Visiting Portland (2019)

@vurt, I made it over to that new La Cumbre taproom when it first opened. Definitely a bit different in vibe/feel/atmosphere than the original, but the beer is the same....fresh and great. I prefer and go to the original location but if I lived West Side and it was more convenient I might change that pattern up.

 

Alan is close with Curtis Salgado. I would hear his stuff or other blues music fairly often when stopping by. Usually at a noticeable volume. But I’m sure they go without music fairly often as well

 

Definitely a different vibe, and I do prefer the Girard location. But the new taproom is about a mile and a half from my folks' place, so I can't complain about that kind of convenience.

Looks like Marble has a new place in Rio Rancho out near Rust Hospital, so I'm looking forward to checking that out too.

I have another NM question, but I think I'll head over to the SW forum to see if I can dig up some intel...

 

Chicago area BA here. Not (unfortunately) visiting Portland, but a buddy is going to be driving back from there in the next week or so, so looking for recs on the best freshies available in cans/bottles. I'm old school, just looking for clean IPAs, in other words, what I think of when I think of Portland beer.

If there's another thread that covers, let me know. Thx.

 

@vurt, any questions about NM feel free to hit me up with a message and I will answer as best I can.

 

6ers of pFriem IPA in cans should meet that need

 

pFriem IPA
Gigantic the Time warp IPA
Gigantic Sassy Pony
Block 15 Fresh pow
Breakaide Wanderlust
Deschutes usually has a good classic IPA on the shelves

For non IPAs that are clean and refreshing

Heater Allen Pils
Zoiglhaus Pils
Wayfinder Hell
Fort George Optimist pale ale

 

Aside from the excellent recommendation from @jakecattleco , here are a few others which should scratch that old school proper IPA itch:

• Culmination Phaedrus
• Ecliptic Starburst
• Block 15 Sticky Hands (double IPA)
• Georgetown Bodhizafa
• Georgetown Lucille

All of these are easy to find. FWIW, Bodhizafa is pretty much my favorite IPA available in cans these days.

EDIT: If you find yourself in a place that has Barley Brown's Pallet Jack IPA on tap, and also fills crowlers, DO NOT HESITATE. Grab 2.

 

Also, Ex Novo Elliot IPA works

 

Great recs here, especially some personal favorites, Pallet Jack, Sticky Hands, Bodhi, and Wanderlust. And echo the rec on doubling up on Pallet Jack crowlers!

 

I'd rather have no music than metal. But, I don't particularly like metal, either the music or the attached aesthetic. Clearly, our mileages vary. Glad you had a fun trip!

 

Welcome back, and thanks for the detailed report! What shows did you catch while in town? As for your comments, I am starting to think Upright might be in the top 3 breweries in the country. No one does saisons quite as well as they do, definitely not the variety that they have. And the atmosphere in the taproom is special. They clearly take a lot of pride in what they do, but they aren't the least bit pretentious about it.

As for Wayfinder, I agree, the atmosphere isn't as metal as I'd like, but the quality more than makes up for it. I hope you got to try some of their pilsners, they've brewed a few different fantastic ones.

 

All I had at Wayfinder were their lagers. I had their Helles and their Italian Pilsner. Both were great and I was really tempted to return there the following day to try their other offerings, but too many others places in town I needed to check out. And glad I waited until Sunday to try Upright, because I would have been just as tempted to make a return visit to them as well.

Hit up OM @ Wonder Ballroom on Sunday, hit up Usnea/Abstracter/Hissing @ Twilight Bar and Cafe on Friday. Both shows were good, OM definitely my favorite of the two. I thought the Wonder Ballroom was a cool venue and Twilight Bar was the "dive-eist" musical joint I have been to in decades.

 

Thanks for the recs! No idea which of these brews I'll end up with, but am definitely looking forward to some great Portland beers.

 

Deschutes is always like that, and it's almost all tourists in there. Don't get me wrong, the food and beer are great, but all of us that live here have pretty much the same experience you did. I imagine it's that everyone has heard of Deschutes and so it's on everyone's list as a place to stop in Portland.

The Relapse guy also owns the Sizzle Pie locations in Portland, which feel a little more "metal" than Wayfinder does. When Wayfinder first opened there really wasn't the slightest hint of a metal influence. It has slowly been creeping in through their branding, so we'll see what happens over the next 5 years with that space. Personally, I'd love if they fully embraced the metal side of things.

 

The same could said for Bend. Every time I have visited Bend, getting into Deschutes was a no go. Simply went a block over to Bend Brewing. Problem solved.

 

Teote House Cafe had pretty good South American style cuisine with really good selections of craft beer.The food itself is a great draw.

 

couple auxilary questions that i couldn’t dig up with quick search:

- should I hit the Oakshire taproom vs. actual brewery? Looking for some Watershed cans to go, if that matters.

- cheapest/most available shop for some de Garde bottles?

- best place for a beer and vista over the Big River?

 

Watershed cans can be found just about anywhere - any grocery store, even. Just be sure to check the dates! As far as de Garde bottles...the only places that MIGHT have them are Tin Bucket or Arch Bridge. de Garde doesn't distribute much at all.