Oregon’s North Coast Craft Beer Trail was born in a Seaside bottle shop. When Jeff Kilday, owner of Wine and Beer Haus, and three beer-loving friends discussed the Bend Ale Trail one afternoon in 2009, they decided a North Coast version would feature any establishment that served great beer.

“We didn’t quite have enough breweries,” at the time, Kilday said, so the idea was to include places in Clatsop County to go enjoy great beer on tap.

13 years later, over a dozen locations participate in the Craft Beer Trail, including breweries, taprooms and bottleshops. Visitors collect 10 or more stamps in locations along the trail on a rack card passport which they can then redeem toward a branded souvenir mug.Discovery, of new places and beers to enjoy, remains the central idea behind the North Coast Craft Beer Trail.

“It’s a great way to see the North Coast,” Ken Heman, information specialist at Seaside Visitors Bureau and local lead for the trail, said. “A lot of craft beer lovers were unaware of it before they came, discovered it once they were here and it ended up being a fantastic way for them to get to see all the coast with more of an excuse than just seeing the beach.”

Because it features more than just breweries, the trail serves as a showcase of craft beer from the area and beyond in a range of venues. “You get a pretty broad spectrum,” Kilday said, adding that it’s a good way to sample brews from across the region.

When people redeem their stamped passports at the Seaside Visitors Bureau, Heman added, “they are always very excited and happy. They really enjoy having the card as a way to bounce around, it’s kind of like a scavenger hunt.”

Kilday sees the trail passport as a great way to advertise, especially benefiting small businesses like his Wine and Beer Haus. “Most people who come in using the card have never been in the shop,” he said. “And I see a lot of repeat business from people when they come back into town.”

But what Kilday and others appreciate even more is the community aspect of the program. Businesses on the trail end up advertising one another. “It works cohesively, so instead of tearing each other down, we build each other up as the beer community,” Kilday said. “And, of course, I punch a lot of cards.”