I will be in Portland for 2 days next week. One of these days will be dedicated to going to breweries. Since there are so many, I was wondering which of the lesser known breweries/brew pubs I need to drink at. Any suggestions? BTW I will be stopping at Cascade, Hair of the Dog, Widmer, Rogue, and Deschutes for sure.
Check out The Commons - especially since it is within walking distance of Cascade and Hair of the Dog. I would also highly recommend Upright. Here's a previous post that has all kinds of info: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-portland-spring-2015-update.276595/
Get rental car. Go to de Garde! Just kidding (sort of) as I've never been to Portland but I hear there are so many great breweries and craft bars in that city you won't even scratch the surface in just 1 day. But I'm sure you'll have lots of great beers and lower probablity of selecting a bad one in that town.
Skip Widmer and Rogue. Go to Upright (if they are open. Check out their hours online), the commons, breakside, and ex novo. Also hit up Belmont Station/Beermongers/beer bar to find some Barley Browns and Boneyard which are draft only.
I'd skip Rogue, but then I'm not a fan in general. If you like Rogues beers, go right ahead. Widmer often has some interesting stuff only available there. I am a huge Deschutes fan, so I would certainly hit them. Other than that, play it by ear. Keep checking this forum, lots of times things pop up. Enjoy your visit!
Hate to nit pick, but would point out a few things regarding Rogue. There is no Rogue brewery in PDX. All Rogue beer is brewed in Newport. There is a Rogue Alehouse of course in the Pearl, and most of what Rogue brews can be found on tap there. Rogue does have a brewpub in PDX, essentially co-located at the Green Dragon pub (which is also owned and operated by Rogue). It's the Buckman Botanical Brewery over on SE Yamhill. Aside from a sizeable selection of Buckman beers, GD has a great guest taplist, which IMHO, is the primary reason why one should visit (as most Buckman beers are completely forgettable). If it were me, I would also skip the alehouse, and instead visit some of the other places recommended in this thread.
But the space is nice, and IBUsive and Head Hunter are top notch IPA's, I get its from OH, but I thourghouhly enjoyed my flight there, it was also only a $6 uber from Ecliptic @A_Rad I put a little write up in the visiting PDX thread, Also, if you are looking for DeGarde, they had bottles at the Whole Foods by Fat Heads
Vibe and menu aside, their house beers are solid (or better), and other than Bailey's they probably have the best collection of guest taps in the downtown core.
I'll fervently add to the "Avoid Rogue" pile-on, but I can't agree with skipping Deschutes. They always have several pub-only beers that tend to range from good-to-great. And the space is very nice, if that matters to you. My advice for someone with limited time in town would be to stick to the "Must Hits" in the Visiting Portland thread. Or pick some of the recommended beer bars (I'd personally recommend APEX, Belmont, Tin Bucket, and Bailey's), since you'll get a chance to sample many local spots in one stop. Whatever you decide on, you'll almost undoubtedly be happy. But you'll also be sad because for every place you hit, there will be 3,4,5 that you miss.
Yeah, really, I haven't been to Fat Head's but if you are looking for a Portland experience it makes a lot more sense to go to Portland breweries/pubs/shops. OP, just check out the "sticky" thread referenced above (NW forum constantly gets inquiries about PDX and SEA, so this is our solution) and enjoy your visit. If you can also make it to deGarde or Bend (the whole city), it would definitely be worth your while.
Completely agree. I would skip Rogue and Widmer and add Upright, Commons, and Breakside to your must hit list. Surprised by the few skip Deschutes as I always find something interesting there, and if you are there you might as well head down to Baileys
1: Skip Rogue and Cascade. Only hit Deschutes if you can make it there around open. 2: Go to The Commons. Maybe Breakside as well. 3: Keep an eye on local taplists. Tin Bucket, The Growler Guys, Beermongers, Baileys, Roscoes, etc are all awesome beer bars that post their taplists online. 4: Bring me some New Glarus bottles.
