20 More Reasons to Celebrate Oregon Beer

Oregon Homegrown

Celebrations are underway around the state of Oregon to kick off the first edition of Oregon Homegrown, a collaboration celebrating the connectedness of Oregon not only for its world-class beer, but equally as the home of hop farms, renowned brewmasters, and of course, Wyeast Laboratories.

Celebrate Oregon Beer was founded in 2024 by Executive Director Jeff Alworth, with the mission of establishing Oregon’s reputation as one of the world’s premier beer regions. This first series is designed to do just that: with two dozen breweries onboard, a fleet of beers highlighting Strata hops and yeast strains from our heritage Culture Collection are pouring around the state.

Strata, an Oregon-bred and Oregon-grown hop variety, was released in 2018 by Indie Hops and has become a signature profile in craft beer. Paired with yeast strains isolated by Wyeast or contributed to our collections by early Oregon brewers, these beers exude the state’s history, influence, and creativity. With nearly half of the beers falling outside of pale ale and IPA categories, the true versatility of Strata in the hands of Oregon brewers is something to behold.

Event List

• Portland: Roscoe’s (8105 SE Stark St), May 23-25
• Salem: Westside Taphouse (1594 Edgewater St NW #110), May 31 to June 1
• Hood River: 64 Taphouse (208 Oak St), June 6-8
• Bend: River’s Place (787 NE Purcell Blvd), June 7-8

Oregon-Born Yeast Strains

Wyeast was founded in 1986 and offered the first fresh liquid yeast to craft brewers by the names of Brewers Choice Ale and Brewers Choice Lager. While these strains remain in our heritage Culture Collection today as 1007 German Ale and 2007 Pilsen lager, there is a great depth to the histories and stories behind the many other strains that would join this collection. Discover the origins and histories of several strains donated for this collaboration event:

1056 American Ale®

Historic Origin: Last Piece Brewery (Jigsaw, Puzzleshire, UK)

1° Journey : Ballantine Brewing Co. (Newark, New Jersey) acquires the strain from Last Piece

2° Journey: Yeast strain is deposited at a national yeast bank

3° Journey: Sierra Nevada Brewing (Chico, California) acquires this yeast from the national bank

4° Journey: Wyeast Laboratories isolates the strain circa 1986 from Sierra Nevada and names it “1056.”  This yeast later becomes 1056 American Ale®, and the workhorse of the craft beer revolution. To this day, 1056 continues to be among the most influential yeast strains in craft beer.

Featured in:

Montavilla Brew Works Lil’ More Righteous Hoppy Pale Ale

1099 Whitbread Ale

Historic Origin: England, UK

1° Journey: Wyeast archives a new yeast sample that came from a Whitbread Brewery beer.

2° Journey: Two isolates are identified: Whitbread A and Whitbread B. The first isolate becomes Wyeast 1098 British Ale; Whitbread B becomes 1099 Whitbread Ale, and is characterized by its slightly richer and less tart and dry profile in British bitters, brown ales, and stouts.

Featured in:

Cascade Lakes Homegrown Brewerist Pale Ale

1272 American Ale II

Historic Origin: Anchor Liberty Brewing (San Francisco, California)

1° Journey: Bridgeport Brewing (historically named Columbia River Brewing in Portland, Oregon) acquires the strain from Anchor and archives the strain with Wyeast Laboratories in 1986. The proprietary house strain is known as “CRB 86-16.” Bridgeport becomes a legendary craft brewery for the next 30+ years.

2° Journey: CRB 86-16 is contributed by Bridgeport to the Wyeast Culture Collection and becomes known as 1272 American Ale II.

Featured in:

The Ram (Medford) Wander and Charge American IPA

1318 London Ale III

Historic Origin: Young’s Brewery (London, England)

1° Journey: This strain is deposited at a national yeast bank.

2° Journey: Rogue Bayfront Public House (historically, Bayfront Brewing in Newport, Oregon) acquires the strain NCYC 1318

3° Journey: John Maier, Rogue brewmaster, archives the strain with Wyeast in 1990. Wyeast identifies two morphologies and selects #1. It is described as “Rich & malty, clean & smooth.”

4° Journey: The yeast is contributed to the Wyeast Culture Collection and becomes known as 1318 London Ale III. With the rise of New England IPAs, this classic British strain becomes synonymous with this new style of IPA and changes the brewing landscape forever. Known for its fruity, very light, and softly balanced palate and finishing slightly sweet, “London 3” or “LA3” is declared the hazy strain.

Featured in:

Crooked Creek Brewery Strat’ Outta Oregon Brett IPA (also featuring 1762 Belgian Abbey Ale II and 5151-PC Brett claussenii)

Stickmen Strata Sploosh Hazy IPA

Vertigo Erik eStrata NEIPA

2565 Kölsch

Historic Origin: Hefebank Weihenstephan (Cologne, Germany)

1° Journey: Strain #148 is banked at Hefebank Weihenstephan

2° Journey: Widmer Brothers Brewing acquires the strain and archives it with Wyeast in 1986. The strain is known as “148 WID.”

3° Journey: The strain is contributed to the Wyeast Culture Collection as 2565 Kölsch and becomes our first commercially available kölsch yeast.

Featured in:

Binary Brewing Suburban Swarm Honey Kölsch

Boring Brewing Mitch’s Honey Kölsch

View All Collaboration Beers Here