craft brewing

Walk into any brewery or grocery store today and you will see the letters IPA everywhere — that intense, tropical beer has become Oregon’s style. That wasn’t always the case. It turns out that a variety of hop bred in Oregon — almost by accident — sparked an entirely new way of making beer and a whole new tradition of American ales.

Half a dozen Pacific Northwest craft breweries are diversifying into making nonalcoholic beer. But instead of brewing bland and watery "near beer," they're injecting quality and variety into a space that used to be dominated by a few national brands.