Visiting Portland (Spring 2016 update)

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by guajolote, Apr 10, 2016.

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  1. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    A while back, it became clear that this forum could use an easily searchable "I'm visiting Portland, where should I go?" thread. In this thread, I'll attempt to cull the "must-hit" spots generally agreed upon by Portland BAs. Of course, recommendations & suggestions are encouraged.

    (Almost) Universally Recommended "Must-Visit" Breweries & Brew Pubs
    Breakside Brewery
    Cascade Brewing Barrel House
    The Commons Brewery
    Deschutes Portland Pub
    Hair of the Dog Brewing
    Upright Brewing (cash/check only)

    Other Highly Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs
    Baerlic Brewing
    Culmination Brewing
    Ex Novo Brewing
    Fat Head's Brewery
    Gigantic Brewing
    Hopworks Urban Brewery & Hopworks Bike Bar
    Laurelwood Brewing (multiple locations)
    Lompoc Brewing (multiple locations)
    Occidental Brewing

    The Newcomers (breweries opened in the past year-ish)
    BackPedal Brewing (July 2015)
    Great Notion Brewing (January 2016)
    The Labrewatory (October 2015)
    Leikam Brewing (August 2015)
    Montavilla Brew Works (July 2015)
    Ruse Brewing (Winter 2016)
    Zoiglhaus Brewing (September 2015)

    Highly Recommended Beer Bars / Bottle Shops
    APEX (Taproom, Bottles-to-go; Cash Only w/onsite ATM)
    Bailey's Taproom/The Upper Lip (Taproom, Crowler Fills, Growler Fills, Bottle List)
    The Beermongers (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills)
    Belmont Station (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
    Bridgetown Beerhouse (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills)
    The Green Dragon (Taproom, Food)
    The Growler Guys PDX (Taproom, Crowler Fills, Growler Fills, Bottles-to-go)
    The Hop & Vine (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
    Horse Brass Pub (Taproom, Food)
    Imperial Bottle Shop (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Bottle Fills)
    John's Marketplace (Bottle Shop)
    Loyal Legion (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
    N.W.I.P.A. (Taproom, Bottle Shop)
    Oregon Hophouse: Hawthorne | 15th Avenue (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
    Roscoe's (Taproom, Growler Fills, Food)
    Saraveza (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Growler Fills, Food)
    Tin Bucket (Taproom, Bottle Shop, Counter Pressure Growler Fills)
    ---------------------------------------------------
    (A Few) Beer-centric Restaurants*
    Bazi Bierbrasserie
    Cheese Bar
    Cheese & Crack Snack Shop
    Grain & Gristle
    Higgins Restaurant
    Lardo
    Raven & Rose / The Rookery
    White Owl Social Club

    * Just about any decent restaurant in PDX has an acceptable beer list. Many are more than acceptable. This might be the most debatable section of this thread. Eater PDX is a great food resource.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Other Resources (places, events, releases, news/information, etc.)
    Portland BeerFly listing
    Willamette Week's 2016 Beer Guide
    Brewpublic
    The Brew Site
    New School Beer
    Oregon Beer Growler
    Portland Craft Beer Events Calendar

    Some Helpful Maps
    digita7693’s map (beer map, restaurants, hotels, cafes, to-do)
    The Beer Mapping Project
    Oregon & Washington Brew Map
    Oregon Beer Country map

    A couple of potential(ly dangerous) pub crawls
    The "Walk it Off" Pub Crawl (HotD > Bailey's > Deschutes > Upright > Burnside > Cascade)
    Inner SE Pub/Brewery Crawl (APEX > Beermongers > Baerlic > HotD > Commons > Cascade > Base Camp > Burnside)
    North Portland Pub Crawl (StormBreaker > Bridgetown Beerhouse > BikeBar > Sidebar > Tin Bucket > Ecliptic)

    Want to know if XYZ bar/brewery allows kids?
    "PDX with kids" BA thread
    Bars that Allow Children in Portland
    Best Kid-Friendly Portland Brewpubs
    Kid-Friendly Portland Breweries

    Need shippers for all the beer you bought?
    Portland Wine Storage
    Rose City Wine Vaults & Storage

    Transit
    PDX Bus (free and awesome app)
    Trimet
    And yes, Uber and Lyft are currently operating in Portland.

    Portland Airport
    If you have time to kill at PDX, there are two Laurelwood brewpubs (concourses A & E), a Rogue brewpub (concourse D), a Henry's Tavern outpost, and several other restaurants with good tap lists. Laurelwood, Rogue, Henry's, and Country Cat are all past security and all fill growlers, so you can get a fill and carry it on. There are also Made in Oregon stores past security with good bottle selections.

    ** Disclaimer: This post is not intended to be a catch-all for Portland beer establishments. There are literally hundreds of well-regarded beer institutions throughout the greater Portland area -- many of which are not listed in this post. This thread is an attempt to present the most frequently recommended and highest-regarded spots cited in the Northwest BA forum. Exploration and experimentation are certainly encouraged!
     
    #1 guajolote, Apr 10, 2016
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  2. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,359) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    A couple weeks late on this update, but that seems to be my M.O. these days. Enjoy!

    New & changes for Update #12    :
    * Added Ex Novo to the Other Recommended section
    * Moved Culmination to Other Recommended from Newcomers
    * Added Ruse Brewing to Newcomers
    * Removed Splash “Brewery” from Newcomers
    * Re-added Loyal Legion to Beer Bars Section
    * Updated Willamette Week Beer Guide link to the 2016 Edition
    * Changed/Updated the “Other Resources” section to include relevant blogs, news, & events sites
    * Verified all links were up-to-date and working

    Past versions:
    Original thread
    Update v.1 (winter 2013)
    Update v.2 (spring 2013)
    Update v.3 (summer 2013)
    Update v.4 (fall/winter 2013-14)
    Update v.5 (spring 2014)
    Update v.6 (fall/winter 2014)
    Update v.7 (winter 2015)
    Update v.8 (spring 2015)
    Update v.9 (summer 2015)
    Update v.10 (fall 2015)
    Update v.11 (winter 2016)
     
    #2 guajolote, Apr 10, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2016
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  3. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    As usual, great work. Thanks much!
     
    #3 BBThunderbolt, Apr 10, 2016
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  4. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I closed down the old thread Guajlote. Let's see if that cures the problem. If it doesn't, I'll try something else.
     
    #4 John_M, Apr 10, 2016
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  5. squaremile

    squaremile Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon

    Great list, but who ISN'T saying Fatheads is a must stop these days?
     
    #5 squaremile, Apr 10, 2016
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  6. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's on the list as a highly recommended brewery/brewpub, which frankly, I'm not sure is deserved.

    The food is mediocre at best, and there's nothing particularly wonderful about the ambiance. Their IPA/DIPA's are very good, but it's not as if you have to go to the brewpub to drink them. If you're a huge fan of their IPA's, then yeah... you should definitely go. They typically have 4 or 5 IPA'S/DIPA's on tap, and most of them are pretty good.

    Just throwing this out there, but... No one ever asks me where Fathead's is when they visit PDX, and when I recommend places to visit, for some reason I always seem to forget about Fatheads.

    So outside of you squaremile.... is there anyone that thinks Fatheads is a must stop?
     
    #6 John_M, Apr 10, 2016
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  7. Strangestbrewer

    Strangestbrewer Crusader (477) Oct 17, 2014 Oregon

    @

    Food and ambiance are huge misses for me. Their best stuff is often on tap elsewhere.
     
    #7 Strangestbrewer, Apr 10, 2016
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  8. boralyl

    boralyl Savant (1,024) Apr 17, 2008 Oregon
    Trader

    Absolutely! Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I really enjoy their food and their entire lineup of beers is solid (especially the IPA/DIPA's).

    I suppose I get what people mean about the ambience, but there are plenty of other places in Portland to experience that. It most certainly isn't such a turn off that I choose another place over it if I'm thirsty for IPAs.

    Also I absolutely disagree about their best stuff is on tap elsewhere. I've only seen their beers occasionally on tap outside of the brewery. It most certainly isn't the case that you could find 2 or more of their offerings on tap at a single bar in Portland. Searching the 45 bars in Portland on Brew Notice, there is only 1 bar that currently has a Fat Head's beer on tap.
     
    #8 boralyl, Apr 11, 2016
  9. Erik-P

    Erik-P Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2013 Canada (BC)

    I'd second that. Really liked both the food and beer. Would definitely put it as a must stop!
     
    #9 Erik-P, Apr 11, 2016
  10. digita7693

    digita7693 Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2010 Germany

    NO!
    food - sucks, ambiance - I do not think sucks even comes close to describing it, and the good beers they have you can find elsewhere as was mentioned. Honestly, even if I could only get their good ipas there I wouldn't go, not worth the suffering when there are so many places in PDX that are 100 times better, and have equal quality or better ipas.
     
    #10 digita7693, Apr 11, 2016
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  11. wesbray

    wesbray Initiate (0) Feb 29, 2012 Canada (AB)

    Haven't heard a huge amount about Culmination, worth a stop?
     
    #11 wesbray, Apr 11, 2016
  12. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    As always, it depends. There are a lot outstanding breweries and/or watering holes around that part of PDX, so it depends on how much time you have or how interested you are in trying new things. Personally, I haven't had anything from Culmination that was so wonderful I've felt compelled to stop by Culmination (as opposed to HOTD, Green Dragon, Cascade, Growler Guys, the Commons, etc.).

    Still, if you're in the mood to try something new or go exploring, why not?
     
    #12 John_M, Apr 11, 2016
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  13. psykosis

    psykosis Initiate (0) May 21, 2009 Indiana

    Love this thread. I'll be in town in May on a business trip. I'll have one day to myself, so this will help make the most out of that.

    With just one day, is it worth the drive to Tillamook? My heart says yes, but I'm not sure. I won't be able to spend much time at any particular spot, so I'm hoping to grab some bottles/cans/crowlers to haul back to Indy with me. Degarde is a personal fav, but running out there and back is a large time commitment when I really only have 1 day to spare.
     
    #13 psykosis, Apr 11, 2016
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  14. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    No way! Yes de Garde is a fantastic visit, but to devote your very short and very precious time for just one brewery? Not a wise course of action IMO.
     
    #14 TheBungyo, Apr 11, 2016
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  15. NedStarkravingmad

    NedStarkravingmad Initiate (0) Apr 26, 2015 Washington

    Plus you have 3 hours of transit time, assuming minimal traffic considerations (which is a bold assumption.) Totally agree, though I love dG.
     
    #15 NedStarkravingmad, Apr 11, 2016
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  16. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I generally agree with the TheBungyo on this, but would temper my response somewhat.

    In my opinion, it depends on what day of the week you're talking about. Hours are limited there, and if you have to go on a Thursday or Friday, then I'd definitely skip it. Even if you got there right at 3:00, you're not going to get back to PDX until 5:00 at the earliest most likely, and so just in time for afternoon rush hour traffic. So the trip out to Tillamook is going to seriously limit what else you can do in PDX.

    On the other hand, if you can go on Saturday or Sunday, then I guess it depends on how badly you want to visit de Garde. For instance, if you got there right at 11:00 on a Sunday, then you could make it back to PDX by 1:00 at the latest, and still have plenty of time to do some things in town.

    I would also point out that de Garde bottles can be found in the PDX area, though of course the selection is going to be generally more limited then what you'll be able to obtain at the brewery.

    Something to think about....
     
    #16 John_M, Apr 11, 2016
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  17. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    I understand that the "newcomers" section isn't necessarily a recommendation per se, but I wouldn't suggest Leikam brewing unless someone had visited literally everything else on the list and was struggling to find something to do. Everything I've had from them has ranged from mediocre (at best) to down right awful and infected.
     
    #17 maltmaster420, Apr 11, 2016
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  18. Spaceloaf

    Spaceloaf Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2008 Oregon

    Culmination makes some good stuff, so I don't think you'll be disappointed if you go there. But as John_M says, they are not a "must-see" so I wouldn't recommend visiting at the expense of places like Upright, Breakside, etc.

    That being said, if you do go there it is just across the street from a great Cuban restaurant called Pambiche, its 1 block away from Stammtisch (German bar) and Epif (Vegetarian restaurant; very Portland, they made a cut-out in the roof so they wouldn't have to chop down an old tree), and it's about 4 blocks east of a micro restaurant complex called The Ocean (also very Portland), so it can be a relaxing area to drink and grab food if you're not pressed for time and want to soak in the city.
     
    #18 Spaceloaf, Apr 11, 2016
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  19. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    I think you might be confusing Culmination on 21st and Oregon with Migration on 28th and Glisan.
     
    #19 maltmaster420, Apr 11, 2016
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  20. psykosis

    psykosis Initiate (0) May 21, 2009 Indiana

    It'll be on a Thursday. The Thursday after the anniversary party to be specific. May need to just set up some trades ahead of time maybe...
     
    #20 psykosis, Apr 11, 2016
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