Right now the big news in Oregon beer is the proposed tax hike on that same beer: a Draconian 1900% increase is the proposal. According to KGW (quoting Laurelwood’s Mike De Kalb), that would end up raising the price of a pint of beer to $6.

Other good coverage:

• The Oregonian
• Jeff at Beervana has lots of good stuff to say
• Jeff also has a good article at BlueOregon covering it

And the Oregon Brewers Guild blog has a comphrensive roundup of coverage.

Here’s the bottom line: Oregon currently has a beer tax of $2.60 per barrel (31 gallons), one of the lowest in the country. The new proposed Oregon beer tax would raise that to $49.61 per barrel—becoming the highest in the country, leapfrogging the current highest, Alaska at $33.17 per barrel (based on these numbers).

Obviously such a jump would devastate Oregon’s beer industry, and people are organizing in opposition to it. Prominently, the Oregon Brewers Guild has a "No New Oregon Beer Tax" page that includes a link to the text of the bill (HB 2461), date and location of the hearing, links to State Legislators, and more.

Online, there are several venues for opposing this tax hike. You can sign a petition here, join the Facebook group that people online are organizing under, and follow the latest updates on the Twitter feed.

Yes, I am opposed to this tax hike also. Like any sane person would be.