The first time I drank a beer (like a whole beer by myself) was in 1989. I was a senior in college (late bloomer, I know) and it was a can of Miller Genuine Draft. Or at least I think it was. I hated it. Not because it was an MGD; beer just didn't taste good to me then. I kept a hold of that beer the entire night and drained the whole thing, caught between the potential embarrassment of not finishing a single beer and the equal potential embarrassment of not continuously having beer in my hands all night long. I hoped nobody would notice it was the same can all night long. Either nobody noticed or nobody cared. Or both. In the end, I survived.
It's now 2018 and in the almost 30 years between 1989 and now, I've drank a lot of beer and I've visited a whole lot of breweries all over the United States and Europe. From tiny microbreweries in too many American towns to recognize to the largest single site brewery in Golden, Colorado to the oldest family run brewery in London, England to probably the mustiest, dankest brewery still cranking out authentic lambic in the civilized world in Brussels, Belgium, I've covered things fairly comprehensively, even if there are admittedly some holes. Needless to say, my beer journey has improved since that night in the fall of 1989.
But before we start talking about beer in 2018, let's talk some history.
Once upon a time in the United States, the only beer available to most folks in this country of ours was a mass-produced kind of product, and a fairly poor one at that. Think Coors or Miller or Bud Light or some kind of similar suds. Although in the old old days it was more likely to be a mass-produced local sort of product. Think Stroh's in Detroit or Piel's in New York or Wiedemann's in Cincinnati. Wherever you lived, there was bound to be a mostly regional, cheap German-style lager for the men-folk to pass away their evenings and weekends.
Eventually in the 1970s, some people got tired of drinking the same old stuff available at the bar or liquor store or grocery store or wherever else they got their pints, six-packs, twelve-packs, cases or kegs. Some of those beer lovers started their own smaller breweries trying to make a drink with more taste and character and managed to make a dent in some markets throughout the country. But a dent was about all it was. Brewing, kegging, bottling, canning and distributing beer that nobody had heard of was a costly and often unrewarding endeavor. Even when the first microbreweries managed to grab on to a local market share, the taste for something different (read: better) didn't spread particularly well sometimes.
Then in the late 1970s and early 1980s, two significant laws were passed, one at the national level and one locally in the Pacific northwest.
On October 14, 1978, H. R. 1337 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. The bill allowed the manufacture of up to 100 gallons per year of beer or wine by an adult at home for his or her own personal use. Got two adults at home? You get to make 200 gallons a year! Now beer lovers everywhere could try their hand at making the kind of brew they liked, rather than being forced to settle for whatever they could find at their local bar or store.
About seven years later in Portland, Oregon, SB 813 was signed into law on July 13, 1985. That bill allowed the production and sale of beer on the same property. This was huge! All of a sudden, commercial beer production got a lot cheaper. No longer were you as a small brewer forced to pay for distribution and sale on other people's properties, nor did you have to invest in canning and bottling operations to get your product into stores. You could just brew up a batch of beer and sell it right out of the back of your brewery. The brewpub was born. And aspiring brewers flocked to northwest Oregon to set up shop.
But before we start talking about beer in 2018, let's talk some history.
Once upon a time in the United States, the only beer available to most folks in this country of ours was a mass-produced kind of product, and a fairly poor one at that. Think Coors or Miller or Bud Light or some kind of similar suds. Although in the old old days it was more likely to be a mass-produced local sort of product. Think Stroh's in Detroit or Piel's in New York or Wiedemann's in Cincinnati. Wherever you lived, there was bound to be a mostly regional, cheap German-style lager for the men-folk to pass away their evenings and weekends.
Eventually in the 1970s, some people got tired of drinking the same old stuff available at the bar or liquor store or grocery store or wherever else they got their pints, six-packs, twelve-packs, cases or kegs. Some of those beer lovers started their own smaller breweries trying to make a drink with more taste and character and managed to make a dent in some markets throughout the country. But a dent was about all it was. Brewing, kegging, bottling, canning and distributing beer that nobody had heard of was a costly and often unrewarding endeavor. Even when the first microbreweries managed to grab on to a local market share, the taste for something different (read: better) didn't spread particularly well sometimes.
Then in the late 1970s and early 1980s, two significant laws were passed, one at the national level and one locally in the Pacific northwest.
On October 14, 1978, H. R. 1337 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. The bill allowed the manufacture of up to 100 gallons per year of beer or wine by an adult at home for his or her own personal use. Got two adults at home? You get to make 200 gallons a year! Now beer lovers everywhere could try their hand at making the kind of brew they liked, rather than being forced to settle for whatever they could find at their local bar or store.
About seven years later in Portland, Oregon, SB 813 was signed into law on July 13, 1985. That bill allowed the production and sale of beer on the same property. This was huge! All of a sudden, commercial beer production got a lot cheaper. No longer were you as a small brewer forced to pay for distribution and sale on other people's properties, nor did you have to invest in canning and bottling operations to get your product into stores. You could just brew up a batch of beer and sell it right out of the back of your brewery. The brewpub was born. And aspiring brewers flocked to northwest Oregon to set up shop.
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| Cascade Brewing Barrel House on SE Belmont Street. Get your sour on! |
In 2011, I made my first trip to Portland. It was the last stop on a cross-country drive that most people make right after they graduate from college. I made it when I was 43. I picked a place to stay in town and then identified four breweries within walking distance of our hotel and engaged in a two day or so long pub crawl. Not within reasonable stumbling distance of the hotel where I was staying? You didn't get visited.
Now it's 2018 and I've just finished my second trip to Portland. This year, I didn't constrain myself to a half mile or so radius from where I was staying but instead picked places where I thought I would enjoy the beer or where something special called to me. In 2011, walking from my hotel got me to fall in love with Deschutes Brewery. This time, I tried to find more than one place I would love.
We spent the better part of four days in late June this year and around Portland. I'm sure you can visit a whole lot of breweries in the time we spent there, although perhaps not all of the more than 60 that call the city home. Between trips out of town and a strong desire to remember all of my time in each place I drank, we limited ourselves to six on this trip. Remembering my experience was important to me this time around, something that wasn't so high on my list of priorities in 2011. Here's what I found this year.
Widmer Brothers
If there's a brewery that put Portland on the world beer map, it's Widmer Brothers. They weren't the first brewery established in the city and they are not the oldest one still around (that honor goes to BridgePort Brewing) but they were the first Portland beer to be widely distributed with any staying power. I visited Widmer Brothers this year to kiss the ring, so to speak. I wanted to pay homage.
Now, in doing this, don't think I was visiting some place with terrible beer. Widmer's original flagship beer, Hefe, is a classic American beer in the style of a Munich weissbier which is just as awesome today as it was when I first tried it. It's light and citrus-y but with plenty of body and without the banana-y flavor that comes with this style of beer sometimes. In anticipation of my visit, I even downed a few pints in Eugene on the way to Portland.
Now, in doing this, don't think I was visiting some place with terrible beer. Widmer's original flagship beer, Hefe, is a classic American beer in the style of a Munich weissbier which is just as awesome today as it was when I first tried it. It's light and citrus-y but with plenty of body and without the banana-y flavor that comes with this style of beer sometimes. In anticipation of my visit, I even downed a few pints in Eugene on the way to Portland.
For the beer lover who wants more than just a hefeweizen to drink, Widmer's pub has plenty more choice. Like 25 or more different beers on tap, some of which are only available at the Widmer pub on North Russell Street. So just by visiting their pub, you gain access to some exclusive brews.
To try as many as possible in this location, I opted for a flight. This is the only place I got a rack of small glasses. I went full beers everywhere else with one asterisk which we'll get to in a minute. Of the six small glasses, I thought the Le Petit Brasseur, a saison style (which is becoming one of my personal favorite styles) beer, was the best. It was light but had flavor. I also enjoyed the Fresno Wit, a Belgian style witbier that I thought had some spicy notes. And I had to add the Japanese-style rice lager called Mr. Sparkle, the title being an ode to one of the best Simpsons episodes ever (easily top 5) and Portland's own Matt Groening. I couldn't imagine a better titled beer on this trip, but then again, maybe I lack imagination sometimes.
Ultimately, none of the six small beers I drank on North Russell were the equal of Widmer's Hefe so just to say I did it, I ordered a full glass of that gorgeous brew after I finished my sampling. Ring kissed, honor paid, let's move on. Widmer's worth a stop for every beer tourist based on history alone. We got better beer elsewhere in Portland but drinking a Hefe in this place is a touchstone moment in my American beer drinking experience.
Hopworks Urban Brewery
We visited Hopworks (or HUB, if you prefer) for one reason: they partnered with Patagonia (yes, the clothing and other outdoor gear manufacturer) on a beer made from Kernza, a trademarked perennial grain similar to intermediate wheatgrass that is native to Europe and Asia. What's a perennial grain, you might ask? Well, just like perennial flowers, it's a crop that needs to be planted just once and then it will generate seeds (in this case, wheat) year after year as opposed to needing to be replanted each year after it lives and dies in a single season.
The attraction here by the way was Patagonia, not necessarily the Kernza. While I'm all for sustainable agricultural practices (and Kernza has water use and soil regenerative benefits which are certainly cool), I'm mildly obsessed with Patagonia as a company and I can't seem to stop buying their stuff. Some days I'm like a walking billboard for the brand which makes me feel a little silly.
The HUB / Patagonia Long Root Ale can be found in the "Easy Drinkers" section of Hopwork's menu. It's a pale ale with plenty of flavor that is certainly easy to put down. It's what I would call mildly hopped, especially compared to some of the beers today that I consider to be way over the top hopped. I would drink this beer regularly if I were to hang out at Hopworks with any frequency as a Portland resident.
Long Root was not the only beer I sampled at HUB (I mean, come on...why go for just one beer). There are some interesting sounding brews on the menu including a pineapple cider and a concoction labeled Strawberry Milkshake IPA, which is actually brewed with both strawberries and lactose. Since I've been in a substantially traditional (rather than experimental) beer mood lately, I opted for something more mainstream. I guess I could have ordered a flight and had a taste of both pineapple and strawberry but, well, I've already stated how I feel about that issue right now. No more flights after Widmer!
My second (and as it turned out, last) beer? Hopworks' Organic Survival Stout, a very coffee forward beer brewed with multiple different kinds of grain including (but not limited to) barley, wheat, oats, quinoa and spelt. Interesting beer, but way too much coffee. This part is nobody's fault but mine. The menu clearly said the brew was finished with cold-pressed coffee.
Like a number of breweries in Portland, Hopworks Urban Brewery is themed and the theme here is bicycles. There are bikes and gears on the cans, labels and tap handles and the canopy over the bar is formed out of bicycle frames of all sorts. This is a good brewery. I could give it a second chance but I'm not craving it as I write this.
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| Vitis Noble, Cascade Brewing Barrel House. |
Cascade Brewing
Cascade was the first brewery we visited in Portland. We headed there right after a walk around Washington Park's International Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden. We went back there two days later. Cascade was my favorite brewery of the six we visited and it's my new favorite brewery in the world. At least until we go back to Fuller's in London later this month.
Most of what you need to know big picture-wise about Cascade can be summed up by our server's question to us after saying hi: "do you guys like sour beers?" Why, yes, we do. We like sour beers a whole lot. And by "we", I really mean "I".
Now, before you recoil too much at the sour beer label, just hold on. Yes, this beer is sour in the style of Belgium's best lambic beers but some of the flavors that Cascade has coaxed out of the ingredients they use to make these brews are just incredible. I'm not sure I've had a beer with more complexity in the last five years; some of these brews were mind-blowing.
I started out with three 2 oz. tasters* after describing to our server just what I was looking for, which would be something not overly fruity. If that sounds strange to anyone who knows what a lambic is, I don't particularly care for framboises or krieks or any other sort of fruit-heavy lambics; give me high quality un-fruited gueuze (or the anglisized "goze") any day of the week and I'll be a happy man. Cascade had several options in the fruitless or fruit-mild department, including their excellent excellent Vitis Noble flavored with chardonnay grapes and their even more excellent excellent Melonius Blond, a gorgeous winey brew with a sour hit of cantaloupe on the back end. Vitis Noble was the equivalent of a perfect chardonnay for me and Melonius Blond is my new favorite beer. I have to find some of this stuff on the east coast.
If you've gotten past the sour label (yes I know that was a couple of paragraphs ago at this point) and you are accepting me as some sort of beer expert (which you might consider doing), I imagine you are ready to run right down to your local beer store and get some Cascade. Let me send you off with a warning: this stuff carries a price tag to match the quality of the liquid inside the bottles. A typical 750 ml bottle of Cascade's beer will set you back $20 with some brews being priced $10 or more higher. You get what you pay for here but it's way more expensive than most beers you'll ever come across. Still, that Melonius Blond...it's calling to me.
* I told you there would be an asterisk. Tasters are not flights. There's no minimum or limit to the amount of tasters you can get and 2 oz. is just too small to be considered as making up a flight. I did try some of Cascade's more fruit-forward beers, including the Midnight Bramble made with black and red raspberries, and I found these less successful than the Vitis Noble and Melonius Blond. But then again, I know what I like; Midnight Bramble was destined for failure with me.
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| Beer. Marshmallow. Why not? S'more Stout. |
Base Camp Brewing
On to themed brewing company number two. I could reasonably relate to a bicycle-themed brewpub; there's no way I could relate to one with a climbing (as in mountain climbing) bent. A behind-the-bar video display of people at places like Everest base camp and carabiners on the tap handles and as hooks below the bar don't necessarily make me feel like I'm at home. Carabiners below the bar, by the way...genius!
How did the mountaineering theme affect my enjoyment of the beer? Not one bit. Didn't even notice it. And the beers aren't even named after mountains or anything. No Everest or Kilimanjaro or avalanche or whatever names. We didn't spend enough time here.
Just like HUB, we came here for one beer: the S'more Stout, a sweet-ish stout with chocolate, smoke and biscuit flavors, everything except the marshmallow, or at least that's how the brewers described what they'd put together in this concoction. And there's no need to worry about the marshmallow missing because this beer comes with a toasted one (they blowtorch it on the back bar before handing you your drink) right on the rim of every glass. Seriously? Yep! Now you know why we made a special pilgrimage for this beer.
Too often with this kind of a beer, it's a gimmick. The promise and allure is not matched by the actual taste of what you get to drink. I think in the case of the S'more Stout, that statement doesn't apply. This is actually a good beer. Maybe not one to lead with as your first glass of the night. More of (and I hope understandably) a dessert beer. And yes, there is such a thing. The beer itself is not that sweet; think some high percentage of cocoa chocolate bars. Like 80 or 90 percent. It's bitter but rich and it needs the marshmallow. The only real problem is it needs about three or four marshmallows for a whole glass. The thing on the rim disappeared in about four or five sips and a corresponding amount of bites.
They also sell this stuff in bottles. I assume marshmallows are sold separately (and your parents have to put it together).
Determined to soldier on, and determined not to get another flight, I had to sample a second beer at Base Camp. I chose a Grisette, a saison-like light refreshing beer which I feel is severely under-represented as a beer style at microbreweries pretty much everywhere. It's a thirst quenching beer that's typically a little lower in alcohol content that can be supped in quantity for refreshment. Base Camp's version was sweet and citrusy with a mild hopped finish which went down well on an unusually hot summer day in Portland. This stuff is just perfect for that kind of a day.
It's difficult to second guess leaving this brewpub considering less than 45 minutes later I had a glass of Cascade Melonius Blond in front of me but I regret not lingering at Base Camp. I would have loved another glass of this Grisette, maybe after getting a little deeper into their menu. Note to self: go back to Base Camp when in Portland next.
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| Cactus Wins The Lottery! Ex Novo knows how to name beers. |
Ex Novo Brewing
If there's a brewery that names its beer better than Ex Novo, I haven't found it yet. And if I hadn't been to Cascade (twice), I'd be thinking about heading back to Ex Novo every day. OK, maybe I am anyway.
Choosing breweries to visit is difficult when there are so many around you to choose from (more on that later). We chose Ex Novo because they are a non-profit. They donate their profits to "those building a better world and bringing hope to places where it is scarce." That sort of a statement is enough to get me to a brewery. But it's not enough to get me to go back. Good beer is the only thing that can really do that.
Just like Hopworks and Base Camp, I tried two beers at Ex Novo. I started with The Most Interesting Lager In The World, a Mexican-style beer with a little more flavor than the average offering from south of the border. I finished with a Cactus Wins The Lottery! (the exclamation point is theirs not mine), a sour beer flavored with prickly pear cactus fruit. Who names these things? Truth be told I did happen to pick the two most creatively named beers on the menu.
The Most Interesting Lager In The World was absolutely not. Better than a standard Mexican pilsner? Oh yes! Most interesting in the world? Um...no. The Cactus Wins The Lottery!, though. That is some good stuff. My mouth is watering right now just writing about it.
Before this trip to Portland, I'd had unflavored, raspberry flavored, watermelon flavored, cranberry flavored and cherry flavored sour beer, mostly with the word lambic on the label, but not always. I'd never had blackberry, chardonnay, cantaloupe or cactus pear sour beer. Now I have and I got it all in Portland at Cascade (the first three) and Ex Novo (the last). Whenever I visited Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in New York (now gone) or Las Vegas (still there), I used to get a cactus pear margarita. This beer is like that drink only way better (because it's beer). The cactus pear is a distinct flavor but one not strong enough or recognizable to make it seem like you are drinking a fruit beer, even though you are. It's not Cascade's Melonius Blond but it also doesn't carry a $20+ per bottle price. This stuff comes in regular sized cans. Need to find a way to get this stuff to the east coast. Ex Novo ended our beer run of new breweries. Great spot to finish!
This is the last post of my late June trip through northern California and Oregon. This trip started with wine in the Napa Valley and ended with beer in Portland. Both experiences were fantastic. I found wine I loved in the first three days of the trip and I found beer that I loved in the last four. As I write this post I have the 20 bottles of wine I bought in California sitting in my cellar waiting for the day when I crack one open and re-live my time in Cali. I have none of the beer I found in Portland. There has to be a way to remedy that somehow.
I now have a reason to go back to both places. I have no idea which one I'll get to first. There's a whole long list of places that are ahead of both, although honestly I could see a long weekend in Napa every two or three years quite easily. A non-stop flight to San Fran, some sampling, some shipping...I'll take it as it comes. Best beers in Portland? I'm going (1) Cascade's Melonius Blond, (2) Cascade's Vitis Noble, (3) Base Camp's Grisette and (4) Ex Novo's Cactus Wins The Lottery! Until next time, cheers!
Hey wait a minute, I said there were six breweries. We did stop by Wayfinder after we visited Base Camp. Wayfinder was on my list because of their logo and their full food menu. Admittedly, it was a Friday night but it was so packed that is was just unbearable. We left without sitting down or ordering a beer and headed straight (back) to Cascade. I'm not saying I wouldn't have liked Wayfinder's beer but the atmosphere was just not for me.
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| Good advice from Hopworks Urban Brewery. |
How We Did It
Beer is not hard to find in Portland. Just type "brewpub" into Google Maps and you are bound to come up with something close to you. My opinion is that beer is a lot like food. You want to find the right stuff? Get the scoop from someone who lives locally and can provide some insight rather than just picking the establishment closest to wherever you happen to be at the moment.
We find Eater.com really useful for food recommendations when we travel so we used them to point us in the right direction on this trip for some good beer. This will age of course but we relied heavily on Eater's April 2018 Essential Guide To Portland Breweries and the March 2018 Portland's Must-Visit Brewpubs For Beer And Food. If it's beyond 2018 when you are reading this, maybe you better just check out Eater's site and search for the most recent guides on their site.
Below is the current (as of August 2018) information for the five breweries we visited and drank beer from. Click on the name of each brewery and it will link to the website for the brewery. All breweries are in Portland.
Widmer Brothers Pub, 955 North Russell Street. There's a parking lot in the rear of the pub accessible off North Russell. It's small but it's way better than looking (and paying) for street parking. We were a little peckish when we got to Widmer but honestly found the in house menu lacking.
Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Boulevard. Like Widmer, Hopworks also has its own parking lot. Enter it off SE 29th Avenue one block from the brewery building. We had better luck with food at Hopworks. The pretzels are highly recommended; I'd go with two cups of beer cheese and pass on the mustard, but that's just me.
Cascade Brewing Barrel House, 939 SE Belmont Street. Go here. Go here. Go here. Go here. Go here. I liked Cascade a lot. Their beer is amazing and complex and the atmosphere is relaxed and quiet, even if you are in the middle of a city. They have a great shaded patio with picnic tables. They have a small menu and the choices are a little limited especially if you don't want pig. I thought their pork loin reuben was good and I'd eat it again. I'd also eat their salted caramel chocolate pecan bites again and again and again. Parking is on the street; we didn't have any problem finding a spot, although oddly we found the exact same spot both times we went.
Base Camp Brewing, 930 SE Oak Street. Of all the breweries we visited, Base Camp had the best food. They don't make their own but they do have two food trucks outside which you can order from at the bar and the Base Camp staff will go get and bring your food from the truck which is awfully convenient. We ordered Nepalese food from the Sherpa Kitchen food truck while at Base Camp. I'd recommend trying it for yourself. Street parking at Base Camp. Like everywhere we went in Portland, we had no problem finding a spot.
Ex Novo Brewing, 2326 North Flint Avenue. Ex Novo is in an old industrial building with a roll up door near Lillis Albina City Park. Ex Novo was the only place we didn't eat. Street parking again here and again, we found a spot along the edge of the park pretty easily.
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