Even MORE breweries coming to Portland...

Was pretty excited to read this, really pumped for the North Kenton brewery

 

Awesome! My wife and I will be in Portland in June with some friends. Really want to check out Baerlic.

 

About 15 years ago or so i had this map on the wall of Oregon/Washington and Portland and i was sticking push pins in on those breweries that i had visited and those marked that i had not been to yet with the idea being to have been to every brewery existing. Well forget about it ! I can't even keep track anymore of new destinations in Portland alone. But hey, i'm not complaining.

 

I'm curious as to see if in the next few years or so the craft brew industry will continue to grow or if it will crash. I mean, surely not EVERY brewery in Portland can be successful no?

 

THREAD REVIVAL!

So Baerlic Brewing in SE PDX and Ex Novo Brewing in NE are now open for business. Couple questions:

• Has anyone had a chance to check out the spaces? The pics look really cool from both - seem like great Portland-esque design.

• Are there any other new breweries that are slated to open in PDX (or surrounding areas) by the end of 2014.
  • 10 barrel, Fat Heads

• Can we do a quick look back and name the new breweries that have opened up in the past year in PDX?
  • Ecliptic, Stormbreaker, Ex Novo, Baerlic. Am I missing any?

 

I went to Ex Novo yesterday and was impressed. Tried all four beers and they were solid (the session pale ale was the consensus favorite in my group) and the space inside is indeed very cool. It's a non-profit brewery as well, which is different. It's a short walk from Upright so it'd be a good combo.

 

I was also at Ex Novo last night. I thought the space was great. The beers were all solid though the stout was a little sweet. The bartender agreed and said he knew the brewer was aiming for drier with the next batch. Food was interesting and very good, though I could see them needing to expand the menu a bit if they really want a lot of people to eat there. My biggest qualm with the place was the lack of anything to absorb sound- not a problem when the garage door is open but it will be a problem in the rainy season.

I also really liked Baerlic space- great sense of style. The beer was a bit hit and miss, but these are early batches so I won't judge them too harshly. I do think their bartender needed to be a little more knowledgeable about their brewery. He told me they have a 30 barrel system. I told him that was crazy big for a start up, but he defended the size. Turns out they have I believe three 10 barrel fermenters. That is what he meant by 30 barrel.

 

I really enjoyed Baerlic's IPA. For having none of the new-shit hops (citra, mosaic, galaxy, simcoe etc), I thought it was very unique and successful and definitely well above the PDX IPA median.

 

i was there saturday afternoon, just stopped in for some beers. session pale was good, ipa not so much. the stout was sweet, but good flavor nonetheless.

 

I preferred Ex Novo's Session Pale to the IPA. The stout was not really my thing. Loved the look of the space, though I share the Hopmonster's concerns about noise potential.

Baerlic seemed spartan after Ex Novo, but it has some neat humor and charming touches. I do like the "warning" on the floor in front of the brewing area: "Know beer beyond this point." I also enjoyed their Ultra Summer Ale. Tasty and kinda juicy.