Oregon Brew Crew

Welcome to Oregon Brew Crew

Headquartered in Portland, the Oregon Brew Crew is one of the oldest and largest home brewing clubs in the United States. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and advancement of home brewing and beer appreciation. Meetings are usually held on the second Thursday of each month at F.H. Steinbart, the oldest homebrew store in the country. Our monthly meetings nearly always have an educational component in which we cover topics including from malt and hops, kegging and bottling, yeast management, water chemistry and more.

The OBC was founded in 1979 shortly after the nationwide legalization of homebrewing. The OBC traces its roots back to the beginnings of craft brewing in Oregon. Early homebrewers and members such as Kurt and Rob Widmer (Widmer Brothers), John Harris (Deschutes, Full Sail, Ecliptic) and others joined the pro ranks and opened some of the first craft breweries in Portland. This tradition continues with many other members who have gone pro including Alan Sprints (Hair of the Dog), Alex Ganum (Upright Brewing), Shane Watterson (Level Beer), Michael Kora (Montavilla Brew Works) and Rick Strauss (Bent Shovel Brewing). In 2022, after a two-year pandemic delay, the Oregon Brew Crew finally marked it's 40th anniversary with a Gala celebration.

Through its support of local festival and events, the club is able to donate money to the Bob McCracken Scholarship Fund for the Oregon State University Fermentation Sciences program. We also donate annually to the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, which sponsors full-tuition brewing education scholarships to Siebel.

The OBC is also able to underwrite a large portion of annual trips to visit remote breweries, and learn new commercial brewing techniques, barrel maintenance and explore the local styles of our region. Our members regularly support and judge competitions hosted by other clubs in Bend, Eugene, Corvallis, and even Washington state. The club is constantly seeking ways to bring the Oregon Homebrewing community together, including the development of the Oregon State Homebrewer of the Year program (OSHBOTY), now jointly managed by members from multiple clubs, as well as the first ever three club group brewing and blending collaboration with Oregon State University.