Portland International Beerfest


Portland International Beerfest is a three-day beer festival held annually at the North Park Blocks in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The festival was founded in 2001 by Rick Carpenter. The festival specializes in unique beers including Barley Wines, Imperial Stouts, Double IPAs, Barrel Aged Strong Ales, Farmhouse Saisons, and Sour Ales sourced from brewers worldwide. The event also includes live music and local food trucks.

Introduction

The Portland International Beerfest is an annual festival of beers in Portland, Oregon, and is a three-day long event held around late June and has a sister festival located in Seattle around the same time of year.
The PIB is a beneficiary of Pet Cross, a federally registered charity.
Each year the beer festivals donate roughly $20,000 to local area animal welfare groups in Portland and Seattle.
The PIB specializes in rare, hard-to-find, exotic beers from 16 countries, and also features unique and experimental pours from local breweries in the Pacific Northwest. Food is provided by local food trucks and there are activities and performances by local artists for entertainment.

Attending the Festival

The PIB is free entry for anyone aged 21 or older, and dogs are also welcome. In order to sample beers, attendees can purchase tickets online or at the door. These tickets can be reimbursed for samples, and all beers cost between 1 and 7 tickets. Visitors are also given a wristband and a four-ounce sampling cup, both of which are required for re-entry on any day of the festival.

History

Incidents

There are no reported incidents. In 2015, the organizers took extra precautions to make sure visitors would be hydrated and comfortable, in efforts to lower the chances for health risks to occur. They went on to get 900 feet of hose, 5 jumbo misting sprinklers and 14 jumbo fans that were put on the ends of every single beer tent. Experts with the CDC warn that drinking alcohol in the heat can be a dangerous combination, and in the triple-digit weather Portland was facing that summer, hydration and a cool environment were a top priority.

News and Media Coverage

In the past several years, the PIB has been advertised and reviewed in local newspapers, but it appears to have not reached any news sources outside of the Portland area. On the official PIB website, there are links that direct to their social media accounts and Yelp page. The PIB has had an active Twitter account since 2011, a Facebook page since 2012, and their first Yelp review was posted in 2011.