Upright Brewing Company

 

visited in the afternoon for a couple beers before leaving town. In an interesting location, they are in a building in the common area but I guess there are various other companies with office space in the building. Not a huge taplist but varied styles and two beers on cask which is a big plus in my book. drank the two beers on cask (a pale ale and IPA), and also had a glass of a tasty rye beer. overall would recommend.

I was down in Portland with some buddies a couple weeks ago and we stopped in at Upright. They have a cool industrial wood & iron taproom with a nice neighborhood feel. Service is friendly, and they have bass players on the wall. There's also a small but neat outdoor seating area.

There were 12 beers when I visited, including one on a beer engine. The table saison is excellent, and the summer ale on cask also quite good. I sampled a few other beers and each was quite good, though the Nocino stout was quite sweet indeed. Overall, I'm very pleased with my Upright experience!

 

 

beer geek location and vibe. good stuff must stop.

 

 

 

Upright is tucked away and unassuming, but you can't pass this place up if you're in Portland. It's located in the basement of a building near major roads near the urban heart of the city, but the beer they serve is all-farmhouse—even the IPA on tap when I was there was fermented with a blend of yeasts that included farmhouse yeast.

Inside, there's a small space to the left with a few seats at the bar, and a few at picnic tables in the corner; to the right, there's an open area near fermenters and brewing equipment with a few more seats. They have a turntable playing very chill music of whatever the bartended chooses, and it always matches their thoughtful, open-minded, introspective vibe. The beer is list is going to be longer than you'd expect for such a small space, but goddamn is it good. Every beer on the menu offers something different, something unique, and something that will make you take a step back and reflect on what just hit you, softly and savorously.

No food to be had, that I could tell, but they'll give you house-made mineral water in a glass if you ask—or to go in a crowler for just $2. Even the mineral water is bonkers-good! I seriously can't recommend this place highly enough.

Blessed respite from Portland yuppiedom—fluorescent-lit and technical, with open fermenters and a prime soundtrack of dub and Ethio-jazz at time of visit.

Better yet: subtle, often herbal farmhouse brews that skew low-ABV and highly evocative. Love this place.

Chill, low-key basement hang for a few drinks. Nice music and not too loud (and hey you get off my lawn). Great staff, very good selection, my . new favourite in Portland

 

I loved this place...hole in the wall, except you have to walk through a cafe and then past all of these offices, down a slightly winding staircase that seems like it might go nowhere, through a door that doesn't look like it leads to anything, and through a basement hallway that looks like it's used for storing something random, following the smell of beer being brewed the whole time, you finally come around to the little room with a few picnic tables, concrete floors, some small windows up toward the ceiling letting in a little light, barrels, and the taps in the wall right next to a little old-time cash-register...no bar, just a few people hanging out, drinking and talking about beer. The guy in charge was just hanging out, talking to a few other customers -- totally down-to-earth and nice. There's a connected room around the corner with more tables and space, and you're surrounded by all the brewing equipment...it was a great experience. This is what the PNW used to be like all the time. I miss that.

The selection was heavy on saisons and barrel aged wild ales but there were also two lagers and a few ipas. I sampled a few and then enjoyed a pils and a nice barrel aged saison...good stuff.

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed Upright with its cavern-industrial feel. Waitstaff was very knowledgeable and even did a bottle trade with something I brought from Wisconsin. Beer selection was interesting with several unusual bottles for takeaway.

 

 

 

this was possibly my favorite brewery out of the twenty or more we visited in oregon on our trip there, i knew these guys were good, but this exceeded my already very high expectations. when we finally figured out how to get down into the basement of this well hidden treasure, i was amazed to find such a humble taproom. almost dingy down there, a working brewery for sure, minimal light seeping in through small basement windows, wet concrete floors, and a sort of split layout, with the tanks and brew house and a smallish bar on the right hand side, and a few picnic tables with tap handles just sticking out of a cold box and a small cash register on the left, no bar there at all. tiny down here, but cozy. we sat among the barrels with a gentleman picking on banjo, very cool vibe in here, and hours passed like minutes. they didnt have a ton of different beers on, but the ones they did have were super heady. the four play with cherries in pinot barrels was life changing, and i loved the hop konducta 2, which was a rye beer with nectarines. oh man, they were so inventive and well done, the barrels and the wild yeasts are obviously a special talent of these guys. it was not busy at all in here, so we had a good chat with the guy pouring beers, humble too, but still engaging. we literally sat here until they closed enjoying the music and being blown away by the beers. pro tip: they also have some meat sticks they call slim jims but are hand made locally and delicious. cannot wait to visit this brewery again, one of the best in portland without a doubt!

edit: many years later the taproom has migrated upstairs into what feels like the lobby of a mixed office and apartment building, definitely less weird and off the map than it used to be, but it lets a little more of their artsy and jazz influence show. cool wood in here, concrete space but feels warm, good selection of beers, cool jazz and old portland art, paying homage to its history. once again good service and epic wild beers, but some cool other options, an open fermented lager, an english bitter, even a chai stout. cant get enough from upright, one of the best and still most unsung breweries in the game!

Tiny unassuming hole in the wall. Day I visited this was literally a one man operation. But friendly and reasonably priced and ooooh the beers. The beers were incredible. Don’t be fooled by the location. Wish I could come back as a regular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a bit of an odd place, tucked away in the basement of what seemed to be an office building. It almost felt like a speakeasy. A little disorganized too. That being said, this was still an interesting place that I was happy I visited. The selection was a little thin, but the beer was all great.

This brewery is truly special. It's hard to find, bunker like location makes arriving at their tasting room a real treat. With a saison heavy list of offerings the selection is a little lop sided, but their beers are exceptionally made. We thought their sour was just as good as their saisons.