Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom

Imperial Bottle Shop & TaproomImperial Bottle Shop & Taproom
Imperial Bottle Shop & TaproomImperial Bottle Shop & Taproom
Bar, Beer-to-go

3090 SE Division St
Portland, Oregon, 97202-1451
United States

(971) 302-6899 | map
imperialbottleshop.com

Monday - Thursday: 12:00pm - 10:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 12:00pm - 12:00am
Sunday: 10:00am - 8:00pm
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.31
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
31
pDev:
7.66%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of WillieThreebiers
Reviewed by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

4.43/5  rDev +2.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
Cool little bottle shop on the corner along a main throughfare. Two glass walls lighten up the place, and there is a L-shaped bar to the left of the entrance that seats about a dozen. 20 beers on tap, including a Hill Farmstead... A row of shelves along the right wall is stacked with bottles, nice assortment, and a cooler full of cans next to the bar fills out the available offerings. Additionally, there is a pass-through in the wall to serve the street courtyard which offers some seating options.
Jun 04, 2023
 
Rated: 4.36 by BarrelAgedG from California

Feb 14, 2023
 
Rated: 4.14 by slasich from Pennsylvania

May 16, 2020
 
Rated: 4.17 by TheBrewsky from California

Feb 20, 2019
 
Rated: 4.22 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Mar 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.4 by kjkinsey from Texas

Feb 14, 2018
Photo of John_M
Reviewed by John_M from Washington

4.11/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.75
I'm not sure this place could exist anyplace other than Portland.

This place isn't much more than a hole in the wall on SE Division Street, and in fact is pretty easy to overlook I think in a section of town crowded with specialty stores, cafe's, coffee shops and restaurants of all ilk and manner. As you walk in from the Division, there's a small "dining" area to your left, made up of a few tables and chairs. Farther back from the front door is small bar area, holding maybe 8 to 10 seats. There's also a pretty sizeable selection of bottles on shelves farther back and to the right, and there's also a cold box by the back bar area. The over all feeling one gets at Imperial is one of very tight, cramped quarters. Still, given how small the area is, I have to say the owner seems to have done the most with the space available.

In terms of beer, Imperial has a LOT to offer, and is pretty impressive. They generally have a pretty strong taplist of local, regional and national craft options, and I was very impressed the day I stopped by, during the annual Heart of Darkness stout tasting. I think there are roughly 20 tap handles here (mostly craft and imports, though I think they have a cider or two available as well), and then a bottle selection that has to number around 200. Selection is quite excellent; maybe not as great as what you'll find at Belmont Station or John's Market, but fairly comparable to what you'll find over at Beermongers (which I think is pretty high praise). The vibe here is very relaxed and informal, despite the cramped surroundings, with a singe, flat screen TV over the back bar (not a lot of decorations or art work going on here).

Service was OK. The bartenders didn't know me, and so didn't seem to be interested in striking up a conversation or providing a whole lot of information. That being said, drink orders came quickly, which is all I really required. Prices seemed fairly reasonable here. Most beers during the stout even were $2 to $3 for a 3 ounce pour, and appeared to be in the $5 range for pints of IPA and the like (some variation of course, depending on style, abv., origin and BA character). As for bottles, I think they had Abraxas for around $23, and Prairie noir beers for around $11 a bottle. Not too bad. They don't have a kitchen here, but I believe you're free to bring in anything you want from any of the nearby, adjoining restaurants (very PDX - like).

Shrug. A very solid place for sure, but it's kind of a hassle for me to get to from my home on the SW side, so I'm not sure how often I'll return here. There are so many good/great solid places in PDX, that there's no real need to go out of your way to find a place like this.
Feb 08, 2018
 
Rated: 4.19 by DoubleDaisyCutter from District of Columbia

Dec 19, 2017
Photo of Sabtos
Reviewed by Sabtos from Ohio

3.66/5  rDev -15.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
Focusing on higher end and pricey bottles, from the imported to local and regional sours, this place has a good selection of semi-rare brews to-go for out-of-staters, but I'm not sure what the local population would think of such a large collection of, for example, Cascade bottles you can get from the source right down the street.

The space seems roomy early, but I can imagine it getting cramped, especially dangerously so at the table near the fairly highly placed rows of bottles.

They have a very respectable, fairly large taplist of mostly local brews on draft that should help keep the neighborhood coming.
Oct 16, 2017
Photo of elNopalero
Reviewed by elNopalero from Michigan

4.77/5  rDev +10.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75
This place gives new meaning to the phrase "well curated." There's a wall of bottles, as well as four fridge units, all of which are tantalizingly tempting. Not to mention the tap handles to enjoy in house or get a fill. Impressive. Most impressive.
Oct 04, 2017
Photo of rpmcoffman
Rated by rpmcoffman from Oregon

3.05/5  rDev -29.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 1 | selection: 4
Nice selection of beers. But the staff was not very friendly.
Sep 22, 2016
 
Rated: 4.46 by GreatStoutman from Texas

Jul 05, 2016
Photo of brewskifan55
Reviewed by brewskifan55 from Mississippi

4.36/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4
I have to give chops to this place, since I called them all the way from Mississippi and asked them to hold a bottle of the Abyss for me when I arrived a few days later. Not only did they have it waiting for me, they gave me a complimentary canvas tote bag with my purchase. Plus The Imperial had Big Bad Baptist on tap! The place is small, but the vibe is way cool. The selection is a bit small, but the prices are at least a dollar lower on bombers than most bottle shops in the area. I had such a nice feeling doing business with these folks. Wish I had stayed longer.
Apr 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by MaximumYuks from Oregon

Jan 19, 2016
 
Rated: 4.22 by mklisz from New Hampshire

Nov 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Yeti1979 from Louisiana

Aug 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.78 by Beervana from Canada (BC)

Aug 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.4 by birchstick from Colorado

May 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.29 by markgugs from New Jersey

May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 4.21 by JoeBond from Oregon

May 09, 2015
Photo of boralyl
Reviewed by boralyl from Oregon

4.53/5  rDev +5.1%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4
One of my favorite local bars. They have a great selection of bottles (some in coolers(mostly hoppy stuff) and others on the shelf) and ~16 taps. They do a great job making sure the things on tap are draft only and not something you can buy in bottles.

There are 3 things that make them stand out to me.

1. They have a wine chiller. You can easily pay for a bottle off the shelf and get it cooled to the perfect temperature in minutes (for there or to go).
2. They have a Blichmann beer gun on all of their taps, so you can get 16oz bottles of draft beer to go. They will fill it and cap it for you right there for a nominal fee for the bottle or you can bring in one you have already purchased.
3. The staff is great. They are very knowledgeable and super nice.

The space itself has a really nice contemporary vibe with plenty of wood and concrete. Outside they have 5-6 picnic tables for the nicer months. The windows also slide open to the sidewalk when it's nice out.

They allow outside food and encourage it. There are a ton of options for food within the building and a food cart just a block down the road.

Definitely worth a visit.
Mar 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.26 by anteater from Oregon

Feb 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by kamikazeokami from Oregon

Feb 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.64 by almostjay from Virginia

Jan 14, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Raimalise from Oregon

Dec 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by DCLAguy11 from California

Nov 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by SeeingMeansMore from Oregon

Oct 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.36 by botanu from Oregon

Sep 22, 2014
Photo of Atreyu
Reviewed by Atreyu from Oregon

4.9/5  rDev +13.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
Great little bottle shop & taproom. Bottle selection is kind of on the smaller side, but very we'll curated and priced surprisingly low. Tap list is solid. High quality glassware. Staff is extremely friendly and helpful. Great ambience with lots of windows.
Jul 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Hobbit from Oregon

Mar 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Kurmaraja from California

Mar 01, 2014
Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom in Portland, OR
Place rating: 4.31 out of 5 with 31 ratings