Summer Tap Trail Craft Pass Offers a Taste of Nine Mt. Hood Craft Breweries

July 5, 2016

A tasty way for craft beer fans to enjoy Oregon, Mt. Hood’s brewery action is with the recently-launched Mt. Hood Territory’s Tap Trail Craft Pass. Nine local brewers offer up a glass of their creations for $20.

With a visit to each of these breweries there’s a $5 discount towards beer, food or merchandise (one $5 discount per pass holder at each location). Once purchased online, the passport goes straight to your mobile device. You get $45 worth of goods for $20, for a total savings of $25 if you hit all nine.

Tiny Boring Brewing is a nano-focused brewery producing small-batch, hand-crafted beer. This was our first introduction to using the Tap Trail Craft Pass and we made good use of it by ordering a five-brew flight each. Some of our favourites: Breakfast Beer, Amisigger Amber and Big Yawn IPA.

And in case you’re wondering, the town’s name is derived from Joseph and Sarah Boring, who arrived here by oxen-drawn wagon in 1853. The two married a few years later, however it was Joseph’s younger brother William who donated land to build the community’s first school in his name.

This set in motion a series of events that would later put Boring on the map and keep it there as the butt of many a joke – or yawn. Their beer however is anything but boring.

According to Coin Toss Brewery owner/local beer broadcaster Tim Hohl, Oregon City’s got a real sense of community. OC’s an up-and-coming area with a rich history and Hohl and team’s goal is to fill a need for quality local beer here.

Three years ago there were no craft breweries in the area to speak of — now there are five. Feckin Brewery was first on the map, soon followed by Oregon City Brewing, Coin Toss, Bent Shovel and Shattered Oak.

[Trying one of everything on tap at Coin Toss]

Coin Toss is an ode to a 171-year-old coin toss that would decide whether the new settlement north of OC would be called Portland or Boston.

Portland, Maine’s Francis Pettygrove and Boston’s Asa Lovejoy did the toss — the rest is history, and a brewery featuring Hohl’s flagship Black Hole Cascadian Ale and George’s Honest Ale, inspired by a recipe originally brewed by George Washington at Mount Vernon.

Honest Ale includes ingredients closely resembling what America’s Founding Fathers would have used in the 1700’s, incorporating molasses, Cluster hops and six-row pale malt, creating a lightly-carbonated, refreshing summer sipper at 6% ABV.

MT. HOOD TERRITORY’S TAP TRAIL CRAFT PASS BREWERIES

Bent Shovel Brewing, Oregon City/home of the CiPinON IPA
Boring Brewing Co., Boring/a Nano brewery focused on small-batch, hand-crafted brews
Coin Toss Brewing Company, Oregon City/Founded by 20-year home-brewing veteran Tim Hohl
Drinking Horse Brewing Company, Clackamas/small-batch brewers
Fearless Brewing Company, Estacada/at the base of Mt. Hood National Forest
Feckin Brewing, Oregon City/in the feckin boondocks, open on Friday afternoons only
Oregon City Brewing Co., Oregon City/Oregon City brewery with 44 taps (including four nitros)
Portland Cider Company, Clackamas/handcrafted cider in the English tradition
Vanguard Brewing, Wilsonville/a family-owned and operated brewery since September 2015

If you’re out this way between June 1 and September 5 (the window for buying one of these cool passes) and love craft beer (and cider), we recommend checking it out. Mt. Hood Territory’s Tap Trail Craft Pass expires on October 5, 2016. A big thanks to Mt. Hood Territory for providing us these passes for some local beer exploration.