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Oregon has 188 brewing establishments, a state economist finds. But there's room for more.

(Mike Zacchino/The Oregonian)

Is Oregon over-beered?

That's the question Damon Runberg, a regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department, spent nearly a year analyzing.

His final answer: "No." But there's plenty more to his report, released this week.

The state may not be overly saturated with breweries, but the beer industry isn't nearly as big as some would make out, Runberg said. That aside, Oregon has one heck of a lot of beer-makers.

"It seems like every time you look over your shoulder there's another brewery that's popping up down the street," said Runberg, who lives and works in Bend, a state hot-spot for craft brewing. "A lot of people are noticing substantial growth."

Runberg had heard the hyperbole. Bend has the most brewpubs per capita. Portland has more breweries than any other city. Craft suds were becoming a prime economic force.

He set out to meticulously count "brewing establishments," separating those that were mere restaurants or taverns that served beer from those that actually make it on site.

His number: 188 across the state as of summer 2013, or about one for every 21,000 Oregon residents. The highest per-capita concentrations, he said, aren't in Bend or Portland, which have gained international fame for their pubs, but in the Columbia Gorge and along the coast.

"There's a lot of misinformation out there," Runberg said.

In all, the industry employs 5,127 workers, more than half of those in the Portland area, Runberg determined. Average wage: $28,190, substantially lower than the private sector average of $44,000.

He said he was shocked by how low the employment number was. Other, higher counts probably factored in workers in restaurants that serve craft beers but don't make it on site, Runberg said.

"Its impact seems far greater than the employment number that's associated with it."

Runberg said he sees the potential for market saturation of the bigger regional breweries, but still lots of room for smaller brewpubs that serve a specific community or neighborhood.

Scott Lawrence, owner of Breakside Brewery, agrees.

"We're growing like crazy," Lawrence said. After opening a small brewpub on Portland's Northeast Dekum Street, Breakside went bigger and opened a production center in Milwaukie.

He sees a day when brewers like him fight for shelf space in stores that feature craft brews. Mostly, he said, the craft brewers are taking small bites out of the biggies, like Budweiser and Miller-Coors.

The large number of breweries in Oregon, he said, "is forcing everyone to make a little better beer. The places that aren't making good beer are going to get weeded out."

-- Harry Esteve