4th Street Brewing Co.

Out of business. Were never that great

 

 

 

I'll first start with the beer since that's the most important. It's much better than I expected for a small brewery. The beers aren't outstanding in their styles but they are all very good and flavorful.

The atmosphere is a about what you'd expect for Gresham and attracts a local crowd. The bar is decent size. There are plenty of tables. The restaurant is a bit more quaint.

I've only had bat food here. It was pretty standard low quality big portion stuff. Bar food basically.

The service is not bad. Pretty friendly staff.

I tried this place, since it isn't too far from where I now live, which is a bit of a dry spot when it comes to craft beer...

The place is nice. It's obviously a new building in an area that is covered with buildings new and old. Beautiful wood and brick, and the bar even faces glass through which the brewing equipment can be seen. Pretty cool. The bar is big and open, with several TV's and plenty of tables and chairs. Nice all around.

The service was a little slow for such a quiet night, but not impolite. When I asked the bartender what they had, he asked what I liked, and made suggestions, which were spot on. I told him "something hoppy," and he mentioned their fresh hop seasonal. The food came relatively quickly, and portions were not small. Happy hour does have some great items. Also, 1.50 imperial pints on Wednesdays? Awesome.

Now on to the beer/food. I tried their 15 hop IPA, which was sufficiently hoppy to satiate me. I was expecting weaker beers, marketed more to the average person. But nope, this beer was a definite hop punch. I then tried their "Get Jiggy Wit It," which smelled like Orange Clean, and tasted more like orange that possibly any wit I've ever had. Their DIPA was even remarkably well balanced. Good stuff, and not too "Least Common Denominator" at all. I ordered garlic fries, which were covered with not only Parmesan, but real garlic chunks. No skimping on the quality here.

All around, it was terrific for what it was. It is definitely a family oriented establishment, but it does have a thriving bar and some great beers. What else could you need?

I will say that the new location is certainly a nice classy upgrade from the old dirty brick box that it was.

A nice classy and open atmosphere with lots of sunlight in during the day, very modern facility with lots of seating and a nice layout of HD TV's for the sport nuts. I like how it caters to both pub regulars, sport fans, and beer geeks like myself all the same. The music was good and of today.

The beers were of great quality, and it looks like they have a full bar with all the needed fixes for those that like a good cocktail.

The server didn't seem to want to believe me when I said the Doppelbock wasn't the Doppelbock.. that it must have been a mis-tapping of their Porter. She gave me samples of each, and like I thought... they were the same. Otherwise the place was pretty dead when I ate lunch there today.. so the service and talkability was great.. but under a more busy atmosphere.. I am guessing it would have lacked a bit.

The selection of beers and seasonals was great.. the menu was kind of bland... so I can see their focus isn't really on the food, but the beer, cocktails, and sports... which is ok because for a brewpub, the beer is the most important thing for me.

I am glad they offer a veggie burger in both standard and black bean styles... and the Turkey Sandwich I had was just average. The other stuff and specials of the day just didn't strike me as anything I couldn't just go home and make quickly.

I thought the $10.95 for an average turkey sandwich was a bit over the top... as it was 2 slices of bread, lettuce, mayo, turkey, and avocado... with plain potato chips that were slightly undercooked in the centers (soggy). $4.25 for a pint for me is too steep... I can see a different bar offering 4th St. brews doing that, but not in-house.

Overall the beer was great, and I like the 1/2 growler fills on Sunday thing. The menu could use some spicing up, and I wouldn't mind a few more 'stand-out' beers. Perhaps the staff could use a little more beer knowledge... so maybe the brewmaster can hold a few PK classes.

Not a bad place if you're invited to hang out, but I think they are suffering from a lack of focus. Twelve beers on tap, all mainline macro with a couple exceptions. The Eager Beaver IPA was pretty good and the Black Roots Blonde was pretty good for being the number two light offering. Nothing was really spectacular of the group.

Waitress kept trying to explain the various styles to me, not getting from the notes in front of me that I was a geek. Unfortunately, she wasn't either and didn't understand the styles. They were serving a saison and a berliner weisse as well, nice styles, but the berliner wasn't served with syrup (menu even said it was) because the waitress couldn't find it so the beer was crazy sour. Waitress said it was going off tap because it wasn't selling and that she didn't like it. The decor was similarly off with the nice shiny brewery behind the bar, a very open cement floor, fireplace, oddly placed tables and booth in space almost, cabinet of German beer steins, odd colors. Just felt put together but not with a consistent purpose, just like the beer line up. Just seemed like they were worried about appearances rather than quality, and not doing a good job. Completely dead at lunch on a week day, so the downtown crowd isn't coming in either.

So, good selection, service was good, but just not pulling it all together. We stopped because we ate dinner down the street, so came in for a rack of samples. Glad I didn't go any further out of the way than I did.

UPDATE, July 2009: In 2008 The Main Street Ale House relocated one block and reemerged as the 4th St. Brewing Co. The brewery, the brewer, and the beers are the same as before. Even the atmosphere is comparable for its draw of suburban nightlife preferring cocktails to craft beer.

But the 4th Street setting is more contemporary and accommodating to Oregon's new non-smoking status. The main bar features vaulted ceilings and granite tabletops. There's a separate dining area downstairs, another upstairs, a conference room, and a mini-bar on the second floor. There's even a small covered patio on 4th Street. The stainless steel brew house glistens under bright lights behind the bar.

Beer quality is admirable but not worth leaving Portland for. Standouts include a sessionable blonde ale, an exotic weizenbock, and a seasonal hefeweizen. One item worth noting is that 4th Street has lowered the bar (so to speak) by building a shorter extension bar to accommodate wheelchair patrons. Pretty cool.

The new location tends to suffer from harsh acoustics. This may be due in part to the exposed brick walls, but is compounded by eight or more televisions and two house PA systems competing for attention. Sound volumes may be lesser than most nightclubs, but are far more intrusive than brewpubs commonly are.