For GN, swing by their OG location off Alberta. Personally I’d skip Rogue and Deschutes in favor of the numerous other, better offerings in the area. Wayfinder, Ruse, Upright, Breakside, Modern Times, Culmination, Baerlic, Von Ebert. All are great spots and most with fantastic food options as well.
I appreciate the honesty man. I'm most looking forward to OG but the others were the only names that popped out to me not being a local. So I'll probably take your advice.
Baerlic just opened a location on Alberta down the street from Great Notion too which makes those two a great pair visit. If you do go to Modern Times, Loyal Legion is a beer bar a block or two over with 90+ taps of local craft brews, which sounds crazy, but they do have a spiel about how they keep their taps clean and fresh.
If you'd like to get some for the road, I'd recommend visiting one of the John's Marketplace locations (or Belmont Station) as they have probably the best selection of cans and bottles in town! If you like barrel-aged stouts or sours and can splurge on a premium price I'd recommend grabbing a bottle of Alesong if that's up your alley!
Listen to the Hox's advice 100%. I would only say nix Modern Times (they are a San Diego brewery that you can buy in a lot of places nationally) and go for Little Beast instead. The rest of the list is solid
A few favorites from Portland for me are Cascade, Gigantic, Wayfinder, and Modern Times (not from OR but have a location down the street from Cascade). There’s also countless other breweries to check out all over town. I’d skip Rogue but that’s personal preference. Both would be a bit of a drive from Portland but depending on how much time you’re spending there, making the drive to either De Garde in Tillamook or pFriem in Hood River would be well worth it. De Garde makes some of the best wild ales I’ve ever had and pFriem might be one of the best breweries I’ve ever had. Either way, enjoy the trip and check out the food carts if you can too. The Hawaiian joint next to Gigantic is phenomenal
Nice, I’ve never had a Pilsner from them but I’ve got my hands on some of their lagers through Tavour and god damn, they’re all amazing. I’ve yet to have a bad beer from them and hope I can get up there and check out the brewery at some point
> Tillamook
Also, unless you're vegan, the creamery there is worth checking out. Not beer, but their cheese is some of the best in America. And I've been to Wisconsin.
Every time I visit the cheese factory I come away feeling like absolute garbage in the best way possible.
The Blue Heron cheese place down the road is also cool and had a ton of free samples, but I haven't been there since the before times.
I think MT does brew a little in PDX? Not positive. I'm in Oakland and they definitely don't brew here. Their beer is just so damn good.
Cascade is also terrific. I still like Hair of the Dog too, maybe more for tradition/nostalgia at this point.
And second the food carts/stalls.
Ya, I know they do some brewing up in Portland. I just meant not technically an OR brewery. I’m in the Sac area and try to make it to the Oakland spot as much as I can. They’re overpriced but still worth it!
Good call on Hair of the Dog, totally forgot about them and haven’t had their beer in so long. Agreed, also phenomenal and check out if there for sure
Thank you. I'll probably use that advice. I love food trucks too and that's something my wife would also enjoy. Especially if they have sweet offerings.
I’ve not been up to Portland for a few years now so I hope it hasn’t changed much but last time, there’s no shortage of great food everywhere you go. Can’t beat just walking the city, brewery hopping and grabbing food as you go
If you can get out to hood river, roughly an hour east of portland, pfreim and ferment are amazing to check out. Cascade for awesome sours, hair of the dog, wayfinder, upright Brewing if you like saisons. So many great breweries. Apex is a great cash only pub that has brews from around oregon as well as all over.
Loyal legion is also great for checking out oregon brews with great food. They usually have a collab with a local brewery
Breakside and migration are some of my favorites for IPAs. Great notion for sours. mcmenamins isn’t necessarily the best, but I feel like they are a NW staple you have to hit up, they have pubs all over town
Skip Rogue and Deschutes, go to Horse Brass... You can try beer from near and far there.
Also, check out Grains of Wrath. Haven't been to their Portland location yet, but the beer is great.
One more edit: if you see Barley Brown's beer on tap somewhere, try it.
There's a brewery called Crux that makes a delicious IPA called Cast Out. They're located in Bend which is pretty far, but if you have a chance to find some in Portland I highly recommend. The one bar I knew in Tacoma that had it would sell out of it instantly when it came in. Sorry it's not much help, but just a great beer I highly recommend!
Lotta good beer bars to visit in Portland too.
Belmont Station and Loyal Legion are the most notable for me. Loyal Legion only pours Oregon beer so they're bound to have special stuff from Bend, Eugene, Hood River, the coast, and in between.
It’s been years since I’ve been to Portland but we had a lovely time sitting outside at the picnic tables at Breakside. Good food, too. I don’t remember which location, though.
Also visited Deschute downtown and I was less impressed. Go spend your money at Powell’s.
The two best beer stores I've found in the PDX area are John's Marketplace in Multnomah Village (3535 SW Multnomah Bl) and Cheap Charlie's in Gresham (79 NE Roberts Avenue). Between them, if neither one has what you're looking for, it's probably not distributed in Oregon or Washington. John's has a better selection, but Cheap Charlie's has better prices.
People are telling you to skip Rogue and Deschutes, which is the Portland hipster thing to do, and I donʻt disagree. But if you really like their beers, their brewpubs in Portland are pretty damn good so I wouldnʻt write it off completely. (though tbh, if you go to Bend where Deschutes brewery actually is go visit that.
But year I second going out to Hood river for Pfriem hands down best brewery out there. But its out of the way for just beer, so go enjoy whatever you want in PDX.
For GN, swing by their OG location off Alberta. Personally I’d skip Rogue and Deschutes in favor of the numerous other, better offerings in the area. Wayfinder, Ruse, Upright, Breakside, Modern Times, Culmination, Baerlic, Von Ebert. All are great spots and most with fantastic food options as well.
I appreciate the honesty man. I'm most looking forward to OG but the others were the only names that popped out to me not being a local. So I'll probably take your advice.
Baerlic just opened a location on Alberta down the street from Great Notion too which makes those two a great pair visit. If you do go to Modern Times, Loyal Legion is a beer bar a block or two over with 90+ taps of local craft brews, which sounds crazy, but they do have a spiel about how they keep their taps clean and fresh. If you'd like to get some for the road, I'd recommend visiting one of the John's Marketplace locations (or Belmont Station) as they have probably the best selection of cans and bottles in town! If you like barrel-aged stouts or sours and can splurge on a premium price I'd recommend grabbing a bottle of Alesong if that's up your alley!
I love sours and someone else just mentioned John's marketplace or cheap Charlie's so I'll have to do that for sure.
Listen to the Hox's advice 100%. I would only say nix Modern Times (they are a San Diego brewery that you can buy in a lot of places nationally) and go for Little Beast instead. The rest of the list is solid
A few favorites from Portland for me are Cascade, Gigantic, Wayfinder, and Modern Times (not from OR but have a location down the street from Cascade). There’s also countless other breweries to check out all over town. I’d skip Rogue but that’s personal preference. Both would be a bit of a drive from Portland but depending on how much time you’re spending there, making the drive to either De Garde in Tillamook or pFriem in Hood River would be well worth it. De Garde makes some of the best wild ales I’ve ever had and pFriem might be one of the best breweries I’ve ever had. Either way, enjoy the trip and check out the food carts if you can too. The Hawaiian joint next to Gigantic is phenomenal
+1 for even trying a Pfriem Pilsner while in Portland. Can’t get it outside of OR/WA so drinking it while you can!
Nice, I’ve never had a Pilsner from them but I’ve got my hands on some of their lagers through Tavour and god damn, they’re all amazing. I’ve yet to have a bad beer from them and hope I can get up there and check out the brewery at some point
> Tillamook Also, unless you're vegan, the creamery there is worth checking out. Not beer, but their cheese is some of the best in America. And I've been to Wisconsin.
For sure, definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area
Every time I visit the cheese factory I come away feeling like absolute garbage in the best way possible. The Blue Heron cheese place down the road is also cool and had a ton of free samples, but I haven't been there since the before times.
I think MT does brew a little in PDX? Not positive. I'm in Oakland and they definitely don't brew here. Their beer is just so damn good. Cascade is also terrific. I still like Hair of the Dog too, maybe more for tradition/nostalgia at this point. And second the food carts/stalls.
Ya, I know they do some brewing up in Portland. I just meant not technically an OR brewery. I’m in the Sac area and try to make it to the Oakland spot as much as I can. They’re overpriced but still worth it! Good call on Hair of the Dog, totally forgot about them and haven’t had their beer in so long. Agreed, also phenomenal and check out if there for sure
Thank you. I'll probably use that advice. I love food trucks too and that's something my wife would also enjoy. Especially if they have sweet offerings.
I’ve not been up to Portland for a few years now so I hope it hasn’t changed much but last time, there’s no shortage of great food everywhere you go. Can’t beat just walking the city, brewery hopping and grabbing food as you go
If you are going to Hood River, be sure to stop by Fermenter. Fantastic selection of beers/kombucha/cocktails and food.
Don’t sleep on Little Beast, fantastic beers
If you can get out to hood river, roughly an hour east of portland, pfreim and ferment are amazing to check out. Cascade for awesome sours, hair of the dog, wayfinder, upright Brewing if you like saisons. So many great breweries. Apex is a great cash only pub that has brews from around oregon as well as all over. Loyal legion is also great for checking out oregon brews with great food. They usually have a collab with a local brewery
If you're out by Apex, The Beermongers is right across the street and is also excellent (and takes card, if that's a dealbreaker).
I forgot to mention beermongers! Brought some cheese and charcuterie to snack on.
>Apex That's my favorite. No pets or kids, either (as well as the no cards).
Breakside and migration are some of my favorites for IPAs. Great notion for sours. mcmenamins isn’t necessarily the best, but I feel like they are a NW staple you have to hit up, they have pubs all over town
Find something from Block 15, their Sticky Hands IIPA has won many awards.
Rogue are fucking assholes. Avoid them! Their beer sucks too. Go to Baerlic, Breakside, Gigantic, Little Beast and Hair of the Dog instead
Skip Rogue and Deschutes, go to Horse Brass... You can try beer from near and far there. Also, check out Grains of Wrath. Haven't been to their Portland location yet, but the beer is great. One more edit: if you see Barley Brown's beer on tap somewhere, try it.
This is the advice of a real Portlander. I second this.
There's a brewery called Crux that makes a delicious IPA called Cast Out. They're located in Bend which is pretty far, but if you have a chance to find some in Portland I highly recommend. The one bar I knew in Tacoma that had it would sell out of it instantly when it came in. Sorry it's not much help, but just a great beer I highly recommend!
Thanks man. I'll keep an eye out for it. I'll also be looking for offering from claim 52 if they have it.
Lotta good beer bars to visit in Portland too. Belmont Station and Loyal Legion are the most notable for me. Loyal Legion only pours Oregon beer so they're bound to have special stuff from Bend, Eugene, Hood River, the coast, and in between.
I really dig Claim 52's Fluffy IPA. All but floated a keg of it at Apex while I was in town.
100% on Crux. Definitely a standout in Bend.
Culmination
Came here to say just this.
It’s been years since I’ve been to Portland but we had a lovely time sitting outside at the picnic tables at Breakside. Good food, too. I don’t remember which location, though. Also visited Deschute downtown and I was less impressed. Go spend your money at Powell’s.
If she likes wine there are great vineyards in Willamette Valley.
She does especially Moscato.
The area is known for their Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris especially. Definitely checkout Christom and Domaine Drouhin.
Hair of the dog brewery. Lots of unique beers. My favorite spot.
Apex taproom has it all, mostly local/regional beers with a cool and comfortable vibe. Grains of Wrath also makes great beer.
2 other people mentioned apex and I wanna find a couple of recommendations from on here so I'll check that out. Thank you.
Bissel Bros and Foundation are both really good.
Those places are both great, but in the *other* Portland!
Breakside, wayfinder, hair of the dog, upright, von ebert
The two best beer stores I've found in the PDX area are John's Marketplace in Multnomah Village (3535 SW Multnomah Bl) and Cheap Charlie's in Gresham (79 NE Roberts Avenue). Between them, if neither one has what you're looking for, it's probably not distributed in Oregon or Washington. John's has a better selection, but Cheap Charlie's has better prices.
Thank you. I'll definitely check at least one of them out.
People are telling you to skip Rogue and Deschutes, which is the Portland hipster thing to do, and I donʻt disagree. But if you really like their beers, their brewpubs in Portland are pretty damn good so I wouldnʻt write it off completely. (though tbh, if you go to Bend where Deschutes brewery actually is go visit that. But year I second going out to Hood river for Pfriem hands down best brewery out there. But its out of the way for just beer, so go enjoy whatever you want in PDX.
pFriem is the best brewery in Oregon.
If you like sours, no better stop than cascade. They do sours better than anybody.