Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Portland and Seattle  (Read 8529 times)

Offline blatz

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3513
  • Paul Blatz - Jupiter, FL
Portland and Seattle
« on: March 14, 2014, 04:01:45 pm »
Going to Portland and Seattle in May.  I see another thread on Seattle but as for Portland what are the top 5 breweries/bars to see there?  Looking for local recs - and any other must/see and do stuff as well.
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281

Offline Stevie

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 6858
Portland and Seattle
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2014, 04:10:44 pm »
Hopworks (HUB) for food and beer. all organic if you care about that
Deschutes for cheap happy hour with AHA (matter of fact, there are tons of discounts available in Portland)
Bridgeport for food and beer - very cool building
Union Station for bottles

Edit - Belmont station
« Last Edit: March 14, 2014, 04:50:02 pm by Steve in TX »

Offline GolfBum

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 131
  • Lakewood, CO
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2014, 04:40:18 pm »
Cascade Brewing for the sours if you are into those.

Offline bosiephus45

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2014, 04:56:35 pm »
I live in Portland. There's a wide variety depending on what you're looking for. My personal recommendations:

Breakside Brewing - they have a brewpub in NE Portland and a Production Brewery/Tasting Room in the SE suburbs. Both are worth visiting if you have time. They brew a ton of experimental stuff and rarely miss the mark. Their tasting room has over 20 taps of their own beers. Their Brewpub in NE has some of the better food out of all brewpubs in PDX.

Hopworks Urban Brewery - Solid food and a very generous sample tray. One of the better IPAs in the city.

Commons Brewery (Belgian focused) - Tasting room in the city. Cool atmosphere - you can walk up to all of their barrels and fermentation tanks. ~8 taps, everything is good. They won Oregon brewery of the year in 2012.

Upright Brewery (Belgian focused) - Similar  to Commons, another tasting room in the city and you can walk around the brewery. It's in a basement near the Moda Center (where the Trailblazers play). Make sure to check their website for hours. Great saisons.

Ecliptic Brewery - This one is fairly new and I haven't visited yet, but the brewery was started by an Oregon brewing legend - he came up with a lot of Deschutes' most famous recipes (Mirror Pond, Jubelale) and brewed at Full Sail for a long time.

Base Camp Brewery - Another newer one. Their beers are all really good but won't knock your socks off. The tasting room has a really cool vibe. Also, their S'more Stout is served with a roasted marshmallow garnish.

Cascade - lots of sours, as someone else mentioned

Taprooms:
Bailey's Taproom
Apex
Beermongers
Tin Bucket

Bottleshops:
Belmont Station (they have a great taproom as well)

Older and more well known places like Deschutes, Bridgeport and Rogue (all in the trendy Pearl District) are great but they're going to be very crowded. If you go to any of those, I'd recommend Deschutes.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2014, 04:59:26 pm by bosiephus45 »

Offline jweiss206

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 109
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2014, 05:57:47 pm »
Going to Portland and Seattle in May.  I see another thread on Seattle but as for Portland what are the top 5 breweries/bars to see there?  Looking for local recs - and any other must/see and do stuff as well.

Live in Seattle, used to live in PDX for a bit. My favorites are Cascade (sour heaven), Hair of the Dog (Strong ales), Hopworks, Lucky Labrador on Hawthorne has a nice worn, classic brewpub feel to it (it opened in 1994). I haven't been to these breweries yet but Burnside, Alameda and Gigantic make really good beers.

Offline mabrungard

  • I spend way too much time on the AHA forum
  • ********
  • Posts: 2902
  • Water matters!
    • Bru'n Water
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2014, 08:46:05 pm »
A road trip through the gorge to Hood River is impressive. Continuing on around Mt Hood is nice too. Oh, there are a few breweries in Hood River too.
Martin B
Carmel, IN

BJCP National
Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI)

Brewing Water Information at:
https://www.brunwater.com/

Like Bru'n Water on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Brun-Water-464551136933908/?ref=bookmarks

Offline yso191

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1816
  • Yakima, WA
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2014, 10:09:11 pm »
A road trip through the gorge to Hood River is impressive. Continuing on around Mt Hood is nice too. Oh, there are a few breweries in Hood River too.


If you do make it up the Columbia River, the Walking Man Brewery in Stevenson, on the Washington side of the river is a favorite.
Steve
BJCP #D1667

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” ― G.K. Chesterton

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2014, 06:23:42 am »
Any information on Portland is also welcome here. We have been a few times, but have only scratched the surface. Going again in late April. The brewery scene is dynamic, so I'm sure we will have more to explore.

A few others from our experience.

Powell's City of books.
The farmers market.
Widmer Gasthouse for the Altbier and German food. Yeah Widmer, if you like German.
Higgins Restaurant and Bar is a favorite, go to the bar side, unless you want a full fancy dinner.
Near Pioneer Square are a couple of parking lots ringed by food stands/carts. Wonder smells walking by.
Horse brass pub is a classic. We were there when Don Younger was still alive.
The Nob Hill area was full of bars and restaurants, and had a Laurelwood Brewing pub, and New Old Lompoc.
Drive the gorge, see the waterfalls, there is a great viewpoint on the west end of the gorge.
Mt. Hood, go up to the hotel.
Hood River OR is a fun little town. Logsdon Farmhouse ales is near there, I think there is now a rating room, look up the hours.

Do some research on the public transportation system. It is fairly good, and the downtown has the free zone, where you just hop on and off. Pretty nice for a drinking tour.







Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline jeffy

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4222
  • Tampa, Fl
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2014, 06:31:00 am »
I will also recommend Laurelwood, Powell's City of Books, and the drive up the gorge.  If you can stay at one of the McMennamins hotels/B&B's they're a lot of fun - think hippy, artsy, and beer in restored historic buildings.  We have stayed at the Kennedy School several times as well as other venues in parts of Oregon.




Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member
BJCP judge since 1995

Offline Stevie

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 6858
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2014, 07:05:42 am »

Do some research on the public transportation system. It is fairly good, and the downtown has the free zone, where you just hop on and off. Pretty nice for a drinking tour.

This was no longer the case when I was there last march. Day pass was only $5.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2014, 07:31:12 am »

Do some research on the public transportation system. It is fairly good, and the downtown has the free zone, where you just hop on and off. Pretty nice for a drinking tour.

This was no longer the case when I was there last march. Day pass was only $5.
Well, that is good to know! We were there for one night before the Seattle NHC, so it changed since then. $5 for a day pass is not bad.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2014, 07:35:54 am »

Do some research on the public transportation system. It is fairly good, and the downtown has the free zone, where you just hop on and off. Pretty nice for a drinking tour.

This was no longer the case when I was there last march. Day pass was only $5.
Well, that is good to know! We were there for one night before the Seattle NHC, so it changed since then. $5 for a day pass is not bad.

Edit, ended August 31, 2012. So it was still in place the last time we were there in June 2012. Things change.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2014, 09:48:57 am »
My don't miss place would be Hair of the Dog.  Great, innovative beers.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Pinski

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1943
  • Portland, Oregon
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2014, 10:42:34 am »
I will also recommend Laurelwood, Powell's City of Books, and the drive up the gorge.  If you can stay at one of the McMennamins hotels/B&B's they're a lot of fun - think hippy, artsy, and beer in restored historic buildings.  We have stayed at the Kennedy School several times as well as other venues in parts of Oregon.

If you want to stay at a McMennamin's, I'd recommend the Crystal hotel for a more central downtown location.  Kennedy school is more fun from an on-site perspective, with a cigar room, and theater.
Steve Carper
Green Dragon Brewers
Clubs: Oregon Brew Crew & Strange Brew
BJCP Certified

Offline reverseapachemaster

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3778
    • Brain Sparging on Brewing
Re: Portland and Seattle
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2014, 10:49:31 am »
I'm also making this trip with my wife in early April. Apparently this is quite a popular route. I think our plan with Seattle is to take a break from drinking and see the city but we are drinking our way through Portland and driving down to Bend to take down the ale trail.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing