Visiting Portland (Winter 2016 update)

A while back, it became clear that this forum could use an easily searchable "I'm visiting Portland, where should I go?" thread. In this thread, I'll attempt to cull the "must-hit" spots generally agreed upon by Portland BAs. Of course, recommendations & suggestions are encouraged.

(Almost) Universally Recommended "Must-Visit" Breweries & Brew Pubs
Breakside Brewery
Cascade Brewing Barrel House
The Commons Brewery
Deschutes Portland Pub
Hair of the Dog Brewing
Upright Brewing (cash/check only)

Other Highly Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs
Baerlic Brewing
Fat Head's Brewery
Gigantic Brewing
Hopworks Urban Brewery & Hopworks Bike Bar
Laurelwood Brewing (multiple locations)
Lompoc Brewing (multiple locations)
Occidental Brewing

The Newcomers (breweries opened in the past year-ish)
BackPedal Brewing (July 2015)
Culmination Brewing (January 2015)
Great Notion Brewing (January 2016)
The Labrewtory (October 2015)
Leikam Brewing (August 2015)
Montavilla Brew Works (July 2015)
Splash Brewery (August 2015)
Zoiglhaus Brewing (September 2015)

Highly Recommended Beer Bars / Bottle Shops
APEX (Taproom, Bottles-to-go; Cash Only w/onsite ATM)
Bailey's Taproom/The Upper Lip (Taproom, Crowler Fills, Growler Fills, Bottle List)
The Beermongers (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills)
Belmont Station (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
Bridgetown Beerhouse (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills)
The Green Dragon (Taproom, Food)
The Growler Guys PDX (Taproom, Crowler Fills, Growler Fills, Bottles-to-go)
The Hop & Vine (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
Horse Brass Pub (Taproom, Food)
Imperial Bottle Shop (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Bottle Fills)
John's Marketplace (Bottle Shop)
N.W.I.P.A. (Taproom, Bottle Shop)
Oregon Hophouse: Hawthorne | 15th Avenue (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
Roscoe's (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
Saraveza (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
Tin Bucket (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Counter Pressure Growler Fills)
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(A Few) Beer-centric Restaurants*
Bazi Bierbrasserie
Cheese Bar
Cheese & Crack Snack Shop
Grain & Gristle
Higgins Restaurant
Lardo
Raven & Rose / The Rookery
White Owl Social Club

* Just about any decent restaurant in PDX has an acceptable beer list. Many are more than acceptable. This might be the most debatable section of this thread. Eater PDX is a great food resource.
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Portland BeerFly listing: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/16
Willamette Week's 2015 Beer Guide: http://www.wweek.com/portland/beerguide

Some helpful maps
digita7693’s map (beer map, restaurants, hotels, cafes, to-do)
The Beer Mapping Project
Oregon & Washington Brew Map
Oregon Beer Country map

A couple of potential(ly dangerous) pub crawls
The "Walk it Off" Pub Crawl (HotD > Bailey's > Deschutes > Upright > Burnside > Cascade)
Inner SE Pub/Brewery Crawl (APEX > Beermongers > Baerlic > HotD > Commons > Cascade > Base Camp > Burnside)
North Portland Pub Crawl (StormBreaker > Bridgetown Beerhouse > BikeBar > Sidebar > Tin Bucket > Ecliptic)

Want to know if XYZ bar/brewery allows kids? Here are some resources:
"PDX with kids" BA thread
Bars that Allow Children in Portland
Best Kid-Friendly Portland Brewpubs
Kid-Friendly Portland Breweries

Need shippers for all the beer you bought?
Portland Wine Storage
Rose City Wine Vaults & Storage

Transit
PDX Bus (free and awesome app)
Trimet
And yes, Uber and Lyft are currently operating in Portland.

Portland Airport
If you have time to kill at PDX, there are two Laurelwood brewpubs (concourses A & E), a Rogue brewpub (concourse D), a Henry's Tavern outpost, and several other restaurants with good tap lists. Laurelwood, Rogue, Henry's, and Country Cat are all past security and all fill growlers, so you can get a fill and carry it on. There are also Made in Oregon stores past security with good bottle selections.

** Disclaimer: This post is not intended to be a catch-all for Portland beer establishments. There are literally hundreds of well-regarded beer institutions throughout the greater Portland area -- many of which are not listed in this post. This thread is an attempt to present the most frequently recommended and highest-regarded spots cited in the Northwest BA forum. Exploration and experimentation are certainly encouraged!

 

Sorry for the late update. The laptop has risen from the dead.

Updates to Version 11:
* added Fat Head's to the "Other Recommended" section. Yes, I know this might be controversial due to the food/ambiance, but not many people deny the quality of the beer.
* removed BTU Brasserie from "The Newcomers" section (opened August 2014).
* added N.W.I.P.A. to the Beer Bars / Bottle Shops section.
* rewrote the airport info section; added Country Cat.

Past versions:
Original thread
Update v.1 (winter 2013)
Update v.2 (spring 2013)
Update v.3 (summer 2013)
Update v.4 (fall/winter 2013-14)
Update v.5 (spring 2014)
Update v.6 (fall/winter 2014)
Update v.7 (winter 2015)
Update v.8 (spring 2015)
Update v.9 (summer 2015)
Update v.10 (fall 2015)

 

Like @Aestro said, your best bet is to check the individual bar's website. Almost every beer bar in town has some version of an online taplist (some better than others). You're most likely to find the most up-to-date info direct from the source. If you're looking for a good compendium of taplists, Brew Notice is probably your best bet. They have a free app that works pretty well.

 

Yeah, definitely an oversight on my part. Probably should've been added a while ago.

 

Weekend bump.

Has anyone been to Splash Bar/Splash Brewing? I'm debating checking it out this weekend (definitely during the day), but it really looks like the kind of place I'd have to be dragged to kicking and screaming if it weren't for the fact that they (kind of) brew their own beer. Their logo is a cartoon shark wearing sunglasses and a Bermuda shirt, for fuck's sake. They also use a Smart Brew system. My cynical, preliminary judgment tells me it looks like a supremely lazy way for a bar owner to say they brew their own beer & use it as a marketing ploy. Have I mentioned that I tend to be cynical?

Any insight? I'll report back if I end up going.