Visiting Portland (Summer 2015 update)

Hotel Monaco on Washington street. Seemed to be a central location and a nice place. I can walk to less expensive parking if the difference is enough.

 

Went to Loyal Legion tonight. Initial menu confusion complaints seem to be resolved, everything was very clear.

However service was abysmal and tap list, while respectable in its intentions, was thoroughly underwhelming. Also, I like my IPAs in pint glass, not a tulip. Last complaint is the atmosphere, sterile and uninviting (the staff helped with that feeling).

 

I was there last night as well. I think it might not be the type of place that we would recommend on this thread, but I think its absolutely a place I will recommend to my non beer nerd friends. I dig the atmosphere, and had no complaints with my particular server. My smoked chorizo on a pretzel bun was delicious and a pretty good deal at $6.

I was pissed that my ISA came in a 16oz tulip though .

 

You posted this previously in another thread. Great recommendation! This was where I was able to get most of my de Garde on my trip, including at the brewery. It is well worth the drive, assuming you haven't spread the news of this place too far.

 

Thanks for this thread. It was a big help on my recent trip to Portland. Cascade was great, but Hair of the Dog was a very pleasant surprise for me. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected and I know there is a perception they've fallen off a bit from what they once were. I was a little disappointed by Belmont Station, but Beermongers and Apex were great. As others have said on this thread, go to Apex for the drafts, their bottles are overpriced. However, they are more likely to have something limited you are looking for because of their higher prices.

Overall, completely loved PDX area and I'm envious of every little whole in the wall place having a great taplist. One of my favorite beer cities.

 

Fantastic thread, I frequented Portland (traveling from DC) for work about 12 times or so over the past 2 years. I will be making a trip back in January, this thread will serve as a great starting point for my planning. Many thanks!

 

If you don't mind me asking, what disappointed you?

 

No Mark.

 

I should have put more emphasis on the little part of my statement. For being as highly rated a beer store as it was, I thought it was small and there wasn't anything particularly unique on the tap list or in the bottles they had during my visit. However, I'd kill to have Belmont Station where I live now. And Belmont station would've been the best beer store of the last three places I've lived. I probably had unrealistic expectations.

 

Yet you called Beermongers "great," and it is a smaller location with a smaller beer selection, in bottles and on tap.

Not trying to change your opinion, and for the record I think Belmont and 'Mongers are both wonderful. But your assessment makes me slightly confuse...

 

Fair enough. Thanks for the reply!

I think it's the nature of the beast when it comes to places like ours. Depending on the day/week (and how much you look around) the bottle and tap selection can be anything from solid to "Holy shit!" It's entirely possible that the tap list at Mongers had more interesting stuff when @JamLand visited, or that they had bottles of something awesome that we'd already sold out of or hadn't received yet.

 

Never have I been to Belmont Station and not found something of interest, or many somethings.

 

Well, at least you guys didn't focus on the one minor negative thing I said.

 

If in Portland this weekend I highly recommend going to the Commons to try Ginger-lime Myrtle. The tapped it this week, I tried it yesterday. It's a special beer. Also recommend seeking out the fresh hop beers on tap now all around town.

 

So since the new one should be coming in the near future... new breweries that opened up are Backpedal, Montavilla, Splash Bar, Great Notion (they've taken over, but unsure if they're doing a lot of their own stuff yet) annnnd... anything else I'm forgetting?

Also I vote to add Ex Novo to the North Portland pub crawl.

 

Hi Folks,

A few questions. Heading to Portland with 2 buddies Oct 22nd-25th. Im the beer lover, they... not so much. Here are what I want to know

1) Suggestion of a neighborhood to stay in? Ideally near some great bars/restaurants, etc... but also hopefully near some breweries or beer bars. We will have a car and are likely going to try and find an Air Bnb (eager to take recommendations on that or on hotels too).

2) Anyone know of any events/releases for that weekend? Beer or otherwise?

3) Coming from NorCal (Oakland specifically). Always looking to make an IP trade or two. If you want something from this neck of the woods, dont hestiate to BM me.

4) Any food/bar/general activity recommendations are greatly appreciated, in particular for this time of year.

Thanks in advance,

Adam

 

Getting around in Portland is pretty easy, so if you end up downtown it's easy to get to Baileys and Deschutes and other downtown attractions, or a short bus/walk to the inner east side goodies. If you go AirBnB, try east of the river, west of SE/NE 39th, north of SE Division, and south of E Burnside.

 

Brewpublic's KillerBeerFest at Bailey's Taproom is that weekend. The line up hasn't been announced, but there's always a great selection.

 

As a recent visitor, if you don't mind driving, I'd suggest staying at a cheaper place away from downtown and driving to your various destinations. We stayed at a hotel near airport, most drives were less than ten minutes and we never had any difficulty finding street parking. Obviously, if you and your party are more interested in a walkable vacation, then my suggestion is useless.

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but as the buyer for the station I'm obviously a bit biased, and want to do everything within my power to make sure everyone who visits us has a great time, thus I was interested in any aspect of your visit that was disappointing so that we can use that info to improve. Granted, I'm not the owner, GM, or bar manager, so there's limits to what I can do to change things, but I do pass on info when I can.

Having said that, I did appreciate the rest of your comments, and I hope other people did as well. I feel like many of us probably get so wrapped up in our little bubble of beer-y goodness that we sometimes forget what's it's like to visit Portland as a tourist.

Your comment about HoTD illustrates that perfectly; some folks in this forum are constantly bitching about the place, but that's probably because they live close enough to visit on a regular basis and are able to try every oddball variant that gets released, or to have their opinion colored by a server having an off day. As a visitor you're only seeing a snapshot, which often reveals that the place is actually pretty damn awesome most of the time.