Just read about this online. Apparently the last day is 8/29/17. Might need to stop by for a last glass of Chernobyl stout. I think it's been at least 20 years since I last had a glass. Much as I've detested their beers over the years, I confess to feeling a bit sad about their passing.
Quaint and very "different" kinda place. True old style quirky Portland, none of this "Portlandia" nonsense. But the beers were terrible. Better beers and it might stil soldier on.
Had my first date there with my now wife. Everything about tugboat was awful...somehow I still got her to marry me haha. Hopefully something new and enjoyable will replace it
Unexpectedly sad news. I thought Tugboat was somehow unkillable. I like the idea of stopping by one more time to pay my last respects.
Doesn't sound likely since it's closing due to the location being uninsurable after the fire in the apartments above it. I'm sure they will eventually tear the whole building down. http://www.wweek.com/bars/beer/2017...abag-apartments-upstairs-according-to-owners/
I was only there once & had a Chernobyl but I liked it and am sad to see them go. I'm sure it's just a case of the real estate becoming too valuable.
Only stopped in once after Farmhouse Fest a few years ago. Had a Cherynobl DIPA which was a bad idea right before getting on the Bolt Bus back to Seattle.
It was never an awful place i really enjoyed sitting by the big window playing cards/ board games etc with my wife. People watching It was a actualy a nice weird pace to relax after a night out. Will be missed ( not the beer)
yeah... also kind of sad to see this one go, and can't really place why. chernobyl being really the only redeeming quality, at least beer wise,
Mary's, Santeria, and Brewed Oregon (the merch shop started by the Bailey's crew) are all in that building.
Well at least you guys got to go, I never got the chance. Bad beer aside, I just like to check out interesting places.
Me too. Did you ever get to check this place out? It's right in your neck of the woods, and is/was interesting in much the same way that Tugboat was interesting. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/903/?view=ratings&ba=John_M#review OK, Tugboat isn't as bad as the legendary Gettysburg restaurant and brewery, but if you've been there, then you should have at least a passing understanding of what Tugboat is like. Tugboat has a bit more "charm," and their beer is a bit better, but the experience is similar otherwise (though I've yet to hear anyone describe Tugboat as the Plan 9 from Outer space of brewpubs).
Ah ha! John_M you got me! Yes, I vaguely remember Gettysbrew, I must have put it out of my mind! I went there with Pennsylvania brewery historian Rich Wagner, and whenever we went anywhere we'd have at least two beers - give them a shot, you know? But I remember it clearly now... Rich turned to me and asked me how my beer was and I told him it was OK but whatever blah blah blah, I forget what I said. He pushed his beer aside, threw some money down, and said "OK, you ready to go?" as he was already getting up. We'd only had two or three sips and the the bartendress came running over to ask us if everything was OK to which he responded without even looking back at her something like "Yeah it was great but we've got an early morning". Haaa! He'd probably never walked away from a full pint that he'd paid for in his life! And that leads me to a bit of wisdom that he taught me all those years ago: when you go into a brewpub always order the blonde first - if the blonde is good everything else will be good because it's the beer that show its defects most readily, and it's the beer that the brewer tends not to care about at all. Cheers!
We might have discussed this in the past, but, if we're talking about the same place (the one in an old tobacco barn, that was used as a hospital during the Battle), I have much fonder memories. I used to visit the area quite a bit, both for work (OTR driver) and recreationally (sprint car races and bicycling), and visited it several times. Awesome space, probably the second best room I've ever had beer in (Selins' Grove Brewing in Selinsgrove PA is still my #1 favorite room. I found the beers were at least decent, for the time, but I don't recall ever eating there. Also made pretty good Root Beer, Grape, and Orange pop. Funny aside: there was another brewpub in Gburg at the time, right on the circle downtown. Apparently, the owners of the 2 breweries were not fans of each other. One only brewed ales, the other only lagers, and if you mentioned to one that you had stopped in at the other place, you would get an earful about how awful the other guy, place, and beers were. Good times.
Could be the same place. I'm not sure, as it's been some years since that place went belly up (may it thankfully rest in peace). My recollection is that it was configured like a large old log cabin, and from the outside it looked great. It was the appearance that really drew us in. What sticks in my mind, is that it was one of the first places I visited in Pa. after moving to Baltimore. Quite unfairly, it colored my impression of beer made in Pa., leading me to think that this was what folks in the area expected when it came to craft beer (as it turned out, nothing could be farther from the truth). In a similar vein, can you imagine some pilgrim coming to Portland for the first time and only trying beer from Tugboat? I can only imagine what his/her impression would be of the Portland beer scene.
