02/02/09 Beer for the Bowl

Beer for the Bowl. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Big day yesterday for the football fan. Arguably the biggest day. And no matter if you were rooting for the Steelers or the Cardinals, the big winners were the beer commercials. From NW microbrews to large national brands, beer is big on Super Bowl Sunday and agriculture plays a major role. The Super Bowl is more than just a football game. It is considered the number one party event of the year- even more so than New Year's Eve. The great flavor of all that beer can be traced back to Pacific Northwest agriculture. BARTON: Traditionally, you always think about Super Bowl Sunday as a sport event. But the reality is that it has become a huge, huge retail event and it reflects on products that we have here in Oregon. Laura Barton of the Oregon Department of Agriculture says not only does the state produce a variety of craft beers, a vast majority of the nation's hops are grown in Washington and Oregon, providing breweries with a key ingredient. BARTON: While we are very proud of our craft breweries in Oregon- that industry is continuing to grow- a majority of our hops actually go to the big, big breweries that we all know. Those beers are consumed all over the country and all over the world. Among the large national breweries that rely on Oregon hops is Anheuser Busch and its popular Budweiser brand. But Oregon itself produces more than 21 million gallons of beer, from 58 brewing companies. So whether it is a national brand beer or a locally-produced brew, Super Bowl Sunday is a great time to acknowledge part of Pacific Northwest agriculture. Barton says not everybody settles for the national brand beers during Super Bowl Sunday, and Oregon's 73 brewing companies have a large variety of craft beers to offer. BARTON: There's such a strong interest and demand in craft made things, whether it is cheese, beer, breads. So craft beers fit right in there and we have some very creative brewers in Oregon. Barton says beer drinkers might be surprised that a main ingredient of that great tasting brew may originate in Oregon thanks to the state's hop industry. BARTON: I don't think when somebody picks up a can of that national beer in another state that they are realizing that they are having something that comes from Oregon. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.