Fat Head's to open brewpub in Portland, Ore.

Have been many times to the one on E. Carson St. in Pittsburgh. Just my two cents, but I don't think Fat Heads in PDX will stand out at all. I found their house beers to be decent, but hardly exciting (probably comparable to the quality level you'll find over at Alameda Brewing). Their burgers are QUITE good, but in comparison to what you can find in PDX, again I don't think the food at Fat Heads will stick out either.

Having traveled around a bit, my take is that a Fat Heads in PDX will be received much the same way the Mellow Mushroom seems to have been received. The MM is a BIG deal in the SouthEast, with above average pizza and a reliably outstanding taplist. At least for the SE. However, located in the Pearl in NW Portland, it seems to be consistently overlooked. Reason? Unlike in the South, it's easy to find good pizza and bars with a solid taplist in PDX.

When I visited Asheville NC, visiting the MM was a big deal and one of the hilights of my trip. In PDX the thought never even crosses my mind to go visit the MM. My impression is that Fat Heads will be received much the same way as the MM.

Again, this is just my two cents, but I thought the head hunter IPA was pretty tasty, especially when fresh. Given what was available in Pittsburgh, I tended to order it pretty much every time I saw it on a menu draftlist. Given the range of IPA's available in PDX, however, I can reliably state that I will almost certainly never order it here.

 

As I indicated, it's just my opinion, and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with style preferences. IPA/DIPA's that I think are superior to fathead stuff include Maiden the shade, tricerahops. blue dot, Pelican imperial IPA, Boneyard RPM and Hop Venom (Notorious as well, if that counts), every IPA and DIPA that barley brown makes, Silver Moon's Uncle Jim's Mau Wowie DIPA, Megafauna, Bend hophead DIPA, Lucky Lab's Got Hops!, and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Portland also gets RR beers, which means we get elder, younger and blind pig here. Then there's all the Green Flash, FW and Alesmith stuff from California that's readily available here.

Again, I thought head hunter a fine IPA, and given what else was available in the area (Pittsburgh), I thought it really stood out. I could sometimes find sculpin, union jack, double jack, and nugget nectar (in season), but none of those beers were generally/regularly available the way HH is/was. (aside from fat heads, it was on tap most of the time at Pipers and occasionally at smokin joe's). Really, the only IPA I could find on a regular basis that I thought comparable to HH, was Bell's two hearted.

Time will tell of course, and given the thirst Portland consumers have for craft beer, Fat Heads may do OK. The MM does OK in PDX as well, from what I can tell, though again, they don't seem to be a destination craft location the way (for example) HOTD, Cascade Barrel House, Apex, Horse Brass, Bailey's, etc. are.

I don't believe I ever said that Fat Head's makes bad beer (as you seem to infer in your post). All I said was that I don't find any of it to be particularly exciting, and I stand by that. Given how high the bar is set when it comes to outstanding beer in PDX, I think Fat Head's may have a difficult time making a go of it in PDX. Again, that's just my opinion and impression, having sampled most of the Fat Head beers, and after having tried a fair amount of Oregon beer.

 

Of course you're right. My point was directed more at the fact that there is an awful lot of competition in Portland, which makes it difficult for any place to stand out (unless they're doing something unique, or really making or offering some outstanding beers). Based on my experience with the beer I've sampled at FatHead's in Pittsburgh, I think it's going to be very difficult for them to stand out (and thus do well) in this market. Of course I could be completely wrong about that, and as you indicated, the best thing to do is to wait and see (hence my comment about how "time will tell"). My opinion is really lilttle more than speculation, but it is based on having tried a number of FatHead beers, and also having spent a considerable amount of time exploring the beer scene in PDX. Personally, I hope they do VERY well in PDX, as that would tend to suggest that they're making some incredibly fine beers here. I'm not optimistic it's going to turn out that way for them, but as I indicated, I could well be wrong, and in this case I hope that I am.

 

:-) You thnk maybe they purchased Powell's Book Store?