Beer|OT| Crazy for the hazy

Distantmantra · May 23, 2019

Kendrid said:
I am going to be spending 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris in a few months. I have never been to either.

What beers are worth checking out that I cannot get in the US? I'll drink anything except sours or smoked beers. Thanks.

Also I have a work trip to NY City in a few weeks. What should I try there that I cannot get in Chicago.

UK: The Kernel and Cloudwater both make great beer.
France: I don't know much about the French craft beer scene, but look for Belgian stuff like Fantome and De La Senne. I'd suggest Cantillon and Drei Fonteinen but you don't like sour stuff.

New York? Other Half for sure.

Rei Toei · May 27, 2019

BeEra, specifically the US crowd, I have a request. Next friday I'm hopping on a plane for a five-week trip to the west coast and then some. Travel plans are roughly this:

Starting in San Francisco, then:
Pigeon Point
Santa Barbara
Cachuma Lake
Calico
Grand Canyon
Santa Fe
Mesa Verde
Canyonland
Arches National Park
Monument Valley
Antelope Canyon
Zion National Park
Bryce
Las Vegas
Death Valley
Yosemite
Sequioa National Park
San Francisco

I'm travelling with my GF and another couple and about all of them are beergeeks lite like me. I've been trying to figure out where we should go when it comes to breweries/taphouses/interesting bars, but what there is, is completely overwhelming. I've figured out some stuff that seems nice in San Francisco, but not much else. So here's hoping you guys could point me in the right direction with our travel plans in mind.

Also, I'm travelling light, so I could easily pack some Dutch/Belgian/German beers. Maybe I could make some people happy with this or do a trade or barter or whatever? I don't really know what is and what isn't easily available on your side of the pond, but I guess it'd be pretty easy for me to bring some more obscure stuff with me. This one bottle shop in my little town for example always carries a boatload of all the better Belgian geuzes and krieks like Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen, Tilquin etc.

Tawpgun · May 28, 2019

Are there any services for getting regional beers shipped to you or do I need to find a friend?

riotous · May 28, 2019

Tawpgun said:
Are there any services for getting regional beers shipped to you or do I need to find a friend?

There are online stores, the 2 biggest are both out of SoCal though so it's what gets distro'd there + occasionally they do out of market specials (particularly CraftShack.)

https://www.craftshack.com

https://www.craftbeerkings.com

Xun · May 28, 2019

Kendrid said:
I am going to be spending 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris in a few months. I have never been to either.

What beers are worth checking out that I cannot get in the US? I'll drink anything except sours or smoked beers. Thanks.

Also I have a work trip to NY City in a few weeks. What should I try there that I cannot get in Chicago.

You'll likely find both in the US somewhere, but Fuller's and Beavertown make fantastic beers.

Fuller's have some great pubs in London as well.

Tawpgun · May 28, 2019

riotous said:
There are online stores, the 2 biggest are both out of SoCal though so it's what gets distro'd there + occasionally they do out of market specials (particularly CraftShack.)

https://www.craftshack.com
https://www.craftbeerkings.com

Looking at getting some New England beers, woof

Distantmantra · May 28, 2019

Tawpgun said:
Looking at getting some New England beers, woof

Yeah, probably need to find a trade partner then.

RedNalgene · May 28, 2019

Rei Toei said:
BeEra, specifically the US crowd, I have a request. Next friday I'm hopping on a plane for a five-week trip to the west coast and then some. Travel plans are roughly this:

Starting in San Francisco, then:
Pigeon Point
Santa Barbara
Cachuma Lake
Calico
Grand Canyon
Santa Fe
Mesa Verde
Canyonland
Arches National Park
Monument Valley
Antelope Canyon
Zion National Park
Bryce
Las Vegas
Death Valley
Yosemite
Sequioa National Park
San Francisco

I'm travelling with my GF and another couple and about all of them are beergeeks lite like me. I've been trying to figure out where we should go when it comes to breweries/taphouses/interesting bars, but what there is, is completely overwhelming. I've figured out some stuff that seems nice in San Francisco, but not much else. So here's hoping you guys could point me in the right direction with our travel plans in mind.

Also, I'm travelling light, so I could easily pack some Dutch/Belgian/German beers. Maybe I could make some people happy with this or do a trade or barter or whatever? I don't really know what is and what isn't easily available on your side of the pond, but I guess it'd be pretty easy for me to bring some more obscure stuff with me. This one bottle shop in my little town for example always carries a boatload of all the better Belgian geuzes and krieks like Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen, Tilquin etc.

I don't have a ton of actual suggestions, but once you get to Utah it's kind of a beer wasteland. There is beer, but it's very mediocre. So stock up before leaving Cali.

Kendrid · May 28, 2019

Xun said:
You'll likely find both in the US somewhere, but Fuller's and Beavertown make fantastic beers.

Fuller's have some great pubs in London as well.

Thanks! Where I live I can get Fuller's London Pride and London Porter.

Miso · May 28, 2019

Rei Toei said:
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas

Can give a bit of info here based on previous trips, from a fellow non-Yank. But neither are places i think of when i think of good beers i've has state-side

Granny (was there 2014) - assuming you're going south ridge, up from Route 66 in Arizona. Went to Grand Canyon Brewing in Williams - no tap room but place next door had their beers - Cruiser's Cafe 66 Bar & Grill.
Apart from the novelty of having a beer on route 66 can't really recommend. Beers are forgettable, but mostly likely a decent option if in area.
All other customers were German. Middle aged Germans on Harleys (much like the rest of the Grand Canyon).
Their beers were all over Tusayan as well, (didn't book early enough to get into Grand Canyon Village).

Vegas - stayed on the strip in '14 and downtown in '17

Tenya Creek - If you do bother, and I would only go if your staying Downtown (and why wouldn't you be!), I was there at around 6 on a Friday. Full of locals having knock off beers, a welcome change when in tourist packed Vegas.

Banger, right on the Fremont street pedestrianised area - beers fine, but very much a welcome break from the madness. Guest taps pretty good.

As a bar Pizza Rock in Downtown was worth a visit - pretty good taps and actually did a proper napoli styled pizza (of course the only pizza in that style was a margarita but it was Naples worthy, plenty of Americanised pizza as well).

Ellis Island, east of the stip but not far - was interesting about 5 years ago - a very local casino. $2 beers, $1 at happy hour. I think they gave it a renovation recently but if you're on the strip (yuck) and feel like seeing how the locals live might be worth a visit. Beers not very good.

Avoid Sin City Brewing. Rubbish. And Chicago. Even Worse.

Rei Toei · May 29, 2019

Thanks for the info RedNalgene and Miso! Much appreciated :)

Rylen · May 29, 2019

Mead >

Mitch · Jun 3, 2019

Yeah, I'm sure everyone in the Mead OT agre- oh wait.

Dry hopping my SMaSH today and bottling it on Saturday. Going to try and cold crash it by sticking the bucket into my mash tun cooler. Should be a perfect fit. I just need to get it freshly iced for 48ish hours.

Doomsayer · Jun 3, 2019

Mitch said:
Yeah, I'm sure everyone in the Mead OT agre- oh wait.

Dry hopping my SMaSH today and bottling it on Saturday. Going to try and cold crash it by sticking the bucket into my mash tun cooler. Should be a perfect fit. I just need to get it freshly iced for 48ish hours.

Which hop did you end up choosing for your SMaSH?

This weekend we killed our hoppy Pilsner keg and brewed a SMaSH Mosaic Pale Ale. We are really liking Admiral Malting right now. Their pils malt is incredible. We used Gallagher's best for this one, sample tastes great.

Also bottled up a Golden Stout that we aged on vanilla, coffee, and cacao nibs. This beer tastes amazing even without carbonation. Really happy with the depth of flavor on a sub 6% beer.

Mitch · Jun 3, 2019

Went with Centennial.

Golden stouts are so good. I'd love to try one soon.

Rylen · Jun 14, 2019

Is this the mead thread?

Piccalilli Shinpads · Jun 15, 2019

It's my brothers birthday early next month and he's asked for some "funny lagers." By this he means ones that he hasn't had before.

Hopefully you're still reading after seeing the word lager. I don't like lager; he does. Hopefully some others here do? So lagers, pilsners, helles, I guess?

I'm in the UK but this thread suggests most of you are in the USA, so maybe you could suggest some good American lagers (does such a thing exist? haha) for him?

His favourite beer is Bud Light (no, really) and his second favourite is Coors Light (there's no chance anyone's still reading) and third is probably Carling (yuck!).

Thing is, obviously I could buy him fantastic beer that I would love and everyone in this thread would love, but I need to get him beers he will love.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

If you've got some time to take a look at the websites I'll be getting them from, I'd appreciate it.

Or just name some and I'll see whether I can get them in the UK.

Please remember, I want lager recommendations. Not proper (good) beer. 😅

Thank you very much.

gutterboy44 · Jun 23, 2019

Went to the Other Half Green City Beer festival this weekend. Holy moly it was hazy IPA overload. It was a lot of fun and got to taste a ton of good beers from breweries I'll never likely go to, but you def hit a hop overload with your palate. Luckily there were a decent amount of non-ipa beers to try too. You could get so bombed in the 4 hours there if you just went hard with all the DIPA 's being served. I was pretty tipsy by the end and we paced ourselves, ate and drank lots of water. Based on my notes I tried 30 different beers not including the ones I sipped from my brother and his friend when we all got different tasters.

Mitch · Jun 25, 2019

gutterboy44 said:
Went to the Other Half Green City Beer festival this weekend. Holy moly it was hazy IPA overload. It was a lot of fun and got to taste a ton of good beers from breweries I'll never likely go to, but you def hit a hop overload with your palate. Luckily there were a decent amount of non-ipa beers to try too. You could get so bombed in the 4 hours there if you just went hard with all the DIPA 's being served. I was pretty tipsy by the end and we paced ourselves, ate and drank lots of water. Based on my notes I tried 30 different beers not including the ones I sipped from my brother and his friend when we all got different tasters.

Pretty sure a buddy of mine went there with his wife for this 30th birthday. Looked bonkers. I've been to two beer fests and hooo boy they are dangerous.

Mitch · Jun 26, 2019

Pretty much have my Seattle trip mapped out. Will probably change a bit since I'll go to places that look interesting and if riotous and Distantmantra want to meet up for a drink.

Day 1 Breweries:
Fremont, Reuben's, Stoup and Holy Mountain.

Going to Blue Star Cafe for breakfast, The Masonry for lunch if I'm hungry and after I check into my hostel, I'll probably walk around that area for the remainder of the evening. I'm staying right in the middle of what seems to be Chinatown? Dinner is 100% going to be ramen/pho/sushi.

Day 2 Breweries:
The Pike Brewing Co and Cloudburst.

I'll spend the first half of the day getting breakfast, checking out the Starbucks Reserve place, Golden Age Comics and Pike Place Market. Wouldn't mind making it over to Bottleworks or Chuck's Hop Shop on either days.

Distantmantra · Jun 26, 2019

Mitch said:
Pretty much have my Seattle trip mapped out. Will probably change a bit since I'll go to places that look interesting and if riotous and Distantmantra want to meet up for a drink.

Day 1 Breweries:
Fremont, Reuben's, Stoup and Holy Mountain.

Going to Blue Star Cafe for breakfast, The Masonry for lunch if I'm hungry and after I check into my hostel, I'll probably walk around that area for the remainder of the evening. I'm staying right in the middle of what seems to be Chinatown? Dinner is 100% going to be ramen/pho/sushi.

Go to Maneki for an old school Japanese dinner. Or follow the Chinese people into one of the dim sum places. Or get teriyaki and enjoy the official fast food of Washington state.

Day 2 Breweries:
The Pike Brewing Co and Cloudburst.

I'll spend the first half of the day getting breakfast, checking out the Starbucks Reserve place, Golden Age Comics and Pike Place Market. Wouldn't mind making it over to Bottleworks or Chuck's Hop Shop on either days.

If you're gonna go to a bottle shop, Chucks is better than Bottleworks. BW is my neighborhood shop but Chucks (both locations) is way better in terms of variety. Chuck's Central isn't very far from the Starbucks Roastery. The Pine Box is close by, too.

Here's a suggestion for Day 2: keep Cloudburst. Dump Pike. Hit up either Seapine, Standard Brewing or Machine House instead. Machine House is a English style cask brewery run by an actual Brit. They've got two locations: the brewery down in Georgetown (across the street from Full Throttle Bottles) and then a taproom in the Central District near Seattle University (which isn't far from Standard Brewing). Their beer is damn good.

Mitch · Jun 26, 2019

Distantmantra said:
Go to Maneki for an old school Japanese dinner. Or follow the Chinese people into one of the dim sum places. Or get teriyaki and enjoy the official fast food of Washington state.

If you're gonna go to a bottle shop, Chucks is better than Bottleworks. BW is my neighborhood shop but Chucks (both locations) is way better in terms of variety. Chuck's Central isn't very far from the Starbucks Roastery. The Pine Box is close by, too.

Here's a suggestion for Day 2: keep Cloudburst. Dump Pike. Hit up either Seapine, Standard Brewing or Machine House instead. Machine House is a English style cask brewery run by an actual Brit. They've got two locations: the brewery down in Georgetown (across the street from Full Throttle Bottles) and then a taproom in the Central District near Seattle University (which isn't far from Standard Brewing). Their beer is damn good.

Thanks again for more suggestions. I'll change up day 2 accordingly.

Distantmantra · Jun 26, 2019

Mitch said:
Thanks again for more suggestions. I'll change up day 2 accordingly.

Yep! Westland Distillery is near Seapine if you're up for some whiskey.

Mitch · Jun 26, 2019

Distantmantra said:
Yep! Westland Distillery is near Seapine if you're up for some whiskey.

Excellent. I'll give it a shot.

I'll do Seapine > Georgetown > Standard after Cloudburst. Going to be a busy day.

Distantmantra · Jun 26, 2019

Mitch said:
Excellent. I'll give it a shot.

I'll do Seapine > Georgetown > Standard after Cloudburst. Going to be a busy day.

Georgetown only does tasters and growler fills currently, but still worth a visit. Machine House is just down the street from them, too.

You could always throw in a stop at Slowboat Tavern on your Central/South End day!

edit: Oh, how are you getting around while you're here? Renting a car? Transit? Uber?

Distantmantra · Jun 26, 2019

A good North End day would be:

Bottleworks -> Fremont -> Masonry Fremont -> Reubens -> Urban Family -> Holy Mountain (remember, you don't need to try everything and it's doable and won't wreck you!)

If you're looking to try Floodland, your best bet is Junebaby or Lucinda Grain Bar in Ravenna (fancy places in North Seattle, just down the street from Toronado). They just got some bottles for on-site consumption, not sure if they're still there but they're pricey so who knows.

riotous · Jun 26, 2019

Mitch might have missed it but when are you in town?

Mitch · Jun 26, 2019

riotous said:
Mitch might have missed it but when are you in town?

7/31, 8/1 and then most of the day 8/5.

Distantmantra said:
A good North End day would be:

Bottleworks -> Fremont -> Masonry Fremont -> Reubens -> Urban Family -> Holy Mountain (remember, you don't need to try everything and it's doable and won't wreck you!)

If you're looking to try Floodland, your best bet is Junebaby or Lucinda Grain Bar in Ravenna (fancy places in North Seattle, just down the street from Toronado). They just got some bottles for on-site consumption, not sure if they're still there but they're pricey so who knows.

Pretty close to what I have!

Blue Star > Fremont > Masonry > Reuben's > Stoup > Holy Mountain > check into hotel. I'm not planning on drinking a ton at each place. I usually get flights when visiting breweries I've never been to. Or at the very least half pours if they're available.

nicoga3000 · Jul 22, 2019

Seems like this topic is not really active anymore...

But I thought you all may appreciate the haul from our Beer and Board Games Extravaganza X!

It's a little hard to make out (my buddy is using an old iPhone to take the pic), but there's a LOT of 450 North stuff in there, and there's a bottle of 3 Eyed Magpie (which is Imperial Magpie aged 3 years in Angel's Envy barrels).

If anyone is in the Indy area and enjoys beer and board games, you should definitely PM me so I can invite you to our next event. We love getting new people involved!

Distantmantra · Jul 22, 2019

Mitch said:
7/31, 8/1 and then most of the day 8/5.

Pretty close to what I have!

Blue Star > Fremont > Masonry > Reuben's > Stoup > Holy Mountain > check into hotel. I'm not planning on drinking a ton at each place. I usually get flights when visiting breweries I've never been to. Or at the very least half pours if they're available.

Holy Mountain doesn't do tasters/flights, but you can get half pours of anything available.

Mitch · Jul 22, 2019

nicoga3000 said:
Seems like this topic is not really active anymore...

But I thought you all may appreciate the haul from our Beer and Board Games Extravaganza X!

It's a little hard to make out (my buddy is using an old iPhone to take the pic), but there's a LOT of 450 North stuff in there, and there's a bottle of 3 Eyed Magpie (which is Imperial Magpie aged 3 years in Angel's Envy barrels).

If anyone is in the Indy area and enjoys beer and board games, you should definitely PM me so I can invite you to our next event. We love getting new people involved!

Seems like a ton of fun. Pretty good lineup.

Distantmantra said:
Holy Mountain doesn't do tasters/flights, but you can get half pours of anything available.

That's perfect. I prefer half pours over flights any day.

Something Creative · Jul 24, 2019

Doing Oregon Brewer's Fest in a couple days! They've got a beer list 101 strong and I have little idea where to start

https://www.oregonbrewfest.com/beersciders/

Any thoughts? Distantmantra ??

I'm disappointed that so many of the sours are kettled

And I could have sworn in past years they had more breweries from California and Washington.... but maybe I'm mistaken

Tawpgun · Jul 24, 2019

I'll be honest boys....

https://wgxa.tv/news/local/pbr-releases-pabst-hard-coffee-in-5-states-including-georgia

I'm curious

Not in my state though

Distantmantra · Jul 24, 2019

Something Creative said:
Doing Oregon Brewer's Fest in a couple days! They've got a beer list 101 strong and I have little idea where to start

https://www.oregonbrewfest.com/beersciders/

Any thoughts? Distantmantra ??

I'm disappointed that so many of the sours are kettled

And I could have sworn in past years they had more breweries from California and Washington.... but maybe I'm mistaken

My thought would honestly be to not go. It's normally a stupid shit show with long lines and beers run out super fast. There's a reason why heavy hitters like Wayfinder, de Garde, Block 15, Ale Apothecary, Ruse, etc. aren't going.

If you do go, drink Upright's Flora Fantastica and all the pilsners and lagers you can.

My heartfelt suggestion? Hit a few breweries in Portland and drink better beer in a more fun environment.

[shrug]

Something Creative · Jul 25, 2019

Distantmantra said:
My thought would honestly be to not go. It's normally a stupid shit show with long lines and beers run out super fast. There's a reason why heavy hitters like Wayfinder, de Garde, Block 15, Ale Apothecary, Ruse, etc. aren't going.

If you do go, drink Upright's Flora Fantastica and all the pilsners and lagers you can.

My heartfelt suggestion? Hit a few breweries in Portland and drink better beer in a more fun environment.

[shrug]

Hah, not the take I expected. I should be clear - I've been twice before. I feel like you're describing late Friday and then Saturday and Sunday at the OBF.

We're in Portland from BC with several friends and, while breweries etc are on the docket, the OBF has a good vibe (at least Wednesday - Friday) and lots of different beers (to me) in one place. So I won't be deterred! The lines do get stupid long toward the weekend, though, and the vibe shifts from beer enthusiasts to college students getting loaded. But Thursday and Friday (early) we will be going and there is very little familiar to me. I'll try Upright for sure

Interesting that you're recommending lagers/pilsners. Has your taste preference shifted in that direction?

Edit - oh also I'll be going to Belmont Station so can bring some good stuff home with me

Barls · Jul 27, 2019

Haven't done a night brew for a while, great way to have a nice relaxing evening. Brewing up a Passionfruit, Guava, Orange IPA for a beer fest at the beginning of September. (Dude, Where's My Slammer?)

Code:

OG: 1.065

92% Pale Malt

5% Carapils

3% Honey Malt



20 IBU Centennial at 60



Flame Out

1oz Citra

1oz El Dorado



Dry Hop

2oz Citra

2oz El Dorado



Keg

1.75# Guava Puree

1.75# Passionfruit Puree

12oz Frozen OJ Concentrate

Mitch · Jul 28, 2019

I wish I had a garage/space to brew in. I may start utilizing the shop at my family's business, but it won't be the same as having my own organized personal space.

Lotto · Jul 31, 2019

Looks like a fun brew day Barls!

Side note, going to Portland in two weeks for about 4 days, any bottle shops/breweries/pubs I should check out? Probably won't be renting a car but I will be staying pretty damn close to the PDX airport so public transportation/uber/lyft for me. Most likely checking out Great Notion, Breakside and Cascade.. Would love to go to Fort George or de Garde but I don't think I'll be able to make it to either since they're too out of the way for me. Any lesser known breweries worth visiting? Outside of beer I'm probably just gonna hit up a bunch of hiking/nature spots if anyone has suggestions for that too!

Distantmantra · Jul 31, 2019

Lotto said:
Looks like a fun brew day Barls!

Side note, going to Portland in two weeks for about 4 days, any bottle shops/breweries/pubs I should check out? Probably won't be renting a car but I will be staying pretty damn close to the PDX airport so public transportation/uber/lyft for me. Most likely checking out Great Notion, Breakside and Cascade.. Would love to go to Fort George or de Garde but I don't think I'll be able to make it to either since they're too out of the way for me. Any lesser known breweries worth visiting? Outside of beer I'm probably just gonna hit up a bunch of hiking/nature spots if anyone has suggestions for that too!

Breweries: Upright, Ex Novo, Wayfinder, Ruse, Ecliptic. Hair of the Dog if you've never been.

Shops: Belmont Station, Beer Mongers, John's Market

riotous · Jul 31, 2019

I'd maybe check out Modern Times as well personally; it's a block or 2 from a pub with a huge taplist called The Loyal Legion and otherwise close to places like Hair of the Dog on mantra's list. Other popular beer bars are Apex, Tin Bucket and The Upper lip, the latter has a pretty decent bottle selection usually of rarer / vintage stuff.

Distantmantra · Jul 31, 2019

riotous said:
I'd maybe check out Modern Times as well personally; it's a block or 2 from a pub with a huge taplist called The Loyal Legion and otherwise close to places like Hair of the Dog on mantra's list. Other popular beer bars are Apex, Tin Bucket and The Upper lip, the latter has a pretty decent bottle selection usually of rarer / vintage stuff.

I thought about Modern Times, but coundn't remember if Lotto was from California or not, which would make MT not as exciting.

Apex is kitty corner to Beer Mongers, too. Tin Bucket went out of business, FYI.

riotous · Jul 31, 2019

Yeah Modern Times is spreading like a rash, Oakland location coming soon, Anaheim later this year (complete with a pool!), and I guess the Santa Barbara location has been open a while.

Distantmantra · Jul 31, 2019

riotous said:
Yeah Modern Times is spreading like a rash, Oakland location coming soon, Anaheim later this year (complete with a pool!), and I guess the Santa Barbara location has been open a while.

They're incredibly aggressive with their expansion efforts, I hope it doesn't backfire on them.

riotous · Jul 31, 2019

Distantmantra said:
They're incredibly aggressive with their expansion efforts, I hope it doesn't backfire on them.

They generate an insane amount of revenue every month from their bottle club alone. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just from 3 of their bottles selling out last month they sold 5,000 bottles @ $32 a pop. And that's not abnormal for them; there's usually 3 barrel aged bottles a month and they almost always sell out, and doesn't include the insane amount of IPAs they sell.

But yeah the brewpub thing must be working well for them too, they are an awesome vegan restaurant essentially so I think that helps and they are in the right markets for that.

Mitch · Jul 31, 2019

Just sat down at Fremont. Beautiful patio. Weather is perfect.

Distantmantra · Jul 31, 2019

Mitch said:
Just sat down at Fremont. Beautiful patio. Weather is perfect.

I'm free this evening around 6:30 or 7pm if you'll be downtown. Going to dinner with my wife and daughter at Din Tai Fung before they see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Paramount and then taking light rail home. Cloudburst?

Mitch · Jul 31, 2019

Distantmantra said:
I'm free this evening around 6:30 or 7pm if you'll be downtown. Going to dinner with my wife and daughter at Din Tai Fung before they see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Paramount and then taking light rail home. Cloudburst?

Works for me! I'll get there around 6:20ish.

Edit: The draft list at The Masonry...

I wish it were later in the evening because they have some stellar BBA stouts on draft. Going with the Lindemen's Lambic.

Lotto · Aug 1, 2019

Distantmantra said:
Breweries: Upright, Ex Novo, Wayfinder, Ruse, Ecliptic. Hair of the Dog if you've never been.

Shops: Belmont Station, Beer Mongers, John's Market

riotous said:
I'd maybe check out Modern Times as well personally; it's a block or 2 from a pub with a huge taplist called The Loyal Legion and otherwise close to places like Hair of the Dog on mantra's list. Other popular beer bars are Apex, Tin Bucket and The Upper lip, the latter has a pretty decent bottle selection usually of rarer / vintage stuff.

Awesome, these suggestions should tide me over for 4 days, thanks! Also I am from San Diego so MT gets visited very often. I like them enough that I may swing by their PDX location. They've gotten considerably better within the past two years imo. They're also finally doing a Festival of Dankness over there (which I'm going to in SD) which is cool.

Distantmantra said:
They're incredibly aggressive with their expansion efforts, I hope it doesn't backfire on them.

They've recently come out with a monthly-ish podcast that's interesting and isn't just about drinking their own beer. They talk about their developments/updates and beer processes. Pretty entertaining. I think they'll be fine. https://moderntimesbeer.podbean.com/

Something Creative · Aug 2, 2019

We went to Wayfinder when I was there last week. Good stuff. Tasty Czech Pilsner and I normally stay away from that style.

Two full days in Portland, though, and I barely spent any time drinking beer. Bringing the wife and baby was a terrible mistake!

I did get to Belmont Station and manage a decent haul, though

Had never heard of half of these breweries. No time for research so I just asked for suggestions! Yes a bit IPA heavy. Yes a couple California beers snuck in there

Mitch · Aug 7, 2019

The brewery I worked at just sold to AB. RIP.

https://www.brewbound.com/news/anheuser-busch-inbev-acquires-platform-beer-co