Top 10 Breweries in Oregon
Oregon has more breweries per capita than any other American state — a distinction maintained for over a decade. The state's brewing culture grew from a combination of the Pacific Northwest's hop-growing heritage (the Willamette Valley is one of America's primary hop-producing regions), a culture of independent business and sustainability, and the Portland metropolitan area's density of educated, quality-conscious consumers. The result is a scene of extraordinary breadth — from German-tradition farmhouse ales to aggressive Pacific Northwest IPAs to some of America's most celebrated sour programs.
1. Deschutes Brewery, Bend
Deschutes was founded in 1988 in Bend — at a time when Bend was a small timber town rather than the outdoor recreation hub it has since become — and has grown to be one of Oregon's largest craft breweries and one of the most nationally distributed Pacific Northwest brands. Black Butte Porter, the flagship since opening day, is consistently one of the best-selling porter beers in the United States. Obsidian Stout, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Fresh Squeezed IPA (a hop-forward ale with Citra and Mosaic) complete a core range of unusual breadth and consistency. The annual Abyss Imperial Stout — a barrel-aged imperial stout in limited release since 2006 — is one of the Pacific Northwest's most anticipated yearly releases.
2. Cascade Brewing, Portland
Cascade is America's most celebrated specialist sour brewery. Founded in 1998 in Portland and developing its sour program from around 2006, Cascade produces barrel-aged sour ales using a variety of local Oregon fruits — marionberry, apricot, peach, honey, and cherry — alongside the spontaneous and mixed-culture fermentation techniques that produce complex, wine-like sourness. The Kriek (cherry lambic-inspired), Apricot, and Barrel House Blueberry are the most acclaimed products. Cascade's Barrel House in Portland's Lents neighborhood is one of the Pacific Northwest's great craft beer destinations — an atmospheric space surrounded by barrels, with a view of the operations and a rotating menu of current and library releases.
3. Breakside Brewery, Portland and Milwaukie
Breakside has built a reputation for outstanding IPAs and genuine stylistic range across its Portland and Milwaukie operations. The Breakside IPA and the annual Wanderlust IPA (fresh-hop) are the flagships; the Passionfruit Sour, seasonal lagers, and experimental releases demonstrate a brewery that takes the full craft spectrum seriously. Breakside won Small Brewing Company of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival in 2016, the most competitive category in American craft brewing awards.
4. pFriem Family Brewers, Hood River
Hood River, on the Columbia River Gorge at the foot of Mount Hood, is one of Oregon's best scenically situated brewery locations. pFriem (pronounced "freem," after founder Josh pFriem) produces Belgian-influenced ales, pilsners, and IPAs with unusual technical precision. The Pilsner, Belgian Blonde, and IPA are among Oregon's more careful executions of their respective styles. The Hood River brewpub and views of the Columbia are among the Pacific Northwest's more compelling brewery experiences.
5. Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland
Hopworks is Portland's organic brewing specialist — all ingredients are certified organic, and the brewery has operated on renewable energy since opening. The HUB Lager, Organic IPA, and the seasonal and experimental organic range have maintained quality while growing distribution across Oregon and Washington. The Vancouver Avenue brewpub is a Portland institution.
6. Boneyard Beer, Bend
Boneyard, founded in 2010 in Bend, produces the RPM IPA — a West Coast IPA that has become one of Oregon's most widely sold craft beers through a combination of hop intensity, technical consistency, and wide distribution. The Metal series of double IPAs and various specialty releases round out a range focused primarily on hop-forward styles. Boneyard's Bend location places it in direct proximity to Deschutes, creating a paired destination that has made Bend one of Oregon's premier beer tourism cities.
7. Hair of the Dog Brewing, Portland
Hair of the Dog is Portland's most philosophically distinctive brewery. Founded by Alan Sprints in 1994, it produces a range of high-gravity, complex, and deliberately hard-to-pigeonhole beers — Fred (a barleywine-adjacent strong ale), Adam (a dark strong ale based on the pre-Prohibition Adambier style of Dortmund), and Doggie Claws barleywine — that are cellar candidates with years of aging potential. Hair of the Dog was a formative influence on the American interest in high-gravity bottle conditioning before the barrel-aging trend.
8. Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Hood River County
Logsdon, operating from a farmstead south of Hood River, produces Belgian-influenced farmhouse ales using estate-grown hops and local ingredients. The Seizoen Bretta (a saison with Brettanomyces), Cerasus (a sour cherry-conditioned farmhouse ale), and Seizoen are among Oregon's best expressions of Belgian farmhouse style. The farmstead context is genuine — Logsdon operates a working farm that provides ingredients for the brewing.
9. Ex Novo Brewing, Portland
Ex Novo is Portland's best-known faith-based nonprofit brewery — founded in 2014 with a commitment to donating 100% of profits to charities serving vulnerable populations. The Eliot IPA and various seasonal beers are produced to high technical standards, and the brewery's commercial success has provided substantial charitable giving. Ex Novo demonstrates that craft beer can serve explicit social purposes beyond the immediate community of drinkers.
10. Block 15 Brewery, Corvallis
Block 15, based in Corvallis near Oregon State University, has developed a reputation for exceptional barrel-aged and farmhouse ales alongside a core range of well-made accessible beers. The Sticky Hands Double IPA and the Figgy Pudding series of barrel-aged winter beers are the most celebrated products. The Corvallis taproom and the brewery's relationship with the university community give it both a consistent local audience and a pipeline of technically literate drinkers.
Explore on the map
Oregon's breweries cluster in Portland and Bend with outposts across the Willamette Valley and Columbia River Gorge. Open the map to plan your Oregon brewery itinerary and find the taprooms and public house locations across one of America's most brewery-rich states.