An Oregonian Bulletin friend (thanks Jim) sent this in. Today’s Oregonian has a two-part piece by John Foyston, a veteran newspaperman and long-time advocate of good beer. The first part, Oregon beers grow by hops and bounds, details some great news about sales of Oregon beer in 2006, where again record growth ocurred for at least the third year in a row.

From the article:

Craft brewers in the state made 3.5 million gallons more beer last year than in 2005, a 16 percent increase and the third year in a row of double-digit gains. This at a time megabrewers such as Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Miller Brewing Co. have struggled to maintain their revenues and market share.

According to figures released this month by the Oregon Brewers Guild, the state’s 79 breweries produced about 792,000 barrels of beer in 2006, or 24.5 million gallons. That’s up from 21.1 million gallons a year earlier, and makes Oregon one of the leaders in a craft beer segment growing faster than any other part of the U.S. alcoholic beverage market.

The second part is a nice profile of Portland’s Amnesia Brewing.