Visiting Portland (2019)

Made a quick trip to Portland/Vancouver to pick up competition entries and got to visit Fortside, Grains of Wrath, Trap Door, Wayfinder, Hair of the Dog, Modern Times, and pFriem before returning. Highlights were the Cerne Pivo at Wayfinder, HotD Don (and $2.50 small pours of Adam), and the Raspberry Brut IPA at pFriem, though I didn’t have a dud anywhere. We even had good luck with the uhaul, both in finding parking spots and the fact that it escaped being pillaged.

 

Sorry if I'm being "that guy" by asking this, but I'm going to be in Portland this weekend for the release of our collaboration beer with Ruse. My wife and daughter are coming along as well, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if Wayfinder allows kids. I've been a few times, but honestly can't recall if they do or not. Thank you in advance!

 

Yes, I believe they even have a kids menu. Ruse somehow allows kids too despite not serving food.

 

Last time I was at Wayfinder, I saw a group of high school aged kids in there for lunch.

 

Yes, and the kids’ steak frites is a steal, @Structures.

 

My wife and I are looking to visit Portland this summer. What's a good neighborhood to stay in that offers walk-ability to bars, restaurants, etc?

 

Inner Southeast is the generally accepted standard answer for this. Best bang for your buck. That said, it's a very easy city to get around via public transit, etc.

 

I don't think I've ever spent more than like $12 on Uber rides around Portland, no matter where I've stayed.....it's a magical place.

 

Portland Laws are different in that you can have people under 21 up to a certain time even if you don't serve food. I know it's different in Seattle but wasn't sure if Bellingham was the same boat.

 

Planning a PNW trip soon and I don't think I have to look for any resources further than this thread. Wanted to drop in and give you props @guajolote

 

Noticed Ruse wasn’t on the list ... just wondering why the omission? Simply not list-worthy? Thanks!

 

They were in the "Newcomers" section, which was removed from this edition of "Visiting Portland" because this thread is now yearly instead of quarterly, as mandated by BA.

Ruse is list-worthy, in my opinion, and probably would have been a candidate for the "Other Highly Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs" section if we were still updating quarterly.

Well spotted, @AlexM . I'd file this one under "Unintended Consequences."

 

All good ... yeah I tried a couple of Ruse hazies at Festival of Dankness in San Diego last summer and thought they were solid. Will be visiting PDX in June so planning to pay then a visit. CHEERS.

 

Made it up to Portland last weekend. Some of my thoughts.

1) Upright was easily my favorite brewery I visited. I am a sucker for saisons and pilsners, they had some great examples of both.

2) Wayfinder threw me for a loop. It being co-owned by the owner of Relapse, all their metal themed beers, I was expecting a more metal vibe and aesthetic for the place, kinda like how Baerlic ran with the '90's Cali-punk thing. Cool to hear OM in the bathroom, would have been better if that music was played throughout, IMO. Really, the metal attributes of the places were secondary and if I didn't know the bands the beers were named after, if I wasn't aware that the Relapse guy was an owner of the place, I wouldn't have any idea of the metal connection involved. Seemed more like a more upscale brew-pub. I was definitely hoping for a more laid back, casual experience than it provided, personally. Probably on me for having inaccurate expectations and for what it is, it is a good choice. Really did enjoy the beer, really did enjoy the food, really hated the check (but worth it). Would definitely go back next time in town, but with more appropriate expectations and I'd try to grab a seat at the bar rather than a table.

3) Baerlic was a unplanned visit and a pleasant surprise. Not a 90's Cali Punk Fan so can't say that side of the brewery worked for me (though to be fair, listening to the guys like Propagandhi, Descendents, Pennywise, etc., is certainly better than other stuff), but their set up is generally the type of brewery/taproom I like to visit. Smaller, laid back, good beer, friendly staff. That or Cascade was probably my favorite taproom I visited. The amount of options available at Cascade was great. If I lived in Portland, Cascade would be a random, once in a while visit but as an out of towner it was definitely a must visit for me. I am not a sour fan, but they do a good job with them.

4) Hair of the Dog, maybe the first brewery I have been to in ages without any music going on which I can't say I liked. Even bad music can be better than no music I found. Their beers were good but tough to discover a new place and have all the beers of interest be so high in abv, limited what I was able to try. Despite all that, they hit the spot.I'd happily return but plan things out better and do it on a day when they were the only brewery I was visiting, not one amongst others.

5) Tried going to the Deschutes Pub downtown but that place was absolutely jam packed. At 2 PM. You Portlanders love to get your drinking on early it would appear. Didn't bother sticking around, as the bar had no seating.

All in all, a nice trip. Been wanting to return to Portland for a long time now, so glad I finally did.

 

Thats random about hair of the dog. They pretty much always have blues playing when I visit. And yeah, sounds like Apex would be your jam

 

Yeah, I had back up plans when Deschutes fell through. Ended up doing Cascade and Hair of the Dog, which was lined up for afterwards anyways, just opened the door for some extra drinking at Cascade.

And interesting about my timing with Hair of the Dog and music.

Typically when visiting other cities, I like to hit up the breweries over bars but I'll keep Apex in mind for my next trip. I just reviewed the tap list and it looked good. I was able to hit a couple concerts while up in Portland, and that was the reason for the this trip (especially the timing of it), so I was able to gett my music fix while I was.

 

Thanks for posting such a detailed review, @denver10 . I enjoy reading peoples' impressions when they visit Portland, good and bad. Glad to hear you had a good time.

And yeah, I'll toss in another recommendation for Apex. I think you'll like that atmosphere, if your Kyuss avatar is anything to go by.

Side note: I see you're from New Mexico. I grew up there, and I'm looking forward to visiting my folks in Albuquerque in a couple weeks. (Fresh La Cumbre at the Westside taproom, aw yeah.)

 

Blues music? I don't recall hearing any music on my last visits. If there is any music it must be played pretty low that you don't even pay attention to it.