Mikkeller Portland

Interesting, I'll take it. Chefstable seems like a good partner for them.

I'm glad to join *checks notes* 43 other Mikkeller locations as being a "perfect fit" for a Mikkeller location.

 

I am not a fan of the development.

Of all the places I've lived in in my few years, with the exception of my college town, I've spent the least in Portland. It has also the place I'm most protective of, beer culture wise at least, for the first simple reason that the local beer scene has supported a truly diverse cast as Upright, HotD, Belmont Station, the Beermongers, all while, ( and I can't stress this enough), supporting healthy, if excited local competition, that has allowed Hillsboro to have 2 top notch beer destinations. Mikkeller is many things, but an organic supporter of that culture it is not. And any brewery that thinks Black is worthy of release, let alone at the $1/1oz price point, is going to get me rounding up the hounds.

And full disclosure, I will put my cards on the table. I have the same philosophical beef with Modern Times, and the only reason I was more accepting was because one mlm of my beer senseis helped bbn with the recipe formulation on the MT core lineup. My initial silence on their Commons investment was purely bias.

 

I've never been a fan of his beers, so, yawn, I guess?

 

Give it up to @beertunes for a more secure and more succinct version of my response. !

 

I figured "perfect fit" actually means "Portland is now expensive enough to support a Mikkeller bar."

 

Mikkeller or burnside. Seriously? New destination place to go. Been to quite a few around the world and i welcome it over burnside any day. I hope some employees can get a better job out if it, for sure.
Expensive... good point. Modern times came in and lowered prices within a month, however, prices now seem to be up 30% or more all over town.

 

It does seem that any US city Mikkeller moves into churns out a high number of collaboration beers.

I 100% agree with the price point issue. I haven’t even been to Modern Times once because of that. If Mikkeller pricing follows their pattern, I probably won’t stop in there either. I wonder what kind of guidance they’ll get from Chefstable, who seems to ride the line with Beer o’Clock both being expensive and having a good happy hour.

 

I spent the weekend in LA and loved the downtown Mikkeller and Modern Times locations. Loved the Mikkeller experience so much we went two nights in a row.

while I can't really disagree with any of the points made above, I do think Mikkeller is a slightly better fit then, say, Fat Head's. I think they've got a lot of work to do to make it more than a couple years in the city, though.

 

The collabs are starting roll in.
Gigantic and cascade already.

 

WW just wrote a pretty scathing review, although not very shocking.

Food is very very good, but definitely pricey.

Beers are mostly below average vs. what is readily available around town. No matter what style you are after, there are better options to be had without much effort vs. what Mikkeller has. Also, beers are expensive ($6-$10 for 10-13oz pours). Again, this isnt shocking. Ive had my share of Mikkeller beers and cant think of any off the top of my head (other than BA Vanilla beergeek) where the pricepoint was justified.

The decor also got a bad write-up. "last minute run to IKEA" was the phrase i think. This will get an overhaul at some point.

 

Link?

 

https://www.wweek.com/bars/2019/06/...-beer-but-the-brews-dont-live-up-to-the-hype/

 

I was a member of the viking club in San Diego's Mikkeller (I discontinued this year). I have noticed a sharp falling off of their beers down here too. Just too many other good options for the price. Looks like I'll do the same next time I'm up in Portland!

 

I've never thought Mikkelers beers lived up to their hype.

 

I agree with the overall sentiment that Mikkeller is overrated but in this case I think the original stuff would still be a lot better than the Mikkeller San Diego beers they had. (From what I've read it sounds like a franchise relationship similar to the Portland Fatheads). I made the mistake of stopping by and not only was the beer unimpressive, but the whole thing seemed half-hearted, full-priced and middle of the road.

 

Maybe, maybe not. The whole venture was designed as a temporary pop-up, to be closed at the end of the year.

From the Oregon Live article: "...a pop-up beer bar alongside a pop-up restaurant -- a placeholder while the partnership explores the possibility of a permanent bar, restaurant and Mikkeller brewery at the site."

(emphasis mine)

 

I think you're right. My expectations might have been higher because all the hype made it sound like they were more committed than the average pop-up. As I was trying the lackluster beer (not terrible, just no better than what's already around town) I kept wondering why they couldn't have at least had a bottle list with some Danish Mikkeller beers for comparison. We have Shelton here so it shouldn't have been so hard to do. But no, and that's why it seemed half-hearted to me.