Portland's Provincial Past is Slipping Away

People look at Portland's craft beer scene and they wonder how it happened here. Well, that used to be a popular question. It was certainly a question posed to a lot of people when I was doing interviews for Portland Beer a few years back.

There is no simple answer. However, one of the things almost everyone mentioned in some way was that Portland is highly provincial. If you look up provincial, you'll find some interesting definitions. "Narrow minded," being one of them.

What these folks were saying about Portland is that people here have tended to value local products over things imported from other areas. There's also an implied nod to do-it-yourself values. Historically, this was a blue collar city where residents learned to do things for themselves. That general notion has carried forward.

When it comes to craft beer, virtually all of the founding brewers, and many who stepped into the scene later, started out as homebrewers. That's related to the strong DIY culture that dates back more than a century to the city's blue collar past.

As homebrewing transitioned to pro brewing back in the 1980s, a benefit of provincial attitudes was that people were willing to try local craft beers. It didn't matter that they were happily sipping or guzzing their macro lager. They were willing to try the early craft beers at least partially because they were local. The looming shadow of Henry Weinhard undoubtedly contributed to that mindset. Anyway, it turned out that, in a lot of cases, consumers liked what they tasted.

One of the other interesting effects of provincialism, as it pertains to Portland's affection for craft beer, is that brands from outside the area have had a tough time attaining traction here. Countless times you'd see a brand appear in a big splash, only to be gone in less than a year. This was true as recently as a few years ago.

But things have changed. One sign of that is our attitude toward Washington beers. Not so long ago, Washington beers had no standing in Portland. Oregon beer was popular in Seattle and elsewhere, but Washington beers had no clout here. That's not so today. A number of Washington brands have gained a foothold here, including Fremont, Georgetown, Chuckanut and others.

We see further breakdown of provincial Portland in the form of carpetbaggers from out of state (or country) who have or will soon open pubs. There's a big difference in commitment, by the way, between selling your beer in stores or bars and opening a pub or brewpub.

• San Diego-based Modern Times opened in the former Commons space on Southeast Belmont and has gained a solid, apparently lasting following. 
• Denmark-based Mikkeller recently opened in the vacated Burnside Brewing space and seems to be doing well, despite mediocre beer and overpriced everything. Proof positive that P.T. Barnum was right. 
• There's word that Iceland-based KEX Brewing will set up shop in Portland. KEX beers will be featured at a hotel and restaurant being built on Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Obviously, out-of-state chains aren't new here. Colorado-based Rock Bottom has been around for many years. California-based BJ's Brewhouse at one time had several Portland-area locations and contributed some amazing brewers to our scene. Pittsburgh-based Fatheads earned a sold following when it opened in 2014 and has continued to do well since rebranding as Von Ebert Brewing.

But it seems to me that we've moved into uncharted territory. The growing acceptance of out-of-state beer bars, pubs and brands means more of them will be showing up here, that provincial barriers are breaking down, at least as they apply to beer.

Why would that be the case? There are probably several reasons. I suspect the most significant one is that we've seen and are continuing to see an influx of people from around the country and world. They have little connection to Portland, except that they now live here, and they are far more accepting of outside brands than Portlanders were 10 or 20 years ago. In effect, we're losing some of our ancient heritage as we become more diverse.

This was probably inevitable, given migration, and maybe it isn't such a bad thing. It's unlikely to be reversed, so best get used to the idea.