February 2, 2007 -- I can scarcely contain my outrage! After 19 relatively uneventful but thoroughly enjoyable years as a family-oriented beer festival, the high foreheads at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission have decided that persons under the official legal drinking age of 21 years will not be allowed to partake in the 20th anniversary Oregon Brewers Festival.

Their reason: Because the fest is “predominantly a drinking event.”

Well, no, actually. At least that’s not been the case in my experience. With dozens of interesting craft-brewed beers on offer, many of them special brews created specifically for the fest, the OBF is a tasting event rather than a drinking event. Particularly during the daylight hours, the admission-free fest is a friendly, welcoming locale for sampling and sharing, provoking plenty of discussions about the merits of this ale versus that lager and precious little drunkenness.

During last year’s festival, underage attendees were required to leave the site by 7:00 pm, which some parents thought a silly inconvenience, but given the crowds that generally descend upon the open-air setting after sunset, perhaps not such a bad compromise. Preventing parents from enjoying a little sun and a grassy picnic with their families, while enjoying some of the best in beer the Pacific Northwest has to offer, is absurd to the nth degree.

To read more about this act of stupidity, visit the Festival website at www.oregonbrewfest.com, the Brookston Beer Bulletin at www.brookston.org/beer, or any of the dozens of other sites offering commentary, from the forums at Beer Advocate (www.beeradvocate.com/forum/read/921333) to the progressive website Blue Oregon (www.blueoregon.com/2007/01/the_olccs_lates.html). And if you’re so inclined, let the OLCC’s director Stephen Pharo know your feelings via steve.pharo@state.or.us.

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