Fort George Brewery

Fort George Brewery + Public House

1483 Duane St.

Astoria, OR 97103

503.325.7468

www.fortgeorgebrewery.com

I have traveled to a few handfuls of breweries across the United States.  When asked which are my favorite breweries I always have a hard time deciding, but visiting Fort George Brewery I gained some clarity.  Of course the top requirement of one of my top breweries is amazing, unique, drinkable beers but what pushes a brewery to the next level?  What makes it become a best brewery?  For me it's  having an amazing space to drink amazing beers.  Fort George Brewery fits this bill.  

The building where FGB is located is fantastic from it's large windows to the coloring to the hop logo.  The land is the original settlement of Astoria which was renamed when it was temporarily taken over by the British (and King George III) as Fort George, hence the name of the brewery.  The building was built in 1924 as a auto repair shop and still has that warehouse/ industrial look today.  The industrial look is mirrored in the interior with really amazing metal fabricated stools and booths.  Breweries like Fort George is why I like visiting breweries instead of being satisfied with enjoying their brews at bars or at home.  When breweries take the time to create an incredible place to drink their brews, I'm happy to think of them in the best brewery category.

Well enough about decor, let's talk about beer!  

The Nut Red Ale was hands down my favorite FGB brew.  The play of hop and malt makes red ales usually high on my list and the balance in the Nut Red Ale is perfection.  

The Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale was a close second.  Nutritious & delicious!  The smoothness the oatmeal adds to a usually hoppy style adds intrigue and drink-ability.

The Vortex IPA is the brewery's flagship beer and can be found in cans at the store (big plus for this blogger).  It's an easier to handle IPA so non-IPA drinkers there is no need to pass it up.  The Vortex also comes with a great story of the owners almost being swept away by a tornado while migrating all the brew equipment to the West Coast.

Oh, did I mention they give you all the beers on tap in the taster, THEN explain all the styles to you.  Definite A+ since the waitress was also quite entertaining.

All in all, go to this brewery.  Seriously!  Go, it's totally worth it.  Not only would you get to drink great beer, you feel really cool just being in the space.  And who doesn't want to feel cool?  I definitely felt it when I snapped this awesome picture of William.

Astoria Brewing Company

The Wet Dog Cafe

144 11th Street

Astoria, Oregon

503.325.6975

www.facebook.com/wetdogcafe

Land in Portland Sunday; depart for the Oregon Coast on Tuesday.  For many years now I have been intrigued by the mentions of Fort George Brewing Co. and have uttered the words “we should go on a brew trip to Astoria” many times.  All it took Jonah and I was a move to Alaska, then a quick one-week trip back to Portland to seize the opportunity.  Like many good brew trips, we needed more than one brewery to visit so I referenced The Beer Mapping Project and found that Astoria has TWO breweries.  We had found our first stop, the Wet Dog Café which houses the Astoria Brewing Company.

What an amazing view!  As I'm typing this up, I'm searching for a photo to prove these words but there are no great shots of the ocean.  How did that happen???  Oh well, I guess it’ll be a pleasant surprise when you visit yourself.  We watched container ships and gill-netters moving across the water and moved our chairs inch-by-inch to try to stay in the sunlight (it can get a little chilly on the Oregon Coast).  Most importantly, we sampled some great beer.  Jonah and I both got the taster tray that included 6oz samplers of 5 styles of beer.  I just loved their presentation of the samplers in the miniaturized beer steins. 

Here are some highlights…

Strawberry Blonde Ale – it was great!  I’m not much of a fruit beer connoisseur but Strawberry is a great fruit to pair with beer, brings a little tartness into the mix.

Old Red Beard Amber Ale – this was a favorite around the table.  Both William (my brother) and Shannon (my sister) indulged in a pint of this rich amber.

Lincoln Lager – William’s second pint and a true winner in its contest against the West Coast Lager from my sampler tray.  When a craft brewery takes the lager style to another level, celebrations should always occur.

My list of beers that we tried got lost in the shuffle traveling back home, on it was the correct name for the Imperial Stout that was on Jonah’s sampler tray (Imperial Bad Ass Stout?).  It was rich, yet easy to drink without any overwhelming additive flavors, by far one of the best beers on the menu. 

 

After all those samplers we needed to work some fullness off, so we went in search of the Astoria Column and fell in love with the historical town of Astoria on the way.  I could totally live here.