Visiting Portland (Winter 2015 update)

Thank you for the rec's - I will definitely look at the places you mentioned.

 

I'm currently on the back end of my 10 day vacation to Vancouver,wa/portland/Washington and I really appreciate all the info included in this thread. we have done a ton of stuff including but not only brewery's/bars but also hiking and sightseeing. We did Cannon beach, Astoria, beacon rock, bend oregon,beacon rock, bridge of the gods, multnoma falls (and also the falls before and after on scenic rt. 30, Seattle, wetook the Amtrak cascades (available out of portland) we are also taking a day trip up to mt. Saint Helens on Friday and also taking the trip back toward multnoma falls to do the Angels rest hike

We hit a ton of brewery's and had ally of craft brews on tap. and I think it's awesome that you don't see any bud lite or coors lite on tap and everything is local farm to table style stuff. Buuuuut I do have to say I think I do prefer the beer from home (northeast) although that may be because I don't know what I should be looking for in the package stores or more importantly what I should be asking for (the stuff they keep behind the counter) so my question for you guys is this. What should I be asking for when I walk into a place looking for a couple good bottles to bring home with me

 

Well what have you been drinking? What styles do you like? Have you been tracking your beers on untappd?

 

1. To me, the best food truck, and potentially my favorite restaurant period in the entire city is Carte Blanche. It's conveniently located right across the street from Bazi Bierbrasserie, so there's that.

2. As other have stated, the trip into the Gorge is absolutely worth it, but not Multnomah itself in my opinion. Multnomah Falls is something you look at for a few minutes on your way back from Hood River or from a more interesting hike somewhere else in the area (there are tons of them). If your plan is to simply drive out to Multnomah, look at it, and come back to Portland, I wouldn't recommend it. But if you made a day out of it and went to Hood River or got in a good hike elsewhere you kind of have to stop by. The Vista House is also pretty spectacular on a nice day.

3. If you're not into hiking, I've got nothing for you. I honestly don't know what people do here besides work, hike, and drink. Not that that's a bad thing...

 

1) Food Trucks: I would recommend the Tidbit pod on Division Street. They have a scout beer truck there so you can drink as well. I would also recommend Wolf and Bear for falafel and Guero's for tortas. You can find both of those on 28th and Ankeny in the same pod. Those are some of my favorite food in the city

2) I agree with @almostjay - Multnomah is not worth the 40 minute drive out and rental car alone. I would however make it an appoint and go to Hood River, have lunch at Pfriem, drinks at Double Mountain, the tour at Full Sail and a pint at Solera. If the day is nice I would stop at Thunder Island Brewing in Cascade Locks on the way back in. Very Cool Spot.

3) Things I like to do when I'm being a tourist in my own city: Going to the Arboretum, Powells (i know you mentioned it already), Salt and Straw Ice Cream, macaroons at Nuvrei, Donuts at Pips Original. Chase geese on the waterfront, smoke weed with some hoodlums in old town. Visit all of the amazing coffee roasters/shops: Coava, Heart, Ristrettos, Barista

Thats all I got for now.

 

I will second the donuts at Pip's, best in the city, plus where else can you get a Dirty Wu (named after Sergeant Wu from Grimm and heartily endorsed by the actor). I love the doner kebab from Doner Haus across the street from Stormbreaker (an under-rated brewery). And for late night drunken food you can't beat Potato Champion (12th & Hawthorne) though everyone goes for the poutine when the PB&J fries are better (don't worry, it isn't just peanut butter and jelly- it's Thai Peanut sauce, which I first fell in love with on fries in the Netherlands, and a chile pepper jelly)

Don't rent a car just to go to Multomah Falls.

I may get shit for this, because their service sucks and their attitude toward the local beer community is meh! at best, but if you are not gonna make it out this way again go to Apex. It is right across the street from Beermongers, so you can hang out with local beer geeks before and/or after. But Apex consistently has the most Boneyard and Barley Browns beers on tap anywhere- 7! Barley Browns as I right this, but strangely only 1 Boneyard.

Finally, stores here generally don't keep stuff "behind the counter". That is a Northeast thing. I'm from Pennsylvania; visit family in PA and NY at least once, usually a couple times a year. I don't think I'm biased in saying the beer here kicks the ass out of the beer from the NE.

Random stuff- if you even think you might like cider, go to Reverend Nat's (conveniently close to Upright). Ask the locals if they would be interested in a bottle share. Beermongers, Tin Bucket, Bridgetown, Commons have all been known to allow bottle shares. My experience is that if you set at time/date/place and ask people to show up, they will and they'll bring good shit to boot!

 

I will be in the minority then too and say 1) you should go to apex and 2) I have never had a problem with the people or service there, in fact I think they have some awesome, well did at least, bartenders, even though the owner is an asshat.

 

I don't think renting a car just for mutton a falls is a good idea, but rather rening a car to do a bunch of stuff in the area would be a good idea

I'm planning on going to apex tonight. Is the bottle shop down the street any good? I think I saw it like 2-3 blocks from apex. And do you guys get RR bottle distro up here? Or just on tap?

 

Beermongers is a great bar/bottleshop diagonally across the street from Apex, they have a great selection and some of the best prices on bottles. Apex also has a very overpriced selection of bottles for on site and to go, but they will have things that other places don't. I recall Firestone PNC sitting behind the bar at $40 or $50 for months.

Russian River bottles do make it up to Portland occasionally, but pretty much only Supplication, Consecration and Temptation. They're not regularly available and I'm not sure if anything is around right now. Again, Apex will have a selection of several RR sours but they'll be twice the normal price.

 

I'm openly pro-Apex as well, mainly for two reasons:

1) So much outside seating for summertime
2) Always good Boneyard and Barley Brown's on tap

 

Could you do us a favor? Perhaps start a similar thread on your regional forum? This type of thread really helps cut down on the repetitive "Visiting Wherever" threads we all get so much. Glad you're enjoying your time out here. Cheers!

 

Mostly just bumping this, but also wanted to add that Hollywood Liquor has a lot of good individual bottles at reasonable prices. They carry Logsdon, Cascade, the good Commons bottles, those couple de Garde releases, and several other somewhat hard-to-find stuff. They also have 16 growler taps which sometimes have interesting stuff. Downside is that their 6-pack selection is kind of lacking, though I did pick up the Six Point Hi-Res IIPA four-pack over the weekend.

 

Speaking of Logsdon, when did they open up a barrel house and tap room in Hood River proper? I went to their website this morning curious about Zwicklemania and noticed the new address.

 

They haven't opened it yet - I think it's set for early summer. I hope that they keep the other location open too though (it would be a bummer to not be able to enjoy their beer at that setting)

 

Yep, May. but their website does say that the new location will be open just for Zwicklemania (PNB release).

I'm guessing the farmhouse will no longer be open to the public. Bummer.

 

Guess that explains the closing of the farm tasting room.