corvallis and albany, oregon - part 1
You hear a lot about the breweries in Portland, but there are many other Oregon towns that offer an impressive number of breweries per capita. I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Corvallis, about an hour and a half South of Portland. I thought there would be one or two good places for beer in a town of 50,000. Was I ever surprised when I started my research and came out with a long list of breweries and bottle shops. Not so surprising, I guess, when you take into account that Corvallis is home to Oregon State University, an international leader in the breeding and researching of hops. I couldn't make it to all the good beer on offer, but I gave it my best shot to hit as many as I could in a day and a night. Any time I am travelling, I do beer research first, and usually take along a beer book or two (as well as my beer notebook). For this trip I took Lisa Morrison's "Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest" as she had several entries for Albany and C...