Portland has had many nicknames. While the “City of Roses” is perhaps the most well-known, it’s also been called Beervana, Bridgetown, PDX, Puddletown, Rip City, River City and Stumptown. And apparently President George I used to refer to Portland as “Little Beirut” because protesters dogged his visits there, but so far that one hasn’t really stuck.

But now add one more to the list. Yesterday, Mayor Tom Potter officially declared Portland “Beertown.” He kicked off the naming ceremony by pouring the first pint of BridgePort Brewing’s new seasonal, Beertown Brown. Whether the whole event was one elaborate publicity stunt certainly seems possible, even probable, but even so what a great coup for them. Unlike Seattle, Portland’s official tourism website features quite a lot of positive information about beer and Portland’s beer scene.

Also, no word as to how the Brewers Association feels about Portland appropriating their domain name. Their website address is beertown.org.