There really were a ton of knick knack sellers. Like the previous reviews pointed out, over 50% of the space reserved went to them, and they were unavoidable.
The vendors were expensive, mostly charging $ 8 per container. (Though many did offer samples.)
Only 4 food options, which meant long waits in the line.
Not extremely varied, more breweries offered an IPA than anything else.
The Distilleries didn’t say what kind of liquors they were sampling on the map. In case you didn’t know, not every distillery that makes vodka is also going to make whiskey.
You have to pay cash for the food vendors. I think it would be nice if there were a few cheaper options/​samples of food we could get for a few coins.
THE VERDICT:
This was a very enjoyable experience, but it seems like each year, it is becoming more and more convoluted with extraneous vendors (based on other people’s reviews). I came here for the Wine & Beer, and on that front I’d say I wasn’t disappointed. There were a ton of local breweries, as well as more common, well-​established ones. I love that Portland is also home to its own liquor distilleries, as well. I enjoyed their Chef’s Tent, and liked that there were free samples and a discussion on their individual naming procedures. It was just interesting enough to hold my attention.
Now, I’m not really a beer person, but I still found this experience enjoyable. I tried a lot of beers I (of course) had never heard of, and I tasted some stuff I actually really enjoyed. Hmm, my favorites were the Blackberry Pear Cider, Raspberry Session Mead, and a dark beer that had a higher alcohol content and a hint of coffee in the taste.
I don’t see any point for anyone buying a multi-​day pass, in all honesty. You can check out a lot of vendors in only a couple of hours. I think we spent something like 2 – 3 hours here, wandering and sampling, and we didn’t even need to purchase any additional coins (though I did give my friend a few of mine). There was even a point (after the free liquor samples) when I was a bit tipsy. I’d rate this closet to 4.5 stars, but as someone experiencing local beer and food that I wouldn’t ordinarily get to try, I think rounding up to 5 stars is fair.

Every year is a bit of a hit and miss. There is typically not anything new at these events from your favorite breweries. There usually is something interesting from someone you’ve never heard of but good luck finding them again. I get super annoyed at all the stands that have absolutely nothing to do with beer or wine. I didn’t come here to buy pillows or knives or a timeshare for that matter. I bet 50% of the stands are not beer or wine related. Of course they’re strategically placed so you can’t even avoid them. If you must do this group them together so I never have to go there. The food options this year were very limited. I can’t believe you couldn’t find more food vendors. I think there were 4 stands this year? To make the best of the event come with friends.

Ummm where is all the beer??? Wow this has gone downhill. I don’t come to The Beer and Wine Festival to buy toys, dog leashes and time shares. When I move to Sonoma I won’t be flying back here for this one. Beyond Disappointed

This year it seemed that they added a few more hard cider vendors. I like the change up. Good beers, as usual, from the locals. Plenty of wine to choose from. Cheese and chocolates were represented as well. Free admission if you go early on opening day. I think this event beats the beerfest at the waterfront.

Portland is blessed with hosting several beer, wine, cheese, and liquor festivals every year, but this is one of my favorite ones to attend for a few reasons:
1) It’s at the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) so it’s always warm and dry regardless of the weather outside (which in late March is pretty dicey).
2) They have a TON of space and lots of breweries/​wineries, so even when it’s peak hours I’ve never seen really long lines for tastes. They say they are the «nation’s largest sampling related, springtime event» and given what I’ve seen for the past 2 years, I definitely believe it!
3) It’s been led by the same volunteer group (Steve Woolard et al.) for almost 20 years; it’s clear from meeting them that they find it a labor of love. Feel free to say hi next time you go (they’re usually at the info booth near the front if you want to say hi)
4) Not only is their selection of alcohol very respectable, their having local creameries, arts/​crafts, and other local food vendors (jerky, popcorn, fudge, etc) along with live music, that brings a lot more diversity to the event than your average BrewFest
5) Finally, being a volunteer there is awesome. In addition to free T-​shirt, free entry to show after your shift, free tasting glass, and free tasting tokens, if you work the final shift of the night all the volunteers get to partake in a huge tasting party (a couple pitchers of every beer is available to try for free).
In all, this is a great annual festival any everyone should at least try attending and/​or volunteering at least once!

Lots of good beer and cider, the cheese a small of a selection as it was, was super tasty! Great deal, love being able to taste so many different things!

I attended the yearly Spring Beer & Wine Fest’s 19^th celebration on 3÷30÷13 along with other fellow Unilocalers.
What will you find here?
BEER/​CIDER
*Blue Dog Mead’s Green Collar and Yellow Collar
*Burnside Brewing Co’s Sweet Heat
*Portland Cider Company
WINE
*Barefoot Wine’s Pink and Red Sparkling Moscato
*Kandarian Wine Cellars’ Blue Eye Sauvignon Blanc (*personal fave*)
*Nehalem Bay Winery’s Blackberry wine and Peach wine
DISTILLERIES
*New Deal Distillery’s Spicy Monkey
CHEESE
*Willamette Valley Cheese Company’s Cumin Gouda and Boerenkaas (*personal fave*)
CHOCOLATE
*Brevin’s Solid Gold Fudge (*caution* über sweet!)
Plus other vendors! Granted, I didn’t list every single vendor that was there, but listed what was memorable to me. You can find a full listing on their website:
After $ 8 admission fee and purchasing my wine glass $ 6 (other glasses range from $ 6 – 11 depending if its for beer or wine) and tokens ($ 1 each) this festival ain’t too shabby. If I’m still living here next year, I’d definitely attend!
Unilocal 2013 100 for 100 Challenge — Review #59

This is my 3^rd year going to this. Have a few complaints:
1. It’s expensive After paying an entrance fee, for a glass, they still want you to pay per taste. It ends up being like 35 – 40.00 a person. I might as well head to a pub and do some tasting.
2. A lot of the stands have nothing to do with beer and wine. I will excuse the chocolate and cheese stands… I get that. But hats and dog leashes? I get the feeling that they are just pushing to fill the space.
I do like that the lines aren’t overly long. Also is a super fun to meet friends at. I probably will go next year unless I can talk everyone into going to Toast the week before.

My words of wisdom for the Beer & Wine fest:
1) Come on Friday
2) Be one of the first 500 people in line before noon and get admission free. (normally $ 8)
3) Purchase a pretty legit tasting glass and LOTS of tokens
4) Drink up!
Tons of NW Wineries and Breweries dawned the OCC and since I came on Friday early… really no lines! It was great to try out many of the brews that you can’t get at local places here in Portland. Astoria Brewing had an excellent Bitter Bitch IPA, which was probably one of my favorites of the day.
Hard Ciders which I don’t normally drink were quite tasty.
Only tried out one wine which was a red blend (sorry, forgot what winery already… Zebra maybe?) but it was great.
Everything I had was quite good… except for the Shock Top Summer Shandy… I’ve had this beer before but the one at the fest seriously tasted watered down. WTH.
10 Barrell had a couple of great IPAs as well. Can you tell I’m an IPA fan?!
All of the folks at the booths were super friendly and some generous with their pours.
Plenty of food and snacks on site if you were hungry. I tried one of the booze balls which were interesting to say the least. Sort of like a mix between energy bar and booze. Hmm.
All in all had a fantastic time. Of course didn’t get to try out everything but certainly a good amount!

So. Much. Fun.
I’ve been to the winter ale fest at Pioneer Place a few times, and while I’ve enjoyed it just fine, it’s mostly been for the company I’ve kept. The Spring Beer and Wine Fest, however, was so much fun – and not just because of my friends.
We were in the first 500 attendees, so we had our admission comped ($ 8 more I got to spend on tokens for the booze). And I got a really cool glass commemorative beer stein, which cost $ 10. I only spent another $ 10 on tokens, which was good for me for the rest of the day. So, overall, I only spent $ 20 for about five hours of fun. Not too shabby.
I am self-​admittedly not a beer snob. In fact, I really don’t like beer unless I can see through it and most others refer to it as water. I tried some wine at first, but I found my calling in the hard ciders.
There were so many cider vendors from around the metro area and the state. My two favorites, by far, were the Two Towns Ciderhouse (located in Corvallis, OR) and the Portland Cider Co. (
). My favorite cider from Two Towns was the Bad Apple, and not just because the ABV was over 10%. It had a nice kick to it, but was sweet and refreshing. A perfect spring/​summer drink. They also had a Cherry version, called the Cherry Poppins Cider. It was a bit more tart, but still absolutely delicious.
The Portland Cider Co. had an amazing cider called «Sorta Sweet.» I think this was my hands down favorite drink of the day, which is why I spent four of my 10 tokens on it. It was crisp, refreshing and just down right delicious. They sell locally in a bunch of different stores like Zupans, etc., and they also make sales from their website. And they better watch out, because they’ve got a new fan.
All of the vendors I spoke with yesterday were incredibly friendly and chatty. I made a few new friends as I tasted and sampled, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There is a lot of delicious food and some other fun vendor booths (SO MUCH CHOCOLATE, YOU GUYS!). The Oregon Convention Center is a great venue, but given the weather, I wish it had been held outside.
If you’ve got some free time this Saturday, you better get your butt in gear and make it to the Beer and Wine Fest. You won’t regret it!

In a city full of beer festivals, this is a pretty damn good one. First — none of the crowding and long lines that has plagued OBF and Holiday Ale Festival recently. You aren’t waiting 20 minutes for a taste, maybe at most, 2 – 3 minutes.
While the beer variety may not be as huge (more Widmer/​Laurelwood, etc) there’s a LOT of beer choices. And wine, for those in to wine (not myself. There’s even distilleries with liquor samples — some free, some for tokens. Pretty much it’s the whole shebang alcohol-​wise.
The space is huge, minimal bumping into your fellow drunkites and a automatic mug washing station too!
There’s also a lot of food sample places — olive oil, dips, chips, pickles and JERKY. I was introduced to a delicous vendor called Bakke brothers and not only bought some at the fest, but have since ordered more. Including alligator jerky.
Also, my lady bought some more of that tasty dip mix from… somewhere. She knows it, I love it so we all win.
Final plus: The price has not changed since we started coming a few years ago, unlike pretty much any other festival ever at all. BONUS.

This was my first time at a beer and wine fest of any sort, and I had a blast. We got there early so we got in for free. There were pretty much no lines and tons of booths to visit (as it got later the place started to fill up, but it still wasn’t overly crowded). I wandered around sampling excellent locally-​made beer, wine, cider and bourbon and stuffing my face with cheese samples (seriously guys — the cheese samples were AMAZING). There was great live music and some entertaining cooking shows as well. I noticed quite a few families and adults of all ages. I left feeling a bit more knowledgeable (and let’s be honest, a bit drunk) and with a list of great beers to look for at my local liquor store.

This is my favorite beer fest in PDX, hands down, thumbs up and other happy hand gestures.
Why? It takes all those people that smoosh into OBF and the Holiday Ale festival and puts them in the Convention Center. By golly, you can MOVE AROUND. With ease even. It surely gets crowded but you’re not staring at someone’s armpit hair while waiting 20 minutes for a taster. Oh, there’s rarely lines for a beer either. The servers are quick and the beer is spread out throughout the entire room.
There’s a great variety of beers here — from the local giants Widmer to the smaller, but still well known Laurelwood, plus beer I’d never heard of. I will say this — hey Shock Top, don’t pretend you’re not brewed by Budweiser. Just saying. You ain’t foolin’ anyone pretending to be a microbrew :(
It’s still also still reasonably priced & you had lots of options for online deals this year too. Can’t say that about… any of the other brewfests around here.
I know it’s also the wine fest but I don’t have much to do with that grape stuff so I can’t comment much — except people seemed pleased with all the wine options and such.
Foodwise, there’s typical vendors of hot dogs (or in this case, chicken sausages), gyro’s and pizza. There was a lot of food vendors hawking their wares and sharing samples of popcorn, nuts & delicious food dips. Once again, y’all got me with those damned tasty food dips guys.
A mere 364 days left till next year (or around that time…)

Will come to this festival again. I went to the summer beer fest along the water and it was a little too crowded. You had to wait in very long lines to get a sample, and there were no seats or anything.
This one is at the convention center. Although it is nice to be outside, it is riskier to do this one outside in April. I had a blast. There were no lines to get your samples. We also found tables to sit down at and have lunch. They had a great selection of beer, and everyone was so friendly! They also had some great jewelry vendors, some food vendors (including people selling sauce, chocolate, olive oil) and more.
Didn’t try the wine, so I can’t comment there. I would definitely come back again for the beer, the nice people, and the nice entertainment.
a good tip: if you come early (they open at 12) you don’t have to pay an entrance fee. I think our group (4 people) saved 20 dollars because we were of the first 1000 people or something like that. Also, go on a Friday. This could have been one of the reasons why there were not long lines.

Whether you are a local, new in town or visiting Portland, the Spring Beer and Wine Festival is a great opportunity to check out many of its cultures. This festival offers a taste of everything, from food, beer, wine and spirits. It’s certain to please an array of enthusiasts whatever your passion or curiosity. The entrance fee is a minimal $ 5 mostly because they will tempt your impulse into buying one of the many glasses available for tasting. Unfortunately if you want beer and you will, they only serve it in the festival mug which is an additional $ 5. Next you’ll be required to buy tokens for a $ 1 each that allow vendors to serve you. Some tastes are 1 while others are 2 tokens; thankfully all tokens are good year to year.
Some standouts for me this year were Astoria Brewing’s Poop Deck Porter but certainly not because its name. Also Lost Coast Brewing showcasing a wheat beer with an addition of tangerine. Some new wineries on the scene were Eliana from the Rouge Valley and their Cab Franc as well as HV Cellars who had a very interesting Cabernet with a finish of orange peel.
This festival is especially good for those who can’t seem to agree on shared interests, it gives you a chance to discover new things together or split up and enjoy them on your own. There’s certainly enough alcohol to tolerate their company or if you indulge too much forget who they are. Being housed at the Oregon Convention Center offers the convenience to enjoy all regardless of the states temperamental weather. A bonus this year was scoring some swag from Don B. himself who looked a little enraged from his solitude inside a booth.

This was my first year at the spring beer and wine festival. I only drank beer so i can’t speak for any of the wine tastings. I was very impressed with the selection of beer they had. There were a few small breweries from Astoria that had the best beer in my opinion. Fire Mountain had one of the best stouts I have ever tasted and I’m not much of a stout fan. There was also a beer called bitter bitch IPA that was amazing. Both of the master brewers were giving the tastings. Most brewfests just have volunteers so it was really nice to be able to talk with the people making the beer.
The place was really open. Although there was a lot of people it didn’t feel too crowded. They had the blazers playoff game on a big screen. This was awesome! Everyone there was friendly and in good spirits. I had a great time and will be there next year for sure.

We thought it was nice, no more than that. The place itself is kind of a weird place to do it — we’d like it better if it was outside somewhere. We took the package for 2 for 40 $ and it was just enough for a lot of wine and beer sampling and some cheese and chocolate. Had some good beers, some good wines but the place itself wasn’t really nice to hang out in…

Great event! This is truly one of the best beer events I’ve ever attended. Lots of booths and tasters from breweries that are not just your usual suspects. You have the option of going with the plastic taster cup, or a real glass. I like bringing home a nice souvenir for the mantel.
The fact that the fest is held inside the comfy confines of the Oregon Convention Center, and that they also have wine and host of artisan food booths is a big plus. This is a wife/​girlfriend friendly event – not your typical dudebro, testosterone-​infused, rainy tent affair.
My wife had a great time while I loaded up on an amazing array of hard to find potables. There was an entire section of local distilleries in attendance. Good stuff.
I’ll be adding this one to my annual MUST list for sure.