Voting is now open for the latest category of The Oregonian’s Readers Choice Awards: the best beer brewed in Oregon.
Hundreds of readers took the time to nominate their favorite beer and determine our 10 finalists. You can vote once a day here or at the bottom of this post until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 15.
Barley Brown’s Pallet Jack IPA
Barley Brown’s Beer in Baker City offers a plethora of beers, including several IPAs, but our readers’ favorite is the Pallet Jack IPA. Barley Brown’s describes this frequent winner at the Great American Beer Festival as hoppy “with flavors of citrus, tropical fruit, and a little bit of pine.” 7.0% ABV
Block 15 Sticky Hands IPA
Back in 2017, Andre Meunier included Sticky Hands in his list of Oregon’s 10 most influential IPAs. The Corvallis brewery describes it as “an aromatic full throttled hop blast.” 8.10% ABV
Boneyard Beer’s RPM IPA
We last asked our readers to pick Oregon’s best beer a decade ago, and Boneyard RPM was the top pick. It also made Meunier’s list of the most influential IPAs. Boneyard’s website says, “There’s no mystery why RPM IPA has inspired a following, a culture, and a sizable number of tattoos. Born from our chop-shop roots, our flagship IPA can taste too good, too clean, too damn balanced to be true.” 6.5% ABV
Breakside IPA
Meunier really had his fingers on the pulse of our beer scene; this is another entry from his list of the most influential IPAs. Breakside Brewery’s website says, “This light copper beer has huge citrus and tropical fruit aromas, with hints of perfume and pine. Flavors like apricot, guava, and orange hit the tongue accompanied by a mild evergreen note. … This is really a showcase for the beautiful varieties of hops grown in the Northwest.” 6.7% ABV
Breakside Wanderlust IPA
Breakside is the only brewery with two beers among the finalists. Its website says this golden IPA is made with five different hops and describes the flavor as “intense grapefruit and dank notes with a crisp finish.” 6.4% ABV
Commensal Fermentation Pagarus European Lager
I’m taking a little bit of liberty here. Commensal received a bunch of nominations, but every one of them just listed the brewery, not a specific beer. I picked its Pagarus European Lager because that’s the first beer this relatively new brewery made. Commensal opened its brewery and taproom in North Portland just over a year ago in January 2024. 4.4% ABV
Fort George Vortex IPA
A team of eight journalists from The Oregonian/OregonLive ranked the top 50 beers in our state back in 2015, and this Astoria brewery had multiple beers on the list. “It’s a big, bitter, piney beer that seems like food after you’ve had two,” we said about the Vortex IPA. Fort George’s website says, “We designed Vortex IPA not to rip the taste buds off of your tongue, but rather vigorously stimulate your palate with lupulin ecstasy.” 7.2% ABV
pFriem Family Brewers recently opened a tasting room in downtown Milwaukie.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
pFriem Pilsner
pFriem Family Brewers’ flagship beer, the award-winning Pilsner is the best selling craft pilsner six pack in America, according to co-founder and CEO Rudy Kellner. Tasting notes on pFriem’s website say the Pilsner has “aromas of fresh grass, spring flowers, with a touch of lemon zest quaffs from the glass. The mouth fills with zesty spiciness, a touch of honey, and finishes crisp, snappy, and refreshing.” The Hood River brewery recently opened a new taproom in Milwaukie’s former city hall and fire station where the pilsner is poured through a decommissioned fire pole. 4.9% ABV
Rogue Pacific Northwest IPA
Headquartered in Newport, Rogue has six pubs in Oregon. Its website describes its Pacific Northwest IPA as dank and piney. “The golden straw hue shimmers, inviting a sip of bold, nature-inspired flavors — a proper tribute to the region’s evergreen spirit,” it says. 6.9% ABV
Von Ebert Brewing Volatile Substance IPA
This IPA was named The Oregonian/OregonLive’s 2019 Beer of the Year. “This robust West Coast IPA has a subtle but strong malt character and sturdy hoppiness throughout — without stepping into the overly bitter zone. It’s zesty with a touch of fruity sweetness, dry and dank with notes of pine. And it pulls it all together in exquisite balance,” said Meunier. 6.9% ABV
Vote Here
You can vote once a day until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 15.
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
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