Oregon Beer News (2021)

Arch Bridge sold out of both.

 

More brewery news for Beaverton: Looks like Binary Brewing is moving out of the Uptown Beer Co. location and into the Beaverton Bakery building this summer.

 

As an outsider, your discussion with @John_M about the state of downtown sure is sad on many levels - businesses closings, sanitation, safety, and the human aspect of homeless and homelessness in general.

My wife and I love to get away to downtown Portland and spend the weekend at a hotel (hotel Rose, Paramount are two that come to mind). Walk everywhere to shops, the water front, and food and drinks.

We also like bringing the boys for family trips. Usually stay outside downtown at a vrbo that is close to a Max line. Every trip we ride in one night for yard house (not my choice, but decent taplist and so darn loud our boys can be boys) and then walk down (probably up) to voodoo.

Yes, there was homeless, but it was never an issue. Safety not a concern. The only “issue” we ever had was waiting at skidmore fountain waiting for the Max. A homeless person was upset and was just shouting the F word over and over again. Well, my boys were preschool and 2nd grade. They had to learn that word sometime right? Well the youngest misheard. He said back “Duck! Okay.” and preceded to walk in circles flapping his arms and quacking.

When COVID gets under control and it is deemed safe, Portland (or Bend) was the first place(s) we wanted to go as a family. I guess not. Your convo led me to reach out to a good pal about the topic. Believe he lives in the St Johns area and works downtown. He confirms your tale and then some. He says homelessness is out of control and not just downtown. Many factors/reasons why. He feels it will take at least 5 years to get things cleaned up post COVID.

Anyway, long post to say this bums me out. Killing my getaway dreams. But obviously small apples in the big picture.

 

SW downtown isn't what I remember it being from my visits pre-pandemic. I would go downtown on a daily basis since my kids' previous daycare was on SW 6th; I mean it was fine and none of us felt any risk of bodily harm walking around that area, but I just feel like even during the pandemic, the streets/sidewalks just got dirtier and dirtier over time and there are even more tent campgrounds popping up. The one on 13th and Market is just bizarre, and well, its pretty obvious that homeless people don't pay for weekly/semiweekly trash pickup service like the rest of us. Even Pioneer Courthouse Square looked pretty sad over the holidays.

I'm not sure what else the city can do about it during a pandemic which is putting more and more people out onto the streets as they lose their jobs/health insurance/etc despite the eviction moratorium (which doesn't help landlords either) but regardless of your political leanings, I would argue that the city certainly shot itself in the foot with how the protests were handled- didn't help businesses at all to have the national and regional stigma intensified as much as it has.

That said, NW 23rd and the rest of NW Portland seems to be holding its own just fine. Only occasionally venture over to Pearl and NE and even that is just quick jaunts to pick up my beers at Wayfinder and Modern Times. Need to chat with my neighbor who works in the Portland Chamber of Commerce next time we do an outdoor drinking session and pick his brain about what's going on the business side of things.

 

That said, grabbed a 4-pack of Heady Topper from Uptown- canned 2/1- what a time to be alive.. hopefully they do these drops more often

 

Must have been a huge drop of Heady Topper. Its available in multiple places hear in Salem..even some breweries.

 

Lardo even posted they had Heady. Still have them, $22/4-pack.

 

I like Heady, wouldn't mind grabbing a 4pack if they came up, which they won't. Still need to tick Focal too.

 

Upright expansion details here. I haven't tried any of their non-farmhouse ales so I'm not sure how I feel about the drift.

 

Must have been a phenomenally huge drop the Thriftway in Canby announced yesterday they got 20 cases?
WTF?

 

Todd at Arch Bridge saved me a can each of HT and FB. Valley Public House in HV has HT cans for sale.

I'm still trying to decide if I have to Drink It From The Can! or if I can pour it into a glass. I don't want to drink it wrong.

These two are box tickers for me on the Pliny the Elder level for me.

Maybe they will convert me to NEIPAs (doubtful).

 

I bought two cans of HT - drank one from a glass and one from the can. I actually enjoyed from the can more, which I didn't expect.

 

Not had FB, but HT is not (while many claim it is the first of the style) what the NEIPA has become. Do not expect froot joose, in either appearance or taste.

FWIW, the first time I had it, I had two cans (thanks to @John_M ), so did a side-by-side, one out of the can, the poured. I preferred it in the glass. YMMV.

 

Dang that ain't half bad!

 

Two deals I picked up today: Breakside is doing 4 22oz bottles of their barley wine collabs with Cambridge and Lost Abbey (2 each) for $16. That’s a damn steal.

Ps and Qs (near Breakside on NE Dekum) apparently has bottles of 2016 Mother of All Storms for $20. I bought two, but they have 2-3 left (and you can order online for pickup - plus they have some cans from a certain VT brewery if that’s your thing).