Visiting Portland (Winter 2016 update)

Rose City wine storage has longer hours, and I just bought one there today.

 

Zupan's on Burnside has shippers and they're open until 10.

 

Also, several uhaul stores around town have the styrofoam ones. If you happen to go to de Garde there's one semi on the way in Hillsboro

 

anyone know if the dry hopped Hose series from DeGarde can be found around Portland? I was there last year and remember seeing some of the bu's but can't remember very clearly. sorry if this is listed anywhere else on the site, I couldn't find any info.

 

Not at the moment. de Garde bottles are pretty inconsistent in making their way to Portland. Grand Blanc was on a few shelves around the city a few weeks ago, but lately I haven't seen anything.

 

saw De Garde's Grand Blanc at caps n taps in camas couple days ago. didnt see any other bottles there though

 

Grand Blanc was the last beer to see full distribution. It hit the Seattle area as well.

 

Coming to Oregon/Washington in July to see Phish at the Gorge. I'll fly in Tuesday so I will have until Thursday morning before I have to set up camp at the show. Where should I fly into? Seattle or Portland to get the best and most beer before Thursday? Better to fly to Seattle and drive down to Portland or vise versa? Basically where am I gonna get the best bang for my buck in quality of beer distro?

 

Interesting question. I'd say Portland gives you more bang for your buck (general pricing comparison and OR has no sales tax), but there's so much good Seattle stuff that doesn't make it far outside that it's hard to pick. Flying into PDX vs. SEA might have it's own cost impacts, but my vote is for flying into PDX and a night in Seattle rather over flying into SEA and a night in Portland.

 

One thing to consider is that it's a lot easier to get around PDX than SEA.

If you drop yourself off by the Willamette River in the center of the city you will be in walking distance to more than enough breweries to fill an entire day, and the street car is available if you get tired of walking. That includes every brewery in the "Must See" category except for Breakside (and that will change when the NW pub opens, but I don't know if it will be open by July).

In SEA, I found it's pretty mandatory to have a car or pay for a cab if you want to get anywhere.

 

Let's just be honest here - Portland is better than Seattle.

 

Couple things to consider.

The drive to the the George Amphitheater is 2.5hrs from Seattle, and 4.5 from Portland. I feel like Seattle gets a little better distro from outside of the west coast, but I've never really paid to much attention to that other than saying "hey, I haven't seen that in Portland!" in bottle shops in Seattle without paying attention on what I can get in Portland that you can't in Washington. Regardless, you should focus on local stuff either way because most of it doesn't travel very far. You're more likely to see Oregon stuff outside of Oregon than Washington stuff outside of Washington. I like Portland/Oregon's stuff more than Seattle/Washington's stuff, but you won't lose either way. Portland is cheaper, so you're likely to get more bang for your buck that way, and you can bus/max all day for $5 or walk most places.

 

I like the idea of the MAX in Portland, seems like a very good way to get around. And by the look of it, it hits all the "must haves". Downside of PDX is its significantly more expensive to fly into than SEA. But flying into PDX then going to SEA puts me closer to the Gorge. Either way after the shows I'll be heading to San Fransisco by way of the coastal highway to hit those breweries, so maybe another quick stop in Portland is possible. So it may look something like this. Fly into PDX tues, hit some breweries anf bottle shops, up to SEA midday weds. To show thurs afternoon. Back down through Portland Sunday and a must stop at De Garde en route to Highway 101. Doesn't look like I will be sleeping much but Im gonna porch bomb the hell outta myself!!

 

Regardless of the direction, stop in Yakima at Bale Breaker, the hops should be pretty impressive in July. It's a detour if coming from Seattle, but you'll go through there if you're coming from Portland.

 

My wife and I drive over to Yakima every July for a day of berry picking and visits to Snipes and Bale Breaker. Being surrounded by the hops at BB is way cool.

 

A: don't worry about distro, drink local stuff. You'll find plenty of tasty beer you've likely never heard of. B: to my mind it doesn't make sense to fly into PDX, then drive up to the gorge, especially if you'll be going through on your way south afterwards. Fly into SEA and spend Tue-Wed, and even a bit of Thu if ya want. Public transportation isn't as good as PDX, but it's effective enough to get around. The light rail will even take you down to Tacoma for $3 each way. C: leave the gorge, swing through Yakima and hit Bale Breaker, and go through Hood River on your to PDX/Tillamook. Hood River is a worthy stop on its own. Have fun and enjoy your visit!

 

You must be thinking of the Sounder Train and that has a pretty limited schedule only on weekdays. The light rail from downtown Seattle will only take you to the Airport.

 

Light rail doesn't exist south of the airport yet. The Sounder runs in the morning and early evening, nothing during the day. I wouldn't rely on it to get around for touristy type purposes.