ROSE FESTIVAL KICKS OFF – SEE LIFE, B1 PortlandTribuneTHURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY ■ Portland beer pioneers built buzz that revolutionized industry Water plan swamped; city pledges to change Voters turn county over to Kafoury, return most incumbents to offi ce The Tribune Mayor Charlie Hales admits he was surprised by the lopsided defeat of the proposed Portland Public Water District at Tuesday’s Ben Dobler election. It lost by a 3-to-1 margin. of Widmer But Hales says that does not mean the City Council can return to business as usual when it Brothers stirs comes to running the Water Bureau and the Bu- a tank at the reau of Environmental Services. brewery’s pilot “I heard throughout the campaign that Port- location at the landers want us to improve the management of the Moda Center. water and sewer bureaus. I think the margin of victory means they trust us to do a better job, but we have to deliver,” Hales said as he watched the results in a Pearl District sports bar. After the outcome was Story by Jennifer Anderson clear, Hales reaffirmed Photos by Jonathan House that he will appoint a blue City toasts ribbon commission to study options for increas- isa Morrison remem- “Beer O’Clock!” and author and ing public oversight of the bers when a customer co-author of several books about two bureaus, including some proposed before and came into her bar dur- Portland and Pacifi c Northwest during the campaign by the City Club of Portland, L ing a recent remodel craft brews. 30 YEARS the Portland Business Alliance and others. Al- and asked if he could take a pa- She’s also a founder of Oregon of though Hales did not set a deadline for appointing tio set home. Craft Beer Month, Portland Beer the commission, he said it would happen soon. She told him it was free, to Week (see sidebar) and other Measure 26-16 would have handed control of the please take it. events. bureaus to a new utility district led by an elected She couldn’t resist asking Just a few years ago, Portland board. Backers of the measure, bankrolled largely why he wanted it. was home to about 30 breweries; CRAFT BEER by major water users, argued that city offi cials “He had proposed now it’s grown to were lavishly spending on utility projects, and us- to his girlfriend at 53, more than any ing water and sewer ratepayers’ money as a slush that very table,” says other city in the fund to pay for unrelated pet projects. The opposi- Morrison, owner of world. As the Rose tion campaign organized by Hales portrayed the Belmont Station in City’s craft beer in- measure’s supporters as corporate polluters and Southeast Portland, dustry turns 30 this other special interests. In TV ads and campaign which bills itself as year, Portland mailings, it stressed that the new district was un- Portland’s premiere brewers, bartend- likely to reduce water and sewer rates. beer destination. ers and beer enthu- “That’s what’s so siasts are celebrat- See ELECTION / Page 5 special about beer. WIDMER BROTHERS, 198 4 ing with festivals, It’s not just a bever- special releases, To come age. It’s our social lubricant. food pairings and plenty of other Mayor Charlie Especially in Portland, it’s a events. All in the name of educa- Hales celebrated thread of our community that tion, of course. Tuesday night as is so important.” There’s also a lot of refl ection voters rejected Morrison has been watching on how far the craft brew indus- an independent the beer scene in Portland since try has come, and where it might water district the 1990s, as one of the fi rst beer be headed next. proposal by a columnists, then blogger for “A lot of us really didn’t know wide margin. beergoddess.com, then host of BridgePort brewmaster Jeff Edgerton pours a pint of their special release TRIBUNE PHOTO: the radio and podcast show See BEER / Page 2 Trilogy # 2 IPA. The series commemorates 3 0 years of microbrews. ADAM WICKHAM County’s ‘04 gambit set historic course Diane Linn and three colleagues one another. Each seems to sa- Anna Rigles and Commissioners on agreed to allow Oregon’s first vor the role she played in the her wife, Sarah, ‘right side of history’ same-sex marriages in March long march for marriage equali- hold hands with 2004. More than 3,000 gay and les- ty in Oregon. their 4-year-old in gay marriage fi ght bian couples tied the knot, only “It takes bold decisions along twins, Tristan to have the marriages nullifi ed the way, in any movement, to and Liam, after By STEVE LAW when voters approved a constitu- open peoples’ eyes about what is getting married The Tribune tional amendment banning gay possible in the world,” says Monday marriage that November. Linn, refl ecting on the series of afternoon at As jubilant same-sex mar- Linn and her three female col- events in 2004. “I think what we the Melody riage supporters gathered leagues took a lot of heat for did 10 years ago was part of it, Ballroom. The Monday at Portland’s Melody their 2004 actions. Some even and it’s come full circle.” Rigles bought Ballroom to savor a big court blamed them for causing a voter “It is long overdue that all Or- their wedding victory, standing in the shad- backlash that resulted in the egonians will be able to marry dresses early in ows were four former county constitutional amendment. the person they love,” says Ser- the day and had commissioners who thrust After U.S. District Judge Mi- ena Cruz Walsh, one of the for- them altered by the issue into the public lime- chael McShane overturned the mer county commissioners. 2 p.m. in time to light here a decade ago. constitutional amendment Mon- “The public had to move to get married. With little advance notice and day, the four women showed up where the rights are, and the no public hearings or public vote, at the Melody Ballroom — spon- TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ former Multnomah County Chair taneously, without consulting See MARRIAGE / Page 4 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to deliver Portland Tribune balanced news that refl ects the stories of HAWKS LOOK TO FUTURE our communities. Thank you for reading our — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B8 newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR 65 MILLION YEARS IS A LONG TIME TO WAIT. DON’T MISS THEM THIS SUMMER. 468510.052114 A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, May 22, 2014 Drink up! It’s party time for Beer: Roll out barrel for 30th anniversary city’s Beer Week ■ From page 1 choice, even choosing to remain local when they could be selling Portland is home to a regionally. whopping 29 beer festivals what the heck we were doing “We don’t really care if our at last count, but summer- back then,” says Ben Dobler, beer is being drunk in New York time is peak season. brewing innovation manager for or the Midwest,” says McKean June 5 to 15 is Portland the Craft Brew Alliance, which Banzer-Lausberg, one of four co- Beer Week, a 10-day cele- includes Widmer Brothers owners of Northeast Portland’s bration created in 2011 to Brewing, Redhook Brewery, Ko- Migration Brewing, which “explore the boundaries and na Brewing Co., Omission (Wid- marked its four-year anniversa- the things that make us mer’s gluten-free beer) and ry in February. great with fun, unique and Square Mile, a cider brand that Migration is on track to pro- educational events that take launched in Portland last year. duce 1,500 barrels this year place all over the city with “Now we’re spoiled,” Dobler (compared to 253,000 barrels the best in restaurants, adds. “We have expectations. shipped by Widmer last year, breweries, bars, retail New breweries that open up not including their contract stores, bottle shops and can’t make mediocre beer. It has brewing). more,” the organizers say. to be top-notch, because others Migration sells half of its kegs Even before Beer Week have set the bar pretty high.” and draft beers on site, and dis- begins, there is a Cheers to Portland not only reigns su- tributes the other half to about Belgian Beers celebration preme in number of brewpubs, 100 restaurants, bars and shops set for May 30 (5 to 9 p.m.) but is the country’s largest mar- in Portland. and May 31 (noon to 8 p.m.) ket for India Pale Ale, which has They don’t work with a dis- at Metalcraft Fabrication, grown to be the largest category tributor, and don’t sell Migration 723 N. Tillamook St. The in the craft brew market. Craft outside Portland. eighth-annual festival will brews are still just 7 percent of “As we travel around the re- celebrate 56 beers from 50 all beer sold. gion, there are people making brewing companies. Tickets Portland is the only city that TRIBUNE PHOTOS: JONATHAN HOUSE that regional push, but if we’re are $15 for a stemmed glass has since 2010 consistently pur- Lisa Morrison says craft beer isn’t just an industry here; it’s part of the fabric of the community. going to move into other mar- and five taste tickets. For chased more craft beer than the kets, we’d want to have a pres- more: oregoncraftbeer.org.