Visiting Portland - Winter 2017/18 update

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by guajolote, Dec 16, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Page 1 of 9
  1. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    A few years back, it became clear that this forum could use an "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 (multiple locations)
    Cascade Brewing Barrel House
    Deschutes Portland Pub
    Great Notion Brewing
    Hair of the Dog Brewing
    Upright Brewing (cash/check only)

    Other Highly Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs
    Baerlic Brewing
    Culmination Brewing
    Ex Novo Brewing
    Fat Head's Brewery (closing early 2018)
    Gigantic Brewing
    Hopworks Urban Brewery (multiple locations)
    Laurelwood Brewing (multiple locations)
    Lompoc Brewing (multiple locations)
    Occidental Brewing

    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 Growler Guys PDX (Taproom, Crowler Fills, Growler Fills, Bottles-to-go)
    Horse Brass Pub (Taproom, Food)
    Imperial Bottle Shop (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Bottle Fills)
    John's Marketplace (Bottle Shop)
    Loyal Legion (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
    N.W.I.P.A. (Taproom, Bottle Shop)
    Hawthorne Hophouse (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)
    ---------------------------------------------------
    (A Few) Beer-centric Restaurants*
    Cheese Bar
    Grain & Gristle
    Higgins Restaurant
    Lardo
    Raven & Rose / The Rookery
    White Owl Social Club

    * Just about any decent restaurant in PDX has a good/very good beer list. This might be the most debatable section of this thread. Eater PDX is a great food resource.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Other Resources (places, events, releases, news/information, etc.)
    Portland BeerFly listing
    Willamette Week's 2017 Beer Guide
    Brewpublic
    The Brew Site
    New School Beer
    Oregon Beer Growler
    Portland Craft Beer Events Calendar

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

    Portland Airport
    PDX is a great bar that just happens to be an airport. If you have time to kill, 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!
     
    #1 guajolote, Dec 16, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 19, 2018
    lateralusbeer, ClayborneCR, Dactrius and 7 others like this.
  2. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    Ok. Finally got around to an update. I can't believe I've kept up with this for so long... Though I did slack on making a fall update. I think this is the first time the post has actually shrunk. It's been a weird couple months for the Portland beer scene. Anyway...

    Updates for Volume 17(!):

    * Removed The Commons from the "must visit" list. RIP Commons :slight_frown:. Modern Times will take over the space & is expected to open in January 2018. I won't be surprised if the new MT spot makes one of the above lists in the next update.

    * Removed the "Newcomers" section as there have been no brewery openings in the city limits in recent months. Most of the action seems to be in the surrounding areas these days. The only one left that had opened in 2017 is Ross Island Brewing, which unfortunately is already up for sale or new investment.

    * Removed Bazi Bierbrasserie, as it will be changing ownership & becoming a Thirsty Monk outpost sometime in the near future.

    Past versions:
    Original thread
    Update 1 (winter 2013)
    Update 2 (spring 2013)
    Update 3 (summer 2013)
    Update 4 (fall/winter 2013-14)
    Update 5 (spring 2014)
    Update 6 (fall/winter 2014)
    Update 7 (winter 2015)
    Update 8 (spring 2015)
    Update 9 (summer 2015)
    Update 10 (fall 2015)
    Update 11 (winter 2016)
    Update 12 (spring 2016)
    Update 13 (summer 2016)
    Update 14 (fall/winter 2016-17)
    Update 15 (summer 2017)

    Enjoy!
     
    #2 guajolote, Dec 16, 2017
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2017
    ClayborneCR, shelby415, ExVashonGujy and 2 others like this.
  3. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    Well, I already screwed up. Shouldn't have had a pre-noon beer while updating this thread. But I digress.

    Deschutes is taking over the Rogue Brewpub space in Concourse D, and Hopworks (aka HUB) is taking over Laurelwood's Concourse E space. Both of which will happen sometime in 2018. The Laurelwood Pub in Concourse A will stay open. Meaning there will be three brewpubs operating at PDX, in addition to the other great drinking spots already there. PDX is a legit place for a pub crawl. Just don't get kicked off your plane!
     
    #3 guajolote, Dec 16, 2017
    BBThunderbolt and sharpski like this.
  4. vurt

    vurt Grand Pooh-Bah (4,504) Apr 11, 2004 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    As a fairly frequent traveler out of PDX, I am thoroughly in favor of these developments.
     
    #4 vurt, Dec 16, 2017
    trbergman, guajolote and BBThunderbolt like this.
  5. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Again, thanks for doing this.
     
    #5 BBThunderbolt, Dec 16, 2017
    guajolote likes this.
  6. JouerAvecLeFeu

    JouerAvecLeFeu Pooh-Bah (2,032) Apr 17, 2015 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    Bummer to no longer see The Commons on the list...
     
    #6 JouerAvecLeFeu, Dec 17, 2017
    VABA, BBThunderbolt and guajolote like this.
  7. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I know it's a bit early to suggest that they make the "highly recommended" list, but Wayfinder continues to impress me more and more with their house beers (already like the restaurant/brewpub just fine). Just tried their Pils Project #2 - Decocted Pilsner, and it easily made my top 3 pils from the NW.

    So far, have liked and/or been impressed by everything I've had from them (so far).
     
    #7 John_M, Dec 19, 2017
    BeerandLoathing, Schnapsidee, vurt and 1 other person like this.
  8. prior2two

    prior2two Maven (1,490) Oct 18, 2013 Illinois
    Trader

    Damnit. I missed it when i was visiting a few years ago, and then my friend raved about it. Now, i'll be in town for work next week, and i see it's already closed shop.

    What a bummer.
     
    #8 prior2two, Jan 3, 2018
    JouerAvecLeFeu and BBThunderbolt like this.
  9. vurt

    vurt Grand Pooh-Bah (4,504) Apr 11, 2004 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    You can probably still find their bottles on the shelves. I saw a few of them around last weekend.
     
    #9 vurt, Jan 3, 2018
  10. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Probably on tap as well would be my guess.

    When I was at the Parkway in Tacoma a week ago, they had a keg of Flemish Kiss on tap.
     
    #10 John_M, Jan 3, 2018
  11. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I still see bottles of Urban Farmhouse at my neighborhood PCC.
     
    #11 distantmantra, Jan 3, 2018
  12. vurt

    vurt Grand Pooh-Bah (4,504) Apr 11, 2004 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Could be, but I just spot checked about a dozen online taplists (Belmont Station, Beermongers, Growler Guys SE, Orenco Taphouse, both Imperial Bottle Shops, etc.) and didn't see any Commons beers on tap.

    (Which means that I just scratched the surface, and I really wouldn't be surprised to run into Commons beers somehwere out there over the next month or so.)
     
    #12 vurt, Jan 3, 2018
  13. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    Same here.

    Sigh. For some reason this made me think of Roots brewing, and how you would periodically come across tappings of their Epic Ale for years after the brewpub closed (may they RIP). My guess is it will be the same with beers from the Commons as well.
     
    #13 John_M, Jan 4, 2018
    vurt, shelby415, BBThunderbolt and 1 other person like this.
  14. shelby415

    shelby415 Pooh-Bah (2,098) Oct 10, 2011 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I remember finding a Roots Island Red in some obscure bodega in outer east PDX like a year after they closed. All by its lonesome. Since I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who actually liked that beer I grabbed and it was still pretty good. Betcha Belmont Station still has some Epic stashed somewhere fwiw.

    In my experience Commons was frequently found in random restaurants, which would be a hassle to try and check but might be the only place to find it. I tried Laurelhurst Theater, which often had it on tap, and that was not happening. Too bad.
     
    #14 shelby415, Jan 4, 2018
    BBThunderbolt likes this.
  15. Rip_City

    Rip_City Initiate (0) Jul 16, 2016 Oregon

    Anybody see any urban farmhouse bottles around portland? Haven't seen any in the last few weeks. I heard a whisper that they might come back, if the financials work out in the next year. Fingers crossed that they do.
     
    #15 Rip_City, Jan 4, 2018
  16. weaverr

    weaverr Zealot (729) Jun 10, 2008 California

    I believe I've seen The Commons bottles still at Whole Foods (last saw at the Pearl location) and Imperial on Alberta. Your more popular beer bars are going to go through kegs faster, and likely wouldn't have any Commons left.
     
    #16 weaverr, Jan 4, 2018
  17. derftron

    derftron Pooh-Bah (1,663) Feb 8, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    flemish kiss is still at Johns Market. I might buy one just for nostalgia.

    the more I think about it, Im pretty bummed about Commons. they made high quality beer at a good price point. they will be missed
     
    #17 derftron, Jan 4, 2018
  18. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I had one last weekend and forgot just how wonderful that beer is. :slight_frown:
     
    #18 distantmantra, Jan 4, 2018
    BeerandLoathing, vurt and sharpski like this.
  19. sdhopaddict

    sdhopaddict Devotee (373) Oct 9, 2016 California

    Glad you said this. I was recommended Wayfinder by a blogger out of Portland area as well as Level brewing.

    Are there any other newer breweries that are worth visiting? I have been to all of the highly recommended list and am interested in both hyper modern stuff ALA Great Notion and excellent pilsners ALA Wayfinder. I'm going to be in the area this coming weekend, January 13th if anyone wants to meet up with someone from San Diego while I'm there.
     
    #19 sdhopaddict, Jan 7, 2018
  20. prior2two

    prior2two Maven (1,490) Oct 18, 2013 Illinois
    Trader

    I just got into town, and will be here all week. If you’re still here, I’m down for a drink.
     
    #20 prior2two, Jan 8, 2018
Page 1 of 9
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.