Breakside Brewery

820 NE Dekum St.

Portland, OR 97211

503.719.6475

www.breaksidebrews.com

First night in Portland and I explored a new brewery, I am a very lucky girl.  I know I've said this before, but it's very hard being away from Portland when all these new breweries are popping up.  When I moved away from Portland in 2009 I had been to every brewery in Beertown, now I can't keep up - even with multiple vacations south every year. 

Mr. Peter Price picked me up from my lovely airport hotel.  (I'm in town for my job with the Copper River Salmon Association.)  My family lives in Southwest and Jonah's in Southeast, therefore accessing Portland from the Northeast made a handful of breweries much more accessible.  In no time, Peter and I were in the Woodlawn district, walking up to the brewery.  The first thing I noticed was the architecture; I am a BIG FAN of the melding of industrial and organic, a mix of metal and wood.  The second was that Breakside Brewery is the essence of a neighborhood brewery.  Man I wish I had a neighborhood brewery!

Peter and I sat outside on one of the many picnic tables.  They had the garage doors open, letting the warm fall air into the building.  We started with an IPA and the Dark Mild.  I won this round, the Dark Mild was DELICIOUS: light, crisp and full flavored - I could drink a hundred of these beers.  The IPA is no slouch though; maybe the opposite of the Dark Mild, it's a big beer with dramatic flavoring.  Second round was the Oatmeal Stout for Peter and the Farmhouse Golden for me; Peter won this round.  The Oatmeal Stout had a royal flush of flavors: coffee, chocolate, and a smokiness.  The Farmhouse Golden was a little intense for me; I'm still working on my saison knowledge. 

When I first came into the brewery I questioned the bartender about the beers on tap to figure out my game plan.  After two beers, I think the bartender was worried we weren't going to get to all his suggestions - he brought us out samples of the Aztec and the Dry Stout.  Ah!  These were the best beers we had!  Both of these beers are on their VERY short year-round list so count yourself lucky when you visit Breakside.  When I visited in October, the brewery was a year and a few months old and had already produced 37 beers.  The BEERS page of their website is by far the most extensive section with tabs for YEAR ROUND, SEASONAL, BEERS OF THE PAST, UPCOMING RELEASES, and most excitedly, there's a tab for the current beers on tap.  Usually that wouldn't be big news, but the list changes so often the tab is a blog, less than a week in between the posts. 
Here's what it looked like the day I visited:

I wonder what it will look like when I visit next!

With Love, The Hyatt PDX

There's the bomber of Na Zdravi I thought I brought home for Jonah!  I forgot I couldn't wait until I got back to Alaska.  Amy and I barely survived the long drive to Portland, so we celebrate with some crisp brews and a game of cribbage!

Southern Oregon Brewing Co.

1922 United Way

Medford, OR

541.776.9898

www.sobrewing.com

Amy and I drove from Ashland to Yreka, CA in a vain attempt to get closer to Redding CA, our destination.  Waking up the morning of Amy's birthday, after checking the distance to our second day destination, we realized it would take 2 hours less to back track through Medford rather than continuing down to Redding.  What a lucky circumstance!  After checking my BreweryMap app on my iPod, I found our next mark on the Oregon Brew Crawl: Southern Oregon Brewing!

Amy with the SOB lineup.

Go visit this brewery!  Amy and I had so much fun.  Not only did we get to chat the entire time with the lovely bar manager, Jenn Brown, also the #1 of the Mug Club and the owner.  We started with samplers, quite an excellent lineup.  

Gold Digger is a crisp, classic "Northwest lager."  The owner, Dr. Tom called it his gateway beer, introducing people who aren't convinced of the power of craft brews to the SOB lineup.

SOB Pale is in the works to be renamed then bottled into 22s.  The Pale is subtle, definitely a second step in the introduction to the brews.

Nice Rack IPA is a "British style IPA," also Jenn's Mug Club moniker, a mellow IPA with a kick of bitterness at the end.

Na Zdravi, a "Czech-style Pilsner" was my favorite.  I fully intended to bring a bottle back for Jonah, but lost it along the way :)  It's a strong pilsner with full-flavor and a lot of kick.  The name means cheers in Czech, which I love.

Pin Up Porter, a "dry finishing Porter," is very complex; nutty with a clean aftertaste.  The Pin Up is the #1 seller in the Rogue Valley; Amy agreed claiming it her favorite.

Old Humbug, a "Traditional British Winter Ale" is yum yum yum good.  Be careful though, this beer is very sneaky.

Jenn Brown, the wonderful bar manager.

Not only does SOB have great beer, the taproom is a great place to be.  I got to chat with Tad, the #1 of the Mug Club, his dedication to the brews was clear.  When asked which is his favorite beer, his response: "that's like asking a parent who their favorite child is."  SOB puts a genuine effort toward green practices that you can read about on their website.  My favorite part of the taproom is even though they don't have a food service, you can order to-go dishes from local restaurants to munch on while you drink.  Have dinner at home and need beer to-go?  SOB will fill other breweries growlers, a definite plus for me and for the Eco-conscience practices SOB strives for.

Touring the brewery.

We left with full arms.  Jenn filled our quart growlers with Old Humbug and Na Zdravi.  Amy even got a free 22oz for her birthday!  We were well taken care of and had a hard time moving on, but we needed to make it to at least one camp destination on the trip!  The check was paid and we were on our way to Crescent City.

Crescent City, CA

Standing Stone: To Go

101 Oak St. 

Ashland, Oregon 97520. 

541.482.2448

www.standingstonebrewing.com

Around the block from Caldera Tap House is Standing Stone Brewing.  Since there was no way we were going to make it down to Whiskeylake, CA, Amy suggested we stop by for a beer before heading out of Ashland.  The place was packed!  We decided to grab some growlers and head to the hotel instead.  I must say that Standing Stone's growlers are kick-ass!  We got a few to celebrate Amy's birthday the next day.

 

The Oatmeal Stout was a great breakfast beer.

The Octoberfest was a great celebration for an October birthday.

The Farmer Brown was a great fall seasonal.

Caldera Brewing Company

Caldera Brewing Company

31 Water Street

Ashland, OR

541.482.4677

www.calderabrewing.com

Camping gear... check.  Chocolate for the smores... check.  Hangover... check.  For the trip down south, Amy and I had the truck packed, the dog settled and all by 3pm, only 4 hours after our intended leave time.  Cursing ourselves for going out the night before, we cruised down I-5 at a leisurely pace. 

We pulled into Ashland, ready for a quick in and out: the sun was going down soon and we were hours from our intended destination of Whiskeylake, CA.  Caldera's Tap House is right off the main drag, easy walk from the downtown area, and opens at 4pm daily (good thing we didn't leave Eugene until 3pm, right?).  The tap-house has a big porch to enjoy the sunny Southern Oregon weather, and a cozy tavern inside.  

Before visiting, I had only sampled Caldera's tri-fecta of canned brews: Caldera Pale Ale, Caldera IPA, and Ashland Amber.  Caldera IPA was a staple in my life when I lived in Eugene and I miss having the access to these brews up in Alaska.  Once we entered the tap-house, it was clear that a sampler tray was the only option with so many brews on tap.  Amy and I each got our own, 5 beers each, and didn't repeat any style, nor did we sample everything on tap! 

Well, our quick in and out turned into a 2.5 hour session.  We slowly sampled the beers and enjoyed the ambiance of the little local tavern. 

Here are some highlights:

Lawnmower Lager - Excellent, solid lager.

Pilsner Bier - A pilsner with girth.

Hibiscus Ginger Beer - Surprisingly subtle, sweet & spicy.  Great specialty beer.

*Old Growth Imperial Stout - Full flavor that you don't want to leave.  

Rauch ur Bock - Super smokey, would be a great pairing beer.

*Mogli - Tastes like ice cream!

     

*Brought a bottle home for Jonah.

Eugene City Brewery

844 Olive Street 

Eugene, Oregon

541.345.4155 
www.rouge.com 

I'm back in Eugene, my old stomping grounds, home of the mighty Oregon Ducks and delicious Willamette Valley beer.  When I lived in Eugene, I really enjoyed going to Eugene City Brewery.  It has great food, a relaxed atmosphere, and a wide variety of Rogue beers.  ECB is not technically owned by Rogue; it is a Rogue brewery.  That's where I was confused before, I thought that ECB was a brewery that had its own beers and was acquired by Rogue, this is not the case.  The name Eugene City Brewery is a historic name of a brewery that was established in 1866 and was open for 7 years.  The pub, now named Rogue Ales Public House, was the location of Eugene City Brewery in 1866 and housed a Henry Weinhard's distributor from 1890-1914.  This space, furthering its beer history, was revived as a brewery by West Brother's BBQ restaurant in 1996.  In 2004, Rogue Ales purchased the building, renovated the facilities, and restored the brewery's historic name: Eugene City Brewery was reborn.

So now we're here in 2011 and at Rogue's Public House: Eugene City Brewery.  While researching for this trip I asked the question "Does anybody care about Eugene City Brewery anymore?"  Even though I got little response through my social networks, the answer was overwhelming when I stepped into the pub: it was packed!  Trivia night + the eve of a Duck game brought hoards of people in.  This includes my own hoard of lovely Eugenians (and Portlanders) I miss so much: Shannon, William, Erik, Amy, Spencer, Brandy, and Joy.  Then Amy's roommate Adam popped by, followed by my parents, and Shannon's friends Jenny and Scott.  It seems more and more like people love it here!

What's not to love?  This place has a ton of beer to choose from.  Track Town Ales are the beers that are brewed in-house by Nate Sampson.  Nate loves to experiment, so if you're looking for something out of the ordinary definitely choose a Track Town seasonal.  The other beers are obviously Rogue ales; these ales are brewed on at Rogue's flagship brewery in Newport.  Lots of beers to choose from, all of them sounding delicious after a day of plane travel.  I went with the Wet Hop Ale; it had the earthy, fresh taste that makes the wet hop season something to look forward to.  Our waiter informed me that Rogue and Track Town both brewed wet hop ales with the same recipe but differing in type of hops used.  Rogue used cascade hops while Track Town used crystal hops.  In the end, I preferred the Rogue version; I'm a sucker for darker beers.

Oregon Brew Crawl

Oregon, ah Oregon, the beer lovers favorite state.  Yes, I know I'm biased but 97 breweries in 54 cities makes Oregon a true beervana.  Oregon has the largest number of breweries in the U.S. and the largest number of breweries per capita.  ALSO it has the largest craft brewing production AND craft brewing consumption!  Do I have you convinced?  Yes?  Alright then, let's move on.

I started my trip in Eugene, Oregon.  An hour after leaving the airport, I was within the walls of a brewery, Eugene City Brewery.  I came with a question "Does anybody care about Eugene City Brewing anymore?"  I definitely received an answer from the people of Eugene that night.

The next morning the race around Southern Oregon began:  3 breweries, 2 days, 1 birthday.  Interest piqued?  Awesome, tell you all about it later, we're trying to do a summary here for goodness sake.

Ok, so now that I've asked questions in Eugene and ran around the bottom of Oregon, it's time to visit Beertown herself, Portland.  How many times do I need to go to Portland before I've written everything you need to know?  A million.  Seriously.  First of all, mine and Jonah's family live in Portland so it will be a frequent stop for us.  With that aside, Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world and is constantly gaining more so it's definitely a great place to explore.  This visit I stayed entirely on the Northside: reapeating some favorites and finding some new ones.

Check back this week and next to hear about each brewery I visited on my 10 day/ 8 brewery (+ 1 beer bar) Oregon tour.

Oregon - Still Deciding...

Two trips in two months, going to the same city?  Yes it's true, I'm headed to Oregon again.  Just last month I was in Beervana to attend Emily and Alex's wedding.  Not only did I find time to hit some breweries (all East-side, both North and South), Jonah and I also jetted out to the coast to sample the wonderful breweries of Astoria. 

This trip revolves around my work for Copper River Salmon.  As luck has it, I was able to stretch 3 days of training near the airport into 9 days of the Great Northwest including a road trip down to Northern California. 

I'm hoping to make a few brewery visits: Mt Shasta Brewing, Dunsmuir Brewery Works, Breakside Brewing Company, Hopworks Bike Bar.

I'm still trying to decide my Friday night dinner brewery: Widmer, Bridgeport, or MacTarnahans?

Also, what brewery should I go to on Saturday?  Burnside Brewing or Upright Brewing?

Let me know where I should go!

Amnesia Brewing Company

Amnesia Brewing Company

832 N Beech Street

Portland, OR 97227

503.281.7708

As we got closer to the weekend, the wedding events began.   With the venue set up and the rehearsal dinner over, we headed over to North Portland to stay at Jonah's sister, Dana's apartment and meet up with friends who had come into town for the wedding.  As we drive closer to the apartment, I begin to get excited.  I’m realizing that Dana lives near N Mississippi that happens to be where (drum roll please) Amnesia Brewing Company is located.  ABC is a familiar brewery to me, habitually visited with friends when I lived in Portland.

It's a great place to be with mostly outdoor seating.  The seats that are inside are practically outdoors as well with the front of the building opening as garage doors.  The atmosphere is relaxed and beer-centric.  Even on a Friday night with all the picnic tables on the porch packed, the vibe was spirited but mellow.

I had the Desolation IPA, which is one of my favorites there.  All their beers are very appealing, they stay true to the English styles and have quite a line-up of IPAs.  Everyone else got the cream ale (Cream-of-the-Crop Ale?) that was a great compliment to the warm evening that followed a hot day.  We only lingered for one beer, needing to get some rest for the festivities of the next day, but were glad to experience a Friday night at Amnesia Brewing.

Coalition Brewing Company

2724 SE Ankeny 

Portland, OR 97214

503.894.8080

coalitionbrewing.com

So, we're back in Portland after our early escape to some coastal breweries. We're sitting around Jonah's mom, Debra's house trying to think so something to do.  What should we do to get out of this crazy hot Oregon heat? (We have TOTALLY adapted to living in Alaska by the way.)  Racking our brains... racking our brains... wait, doesn't Portland have 39 breweries?  And don't we love going to breweries?

So we hitched up the bikes (?) and set out, our destination was Coalition Brewing Co.  This was Jonah and my second visit to Coalition, our first trip really struck a cord and I was anxious to see if it stayed true to all the hype I had built up in my head.  Bingo.  Coalition, though a small brewery, has brews with big flavor.  The Kitty Kat Red was again my favorite brew of the night while Jonah voted for the WU C.R.E.A.M. Ale (the brew he always recommends whenever the brewery comes up).  There was talk of riding out towards another brewery, but we decided to stay put and enjoy the warm evening with Coalition's cool session-ales. 

Photo by Jessyka

Photo by Jessyka

Photo by Jonah Dart-Mclean

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. 

My IPA Day Celebration!

Meet the Blogger

I write what I drink.
Sometimes it's reviews of breweries across the country; sometimes it's a commentary the way beer is produced, styled, and imbibed.

I started my brew-education during college in Eugene OR with the help of my hop-headed roommates Brandy Rodtsbrooks and Amy Gurzick.  Living in Eugene gave me access to Rogue Ales and Eugene City Brewery, plus a wide-range of craft beers from many of the eccentric bottle shops in town.  During my reign in Eugene, both Ninkasi Brewing and Oakshire Brewing opened, giving me a very joyous last few years in Track Town USA.

After my time in Eugene, I headed north to the big city, Beervana, Ptown, Beertown, Portlandia.  Portland has 37 breweries in the metro city-limits, more than any other city IN THE WORLD.  Needless to say, my time in Portland was a lot of fun.

Since my awakening to the wonder of craft breweries, I made a point to seek them out wherever I traveled.  However my beer travel writing really came to life when I met my husband Jonah.  Together we've explored Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and working on Alaska.  Alaska is where we're stationed now: Cordova AK to be exact. 

I have a lot of ideas for this site and I'm glad you'd like to come along for the journey.  Cheers!

Calling all Portlanders to the Spring Beer & Wine Fest

There's only 2 more hours until the doors open to the 2nd day of the Spring Beer and Wine Fest at the Convention Center in Portland and the first 1000 get in free!  So grab your hat, put your shoes on in the car and get down there.  Once you're there, you do need to purchase a sampling glass and the usual "$1 a taste" tokens.  For more information on the pricing, check here.  

The beers I would put high on to-do list are: 

10 Barrel Brewing Co. India Session Ale

Burnside Brewing Co. Oatmeal Pale

Calapooia Brewing Co. Chili Beer (a long-time favorite)

El Dorado Brewing Co. Trailblazer Stout

MateVesa Brewing Co. Organic Yerba Mate IPA

Southern Oregon Brewing Co. Woodshed Red

Happy Brew Fest!

March 2011 Review

Ninkasi Brewing Company Taproom - Eugene, OR
Naked City Brewery - Seattle, WA (But they didn't have any of their beers on tap!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ninkasi Brewing Co Taproom Pics?

272 Van Buren Street, 

Eugene, Oregon 97402

(541) 344-2739

http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/

Does anyone have good pictures of the new Ninkasi Taproom?

February 2011 Review

Boston Beer Works - Canal St, Boston MA
Cambridge Brewing Co. - Cambridge, MA
John Harvard Brew Pub - Cambridge, MA
Sebago Brewing Co - Portland, ME
Black Bear Brewery - Orono, ME
Migration Brewing Co. - Portland, OR

Go to Coalition Brewing Company Tonight!

Hey guys! If you haven't been to Coalition Brewing Company, go tonight!!! If you have been there, go again!!!  Since a lot of people have tomorrow off they are having $10 pitchers tonight!

January 2011 Review

Arbor Brewing Company - Ann Arbor, MI
Black Star Co-op Brewery - Austin, TX
Coalition Brewing Company - Portland, OR
Jolly Pumpkin - Ann Arbor, MI
Portlandia Brewing Company - Portland, OR
Rochester Mills Beer Company - Rochester, MI
North Coast Brewing Co - Fort Bragg, CA