Visiting Portland (Spring 2016 update)

I highly recommend setting up trades/looking around town for bottles. If there are leftover anniversary beers for sale, there will almost certainly be a lot of people standing in line, and you won't have a relaxing or representative experience of de Garde if you go then.

 

Thanks for the advice. May need to make another trip just for de garde. Kinda sad though, as they are one of my all time favorite breweries and I had hoped to make it out there on this trip.

 

Yeah man, if they're you're favorite ever, don't pass up on the chance. Depending on how you want your day to go, there are other things to do out there. If you're just about the beer, maybe post in the PDX Craiglist Ride Share forum, maybe there will be a fellow pilgrim. Either way, GO!

 

The reviews i've read on Green Dragon seem to be all over the map.

 

This. If it's your holy grail, go there, and ignore what that jerk Nedstarkravingmad says. I imagine tha since your visit is still a few weeks out, there might be a couple of folks on this forum who would be willing to bring a fun dG bottle or two to a good spot in Portland so that you can try a few things that aren't available. I know that I would. What part if IN are you from?

 

Good to know. They seem to update their website regularly by the looks of things so I can check out what they have in advance!

 

I hate Green Dragon personally, used to be great before Rogue bought it, now it's a mess. They aren't having problems getting people in there, but with Apex, Beer Mongers, and Growler Guys (let alone Cascade, Baerlic, and Commons) as options right around there I'd avoid unless there's something really unique on tap.

Also Culmination is a really cool spot and coming up, aided by their results in the WW IPA thing. Same with ex-Novo.

I also thoughts Leikam didn't have a tap room?

 

Hi All,

I wanted to post about my recent trip in the hopes that it helps others in their adventures.

My wife and I are from NJ and visited Seattle/Portland a week ago. It wasn't a beercation so we didn't spend 12 hours a day in breweries or bars (I know, right?) so I tried to be diligent with selection. All said we were there for 2.5 days and stayed downtown. Here are my quick thoughts on the places we tried.

The first place we went in town was the Columbia River Gorge. There is another entire set of breweries that runs alongside the gorge and near the Mount Hood National Forest. Unfortunately we only stopped at one, Thunder Canyon Brewery, but if you're into scenic views this is a must. It sits right next to the Cascade Locks and overlooks the Bridge of the Gods. Honestly, the beer is ok but go here after a hike and you won't regret it.

Deschutes and Fat Head's. Both places are right downtown, come with an extensive draft lift, and have the same general vibe (think Buffalo Wild Wings with more wood decor). I liked Fat Head's beers more but Deschutes has to-go offerings. Overall both are above average and since they're a stone's throw away from one another, they're worth checking out if you're in the area.

Also downtown is Bailey's Taproom. Since this was the area we were staying, I was searching for a solid beer bar and thought this fit the bill perfectly. I believe there were ~20 different draft lines and 15-20 different cans/bottles. I didn't see a menu for the latter so there could have been a lot more but I was going off what I saw in the fridge behind the bar. Being a hophead I just enjoyed that they had Boneyard and Block 15 (Sticky Hands cans) available.

Great Notion Brewery. This is probably the most talked-about place I went to, so I made the trip to this somewhat isolated spot (10-15 min Uber from downtown). I was lucky that they had most of their entire lineup available and tried Juice, Double Stack, Blueberry Muffin, and Ripe. I didn't eat but the people were nice and it was a casual vibe. Juice was by far the best of their offerings and is worth going out of your way for if hoppy juice bombs are your thing. Blueberry Muffin and Double Stack, while good, struck me as somewhat gimmicky. Ripe on the other hand was tasty but just a bit too delicate and without much punch for my taste. I can see how the locals could have a problem with the relative price differences but all in all a good young brewery with a limited but solid set of beers.

The last of the set of places I tried started with Growler Guys, which is east of downtown over the river. They have a small collection of bottles but this place is all about the tap list. We only tried a flight but the tap list was on point and I saw people there also having cans of Sticky Hands (again I didn't ask about a bottle/can menu). They have a ton of growlers, glassware, and it's 2 blocks from Cascade Barrel House. Bottom line is you can't go wrong here. Onto to house of sours! Not much to really say about Cascade except if you like sours, you have to go here. Of the places I've been only Wicked Weed's Funkatorium rivals the sheer selection of sour taps and bottles. Not only do they have current offerings but vintage versions of many of their beers as well.

APEX. This was actually kind of an afterthought, and I didn't actually drink here. We were driving through and I just pulled off, curious about their bottle selection. Long story short these guys had one of the best bottle lists I've ever seen. It wasn't as extensive as some places (Chuck's Hop Shop in Seattle) but had #whalezbro, albeit marked up 20-30%. The pricing didn't bother me as much since I work in NYC and was looking to bring back a few gems. They had more vintage Cascade beers than Cascade, and I picked up a 2014 Consecration and Perennial Sump. Oh, and their draft selection was also very good but worth pointing out they are cash only.

I know this was a bit TL;DR but hopefully it helps. Cheers!

 

Thanks for the trip report. We're always happy to get an outsiders view of our very beery world.

 

This is great info. Appreciated!

 

Any really good brewery tours?

 

Just FYI, you were probably looking at the little fridge behind the cash register? There's a bar to ceiling fridge to the far left if you're facing the bar. About 100 bottles total:

http://www.baileystaproom.com/bottle-list/

Also, for anyone else it's worth heading upstairs to The Upper Lip if you're at Baileys. 6 or so thoughtfully selected drafts and a bunch more bottles.

Thanks for the write up!

 

...raises hand...

 

Oops, you are correct. Ignore everything I said. (Damn, I'm not even drunk yet.)

 

Just to be pedantic, Growler Guys near Cascade is on the eastside of the river, Willamette river flows north. Glad you enjoyed your trip!

Not really. Widmer and Pyramid are the only ones I can think of that do actual tours. If you want to drink around equipment I'd go Upright or The Commons, literally drink right next to the tanks/barrels.

 

Never. Eat. Soggy. Waffles.

Damnit! Can someone edit that to East since it looks like I can't edit any longer?