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Walking down the trodden dirt path of the Oregon Country Fair can be intimidating at first. To your left, there’s a beeswax candle merchant; to your right is a group of leather-clad didgeridoo players. Straight ahead, on a wooden stage in a meadow, a jam band that may or not be the Grateful Dead reincarnated plays. The Fair offers a ton of great live music from which to chose, and here are a few acts you won't want to miss. TAARKA Continue reading
Hot weather is great for the bugs. Swallowtails and dragonflies dart around with incredible zip in the morning sun, their warm bodies full of energy. Spiders are getting prominent now, with dozens of little, baby spider webs all around our house. They protect us from mosquitoes. When approached they shake their webs vigorously, supposedly to make themselves appear a blur and not catchable by potential predators. Continue reading
In 1981, when Philomath hops purveyor David Wills first started tinkering with home brewing, “microbrew” was a burgeoning term, and not all that familiar to Oregonian ears. The hops available to home brewers at that time were “really ugly,” Wills says. “I thought hops were supposed to be brown, and it wasn’t until I visited the USDA Hop Research Farm that I realized hops are actually green.” Continue reading
Walking the berggren watershed conservation area. Photo by Trask Bedortha. Take a stroll, brew a beer: That’s the concept behind Beers Made by Walking, a program that uses the beauty of nature to inspire new brews in states around the country. Continue reading
Downtown Eugene isn’t the only urban core in the area experiencing a revival — downtown Springfield is undergoing a resurgence as well. “I’ve been a craft beer aficionado for a long time,” says David Platt, owner and founder of Growler Underground located at 521 Main St. “I was watching what was happening downtown,” Platt adds. “With both downtown [Springfield] on the rise and this sort of business on the rise, I thought the two would work well together.” Continue reading
Nathan Bernard strolls through the third-story lookout and swings open the door. Salty breezes from the sea float over the tiny town of Yachats and up to the rooftop. Bernard steps out to the middle of the flat roof, built into the side of a cliff. Continue reading
Let’s face it, we all have a little Homer Simpson in us, and sometimes leaving the house to replenish the beer supply is just too much. Enter ManCäve Brewing Company: “Give us a call and we’ll deliver your beer,” co-owner Brandon Woodruff says. As of early June, ManCäve officially has its license to do same-day home deliveries through OLCC’s Malt Beverage Delivery Privilege program. ManCäve will now deliver six packs, 12 packs and growlers within a 2-mile radius of the brewery (540 Fillmore St. in Eugene). Continue reading
If it’s July — and it is — and we’re getting hot — and we are — then, it must be time for pink wines. Years ago, when Mole and I launched our investigation of pinks, we were both skeptical. I had tasted too many insipid pinks. He took a kinda Italian view: “Pink wines. Why?” For one, because they’re so pretty, in the glass, in the sun and across the palate. Continue reading
Not long ago I was able to tour Civic Stadium. Even in a state of neglect the local landmark's potential and palpable history was inspiring. Here are some photographs of Eugene's one of a kind Civic Stadium as it stood before it was destroyed by fire yesterday. Continue reading
A new brewery will be joining the Eugene beer scene this fall. ColdFire Brewing will open by the end of October at 263 Mill St. near Rye restaurant and The Gallery at the Watershed. Brothers Dan and Stephen Hughes will be running the brewery. The duo has been homebrewing since 1999. Continue reading