I'm looking over the list of participating breweries for the OBF and coming up with a list of must-tries. 73 breweries this year! And I'm sure there will be at least one or two last-minute changes or substitutions. There's a fair number of beers I've already sampled, so like last year, I'm primarily focusing on the new (or very unusual) beers.

My Have-to-Try list is starting to look like:

• Amnesia Brewing: Dry Hopped Dusty Trail Pale Ale
• Boundary Bay Brewery: Galena Single Hop Pale Ale
• Brewery Ommegang: Three Philosophers Ale
• Diamond Knot Brewing: Industrial IPA
• Dick's Brewing: Dick's Lava Rock Porter
• Eugene City Tracktown Ales: Honey Orange Wheat
• Fifty Fifty Brewing: Donner Party Porter
• Flying Fish Brewing: Bourbon Barrel Abbey Dubbel
• Four + Brewing: Wildfire
• Golden Valley Brewery: Red Thistle Quercus
• Klamath Basin Brewing: Crater Lake Golden Ale
• Max's Fanno Creek Brewpub: Farmer's Daughter
• Ninkasi Brewing: Believer
• Oregon Trail Brewery: Oregon Trail Wit
• Siletz Brewing: Spruce Ale
• Stone Brewing: Stone 07/07/07 Vertical Epic
• Widmer Brewing: Noggin Grog (Imperial Wit???)

Of course, this isn't a final list. But it's looking good right now. As for my It-Would-Be-Nice-to-Try list, I'm thinking:

• Calapooia Brewing: Yankee Clipper IPA
• Cascade Brewing at the Raccoon Lodge: Razberry Wheat
• Fearless Brewing: Fearless Scottish Ale
• Grand Teton Brewing: Bitch Creek ESB
• Philadelphia's: Betsy Ross Imperial Golden
• Rogue: Imperial Porter
• Terminal Gravity: TG Triple

This is just wishful thinking, but three brewers I'd like to see at the OBF someday are Dogfish Head, Brooklyn Brewery, and Great Lakes Brewing.