Going on a vacation to Portland from NY at the beginning of June. Would like some recommendations on the bottle shops as the West Coast is several underrepresented in my cellar.
Two big ones are Belmont Station and The Beermongers. Belmont has the biggest selection and Beermongers has the best prices. Take a look at Belmont's website for a list of the bottles they have. Depending on where you will be staying, there are a ton of other stores around as well.
Beermongers, without a doubt. Not the biggest selection, but damn big, super friendly, best prices, great taps, and walking distance from Apex and The Commons.
I will always go to Apex Bar. Their bottles are a little over priced but a lot of them are otherwise unattainable. Vintage HotD variants, a full stock of Russian River, multiple Cantillon bottles and a ton of other great stuff. When I say a little over priced I actually mean quite a bit over priced haha. I don't mind blowing a little dough on a Fou Foune here and there.
Belmont Station is always a must stop for me when in PDX. John's Market also if I have time as well as the Market of Choice near John's.
For all you APEX/BeerMongers/Commons fans, this will be another option in the neighborhood in a few short weeks! Other good/great shops besides BeerMongers, John's & Belmont Station: there are several more bottle shops worth mentioning (all with taprooms attached). Just depends on which part of the city you visit and how much time you have to explore. Saraveza (N Portland) The Hop & Vine (N Portland) Bridgetown Beerhouse (N Portland) Bottles (NE Portland) Cap & Corks (NW Portland) By the Bottle (across the river in Vancouver, WA - they get some terrific Washington beer not distributed in OR) NWer mentioned Market of Choice, too. Agreed - MoC, New Seasons and Whole Foods allhave typically great beer departments; a couple of the Fred Meyer stores have extensive beer shelves too (SE Hawthorne & NE Weidler stores in particular). Cheers, Brian
Beaumont Market is an oft-overlooked diamond in the rough. It's a neighborhood grocery with a walk-in cooler. They always have a very high quality selection & I've sometimes found stuff there that is long gone at the usual suspects.
Cheese Bar! In one stop, I found Peche N Brett, Enjoy By IPA, and Pliny - all of which were sold out in the entire city - and they also have awesome cheese
Beer Mongers, because: 1. It's on my way home 2. Prices are the best in town 3. Selection is good (maybe not as good as Belmont or John's, but close) 4. Nice tap list and close to Apex if you need a bigger tap list 5. Friendly staff 6. Good vibe 7. Almost always a BA or two hanging out there
In SW at least, I've been a fan of Uptown Market...but I live in SW so my options of a non-grocer-based one are a little limited. Prices are hit or miss. Birra Deli is also pretty neat out this way and Johns market is worth a stop. I'd be hard-pressed to recommend anywhere except Belmont Station and BeerMongers, overall though.
