Eugene’s fist fight with wintry weather has taken its toll: impassable roads, downed trees, frozen pipes and cancelled midterms. But it couldn’t stop the power of microbrews or Eugene’s penchant for drinking them.
Despite the snow, things went off with nary a hitch at the annual KLCC Microbrew Festival at the Lane Events Center. A few breweries were forced to cancel their appearances (namely Portland’s Laurelwood Brewing and their delicious Workhorse IPA — a tragedy) but overall the event was a whir of commotion. The beer flowed, used vinyls and records found new owners, live music filled the hall and a consistent stream of people from all over the region flowed in and out the doors, all in support of Eugene’s public radio station KLCC.
“We had to ride the bus to get here because of the snow,” University of Oregon student Elizabeth Jansen-Byrkit said as she sipped from the event’s official glass. “But that’s okay. It’s exciting and I’ve discovered tons of new beer today.”
And the attending brewers providing the avenues for fun and discovery echoed this sentiment.
“This is a brilliant opportunity to get in touch with the larger community,” Agrarian Ales’ Shelley Bowerman said. “It’s wonderful. People are curious about what we do and excited to learn, and this is our chance to educate them.”
The winter months don’t usually feature many chances for breweries to connect with the beer-drinking community and, according to local breweries, the KLCC fundraising event is crucial opportunity for them to do so.
“The brewfest helps us this time of year because it helps us reconnect with our roots,” Claim 52’s owner and brewer Trevor Ross said. “You learn a lot of passion here, meet other brewers and make connections.”
And some of those connections are with the larger, nationally renowned breweries that braved Oregon’s treacherous winter weather to attend.
“Things like this are great. It’s all of us smaller breweries together to help find a way to compete with the ‘big guys,’ the major breweries,” Keenan Delehanty of California’s Firestone Walker said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie here.”
Beyond beer, the event featured live music in form of Sol Seed on Friday night, and the Hank Shreve Band on Saturday, food from the Wild Duck Café and a sale of used vinyls and CDs donated to KLCC for the festival.
The event also garnered the support of legions of volunteers who helped keep things flowing smoothly despite the unforeseen obstacles.
“I’m still here because I like KLCC, and I also like beer,” volunteer Dale Harris said. “It makes sense. It’s a lot of fun.”
But despite the overwhelming atmosphere of good cheer and mirth, not everyone was completely pleased.
“I’d be having a lot more fun if my socks weren’t wet from the snow,” UO student Mariah Melson said.
Hopefully a few more microbrews cured that.