West Coast Beer Haul Suggestions!!!

Just came back from 5 days in Omaha. Small world.

Boneyard, Crux, Commons, Gigantic are definite breweries to keep an eye out for in Oregon. Russian River still distributes there and Pliny shows up every 5 weeks.

 

Which part of Oregon are you visiting? Availability of some beers depends on where in the state you are...

 

Yep, went to Beertopia, Cubby's, Upstream, NBC, etc. My wife is from Omaha originally so I've been going there for the last ten years or so since we started dating.

 

Goodlife Descender cans and Laurelwood Megafauna IIPA are recent favorites of mine. I would also pick up some Logsdon.

 

You should be able to get bottles from Commons, Upright, Logsdon, and Crux. All are excellent. Bend Brewing also does some great stuff that's pretty limited in distribution - Ching Ching, Sexi Mexi, etc. Pelican is up the coast - too far for a daytrip - but you'll find bottles of their stuff; the basics are all good and their more limited edition stuff is excellent. Bottles of Stormwatcher are still floating around I'm sure. If you're into lagers, grab stuff by Heater Allen.

In Eugene you should hit 16 Tons; a nice beer bar and bottle shop (there are two locations; go to the bottle shop downtown ... or go to both). They'll most likely have some bottles of Ale Apothecary stuff; it's spendy, but you should grab it. You'll be able to find Boneyard on tap. Drink it, fill growlers of it. If you see any De Garde on tap, definitely drink that; probably the "hottest" new brewer in Oregon. They're out of Tillamook but I'm pretty sure they don't have a tasting room ... kegs go to Portland, Eugene, etc, and are consumed as fast as they come. You might see bottles from Block 15. They can be hit or miss, but the hits are big and even the misses are almost always interesting. They're in Corvallis. Also in Corvallis is Flat Tail. They do some interesting stuff. Corvallis is close enough to Eugene that Flat Tail and Block 15 tend to make it down there.

You'll be hard pressed to find bottles of Pliny, but in Portland Apex often has it on tap along with Blind Pig. Bottles of their sours are pretty easy to find though. Not sure if Anchorage bottles make it to the Midwest, but I'd say that's some essential drinking.

 

Definitely grab yourself a bottle of Breakside Brewery IPA....I would also suggest Wrokhorse IPA from Laurelwood while you are out here. They are changing their bottling/dist so i would grab that before they inevitably change the recipe. Contrary to what was mentioned earlier, you can get Pliney in PDX anytime you want it.

 

Kurmaraja hit it on the head. I also agree with Red. Descender is great and I would pick up MegaFauna before Workhorse all day long. Breakside IPA is also legit but if you see RPM from Boneyard on tap, empty your bomber of Breakside and fill it up with RPM

Don't forget that we also get good distro of California breweries too. Green Flash, Ballast Point, Bear Republic, Bruery, Alesmith, etc.

 

ANY time? In bottles? Curious - where? Last time I was at Belmont Station, they didn't have any. Last couple times I've been at Beermongers, they didn't have any. Not saying I haven't gotten bottles around Portland, but in my experience (granted - visiting from Seattle) it's not usually sitting around. I'd love to be proven wrong!

 

Apex. No limit. Been there countless times, only been out once, but all of Portland was out. Belmont. Hop and Vine.

 

Then it is not fresh. As for Belmont Station, when they get it every few weeks it lasts for 3-4 days. You must not visit too often.

 

Your experience is far closer to reality than SMITHAND's experience.

 

also sometimes if you seem like an out-of-towner beer tourist type, and the guy behind the counter doesn't recognize you, he may tell you there is no pliny for the sheer enjoyment of messing around with you. i do not personally condone this behavior, but i'm aware that it exists... )

 

...I guess Im wrong. Or lucky. Im not trying to argue or fight about it, just saying I havent ever had a problem finding it when Ive wanted it. Good luck with it going forward.

 

Yeah, you have to remember some of us losers are at Belmont Station pretty much every day so we tend to have a really good idea about what's in stock.

 

As an out-of-towner having just been in Eugene for a weekend, I second 16 Tons (both the cafe and bottle shop) and nominate the Beer Stein for a visit. Market of Choice (a supermarket right next door to 16 Tons Cafe) also had quite the selection. You will be amazed not only by the selections available at bottle shops, but by the fact that pretty much every restaurant in Eugene has at least a few decent taps...and by "decent," I mean there will likely be a Boneyard IPA on draft.

 

you bastard. i knew you weren't being truthful.