Going To Portland

[megaschnauzer]

Where can a fella find a beer in this town? We are going to Newport to sample the Rogue but that is the extent of my plans so far. Oh, and maybe see Mt St Helens.

[b3s]

stop at deschuettes, too! rogues dead guy pale kicks deschuettes mirror pond's ass, but descheuttes has a lot of other kick ass beers!

[fidcastro]

You should check out Bridgeport (http://www.bridgeportbrew.com/home.html), which has always been one of my favorites, and also, while not a brewery, the Dublin Pub (http://dublinpub.citysearch.com/) which has 82 on tap, most of which are Northwest beers.

I highly recommend both. Bridgport also has excellent Pizza.

-Fid

[Wolf359]

Portland is a wealth of great brewpubs / pubs, you could spend a an entire week in the city and still not sample all that you'd like. The best happy hour in the city is at Full Sail's Pilsner Room near the river, they have great inexpensive eats, 3 cask ales, and about 20 other taps, mostly their own. Rogue and Bridgeport have brewpubs a little ways across town, and have a great selection of fresh brews. Also you can't miss Don Younger's trio of pubs - The Horse Brass, The Old Lompoc, and The Rose and Raindrop. All these places have a ton of local and regional brews, and usually a couple of cask beers. Then there's MacTarnahan's, Lucky Labrador, Laurelwood, Alameda, and about a dozen McMenamins. And just one more note - I'd avoid St. Helens, there's WAY too many volcano watchers crowding the foothills, waiting for something to happen, it's just a mess of people right now. I know, I was just there on Saturday.

[batkins]

When are you coming to town?
One good source of information is ratebeer.com. If you go to :
http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowTours.asp
In the upper right hand corner type or select : Portland - Oregon-United States and then search, it will get you a good list of places with addresses and reviews.
From my own experience I'd say:

1) Horsebrass - traditional English style pub, 40 or so taps, NW brews, imports, casks. Definate must do.

2) Rose and Raindrop - nice pub in a turn of the century funeral home. many taps, highly suggested

3) Moon and Sixpence - another traditional English style pub, lots of NW beers and imports, a couple of cask , highly suggested.

4) Rogue Public House - just about everything from Rogue on tap in one place. 'nuff said

5) Laurelwood Public House - 2 locations (I suggest the original, on 40th) great in house brews, multiple award winner (3 this year) at the gabf, be warned, very kid friendly......sit at the bar if kids aren't your thing........great beer!

6) Alameda Brewhouse - nice little place, some really nice beers, although the selection can be a bit limited. Great stout.

7) McMinamin's - beers are good, but not great. The Grand Lodge is a fantastic location, however. Definately worth a trip out.

8) John's Marketplace - this is the place to buy beer to take home with you. If your flying in and don't know, yes you can carry beer on the plane home with you......no problem! John's only has about 800 different beers for you to choose from!

There are some other places a little ways out of town......Walking Man (one of the best in the NW, but with very limited hours), Full Sail, etc...........as well as Pelican Brewing (Pacific City on the coast).

Beers you can't get bottled, so they must be tried while in town: anything by Walking Man, anything by Terminal Gravity.

Send me a message if you need any driving directions or further suggestions.

Cheers,
Bill

[megaschnauzer]

Damn! I'm gonna have to take 2 weeks instead of one! Thanks for all the info. I've got a friend out there that hopefully knows his way around the pub scene. How do you guys find time to work with all that beer available?

[batkins]

Originally posted by megaschnauzer
Damn! I'm gonna have to take 2 weeks instead of one! Thanks for all the info. I've got a friend out there that hopefully knows his way around the pub scene. How do you guys find time to work with all that beer available?

I work my 40 hour week between 11pm Friday and 7am Monday.................leaves the rest of the week for playing!
:D

[megaschnauzer]

one of my beer club buddies has given me cash to bring him some beer from portland. any recommendations for bottled beer that i should smuggle back? how much am i allowed to carry on the plane?

[megaschnauzer]

Thanks for the tips about where to get beer in Portland! We had a lovely time cruising your region. I started off trying to be objective and compare one beer with another but I quickly gave that up. I just indescriminately drank everything that was put in front of me and was goddam greatful. I can tell you, you could spend the rest of your life trying to get through all that beer.
I hit a McMinnimins in McMinnville (Oregon Hotel - Awesome!) and one in Bend (Turkish Bath!). I got to the Rogue brewery in Newport (kind of a dive but great beer) and their Public House across the river (crappy beds). Widmer we found by accident in Portland (beautiful interior - great chilli and smoked salmon fettuccini (sp?)) along with Laurelwood. I don't think i drank the same beer twice. So much to choose from! I didn't really have a favorite, although the Sheakspear Stout was quite tasty as was the Sno Plow from Widmer. I started to keep a list of the beers I sampled but... It's nice to walk into a bar and see more taps from the little guys than the big guys.
I did managed to send home 3 six packs that i selected at John's Marketplace. Lord have mercy at the beer! I huddled in the corner with all the local beers. I was scared. I hope you guys know how lucky you are.
The Portland pub at the airport is a nice touch, but to be honest, I was kinda tired of beer. By Friday night, I could only drink wine (and what lovely wine you have). What a terrific city and a beautiful state. I will be back!

[batkins]

It's true, it's a great beer town.
I've been here almost 4 years, and I keep finding new stuff all the time.
And John's is truely beervana!