Vising Portland & Seattle- Seeking suggestions fro those in the know

Me and the Mrs. are planning a visit to Portland and Seattle, and knew this was the place to get some suggestions about what breweries and brew pubs to visit.

We are going to be there during the Bones & Brews Festival in Portland and plan on checking that out. What are the can't miss spots?

Thanks in advance

As far as seattle goes, there is a list started here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f185/seattle-trip-june-must-visit-breweries-320346/

don't bother going to Portscum... I mean Portland... it is a hole- head on up to Seattle and visit a real city...

Holy Portland hater!!! Portland is great, we have lots o small brew pubs but here are my faves and some quick tips!!

Hopworks -SE- solid beers and awesome hot wings, great happy hour
Tugboat Brewery -SW- heart of downtown, smallest in brewery in the city and right accross from::::
Bailey's Taproom -SW- tons of taps, you can get food from the nearby food carts and bring it inside
Cascadian -SE- sour, sour and more sour beer.
Upright Brewing -N- all open fermentation, super cool atmosphere.
Green Dragon -SE- one of Rogue's 3 (I think) in town, this is the Buckman Brewery and always has some really great booze on tap.

I live in SW so I (unfortunately) stay on my side of the river most of the time. Although I am getting the urge to venture out tonight!!
Hit me up if you need help navigating. This is my favorite place to eat and drink, there are no shortages of good times in OR.

McMenamins are worth visiting. Most of them are converted hotels, schools, churches, etc. If either of you likes raspberry in your beer, the Ruby Wheat is excellent.

Oregon is a fantastic state... great places- beautiful coast- great fly fishing, outstanding beers- (Deschutes, Ninkasa...) but...


Portland is a scum hole, a pit, a pathetic ugly blight on the entire northwest... what beers there might be hidden in that nasty hole are not worth venturing into for because you will have to weed through all the bigots, drug runners, pediphiles (like the mayor), homelessness, blazer and timbers "fans" and other members representive or the scourge of society...

visit Oregon- dig it and enjoy it- just stay away from portscum...

evanlee19 said:

Me and the Mrs. are planning a visit to Portland and Seattle, and knew this was the place to get some suggestions about what breweries and brew pubs to visit.

We are going to be there during the Bones & Brews Festival in Portland and plan on checking that out. What are the can't miss spots?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

I would add Saraveza and Prost, if you venture NE at all.

Where in Washington are you going to be? North or South, East or West of Seattle? What are looking for as well? Up in my neck of the woods (north of Seattle) There's Scuttlebutts brewpub with a terrific happy hour on the Everett waterfront. Farther north there's Scookum brewery out on a mini Farm where the guy has some good brews and draws a couple hundred people to his barn for Beers. You can find both on the net. Both are a good time in different ways.

I second Mcmennimans too. great burgers and beer in a lot of places in both Wa and Or.

Spending the week in Portland. Looking for stuff to do. Actually spent the last week here as well... Went to Green Dragon, Tugboat, A couple mcmenamins, Deschutes, Cascade (favorite thus far), Full sail, Lucky Labrador, BridgePort. On the list still: Hair of the dog, Breakside, Columbia River, Hopworks, Laurelwood, and Widmer. Any suggestions would be appreciated (they don't even need to be beer related LOL) Thanks.

Just went to Broadway brewery. They were rude, had bad food, and mediocre beer at best.... I would avoid...

My 2 cents:
Hate to say it, but McMennamin's, Tugboat, and Broadway Brewery are about the worst in town.
Try to hit Breakside, Hair of the Dog, Hopworks, and Laurelwood for sure. Columbia River isn't bad, but Lucky Lab, Bridgeport, Full Sail are decent but aren't worth it in a town with so many great places. Hopworks is a great Portland vibe with good food and organic beers, Breakside makes a huge variety of brews that are good, and has great food, Laurelwood is well rounded in both beers and food.
Enjoy the rest of your visit.

I agree those 3 have been the worst 3 so far... But Full Sail isn't far behind them.... At least none of the beers I had at that rented space in the restaurant by the water...

In Portland you must stop by Tim's Great Cigars and then the Screen Door for GREAT fried chicken. Terminal Gravity is always on tap. Try to talk Tim into going with you; I promise a memorable evening!
Tell him Pat sent you.

So much unnecessary hate on this thread. I lived in Portland for 4 years and now I live in Seattle. Both are great places. A couple places that have not been mentioned in Portland are:

Upbright Brewing - very small, weird hours but really great beer. You basically sit right next to the vasts where they brew.

+1 for Bridgeport. Rogue is great too but the food can be hit or miss. Dechutes and Hopworks are great. Mcmenimins is cool but the beer is average.

Pine State Biscuits is probably my favorite breakfast place in the world.

I like Elysian brewing in Seattle. The Red Hook brewery tour in Woodinville is outstanding and you get lots of beer for a buck. Also check Mac and Jacks and or Georgetown brewing, who makes Manny.

"Pine State Biscuits is probably my favorite breakfast place in the world."

Amen to that. Get the "Full Reggy". Don't question me, just do it!

pao

"Pine State Biscuits is probably my favorite breakfast place in the world."

Amen to that. Get the "Full Reggy". Don't question me, just do it!

pao

Since John Harris took off from the Harborside Full Sail location they can't do anything but go downhill.
+1 Upright makes great beers, they're just hard to find/park at, have tough hours to make, and are available in bottle around town.
Another to check out is Gigantic, in SE, they're a new production brewery with a tasting room. Doable if you go to Hair of the Dog, and they're located near HOD's old location.

Good to know. Thanks for the suggestions and keep em coming LOL

Went to Hair of the Dog and Gigantic today. Both were really nice.

My girlfriend is there right now and asking me what bottles she should bring home for me. Do any of these aforementioned microbreweries bottle? And if so, are there 2-3 beers she absolutely needs to get for me?

steinsato said:

My girlfriend is there right now and asking me what bottles she should bring home for me. Do any of these aforementioned microbreweries bottle? And if so, are there 2-3 beers she absolutely needs to get for me?

Click to expand...

Have her go to a good bottle shop, like Saraveza, Belmont Station, or Beermongers. That way she can do one-stop shopping and come back with a variety. I'd also recommend she hit Distillery Row for some of Portland's best craft liquors. House Spirits makes some excellent stuff. I love their Aquavit and their gin.

steinsato said:

My girlfriend is there right now and asking me what bottles she should bring home for me. Do any of these aforementioned microbreweries bottle? And if so, are there 2-3 beers she absolutely needs to get for me?

Click to expand...

It is tough to narrow down to 2-3, but some unique beers that would represent Portland well would include Upright #4, Hopworks' Ace of Spades, Laurelwood Free Range Red, and Cascade's Kriek. There are many more than that, but those come to mind.

Ok, so she hauled in Upright #4, Laurelwood Free Range Red, Elysian Promethius IPA (I'm aware this is from WA but she was up there too), and a Logsdon Seizoen. All 22oz or 750ml bottles so I was pretty impressed. I was just expecting a couple of 12 oz assuming she didn't want to deal with hauling beer bottles through the airport. Can't wait to give them a try. Thanks for the advice pdxal, oh and Broham I think she got them all at Belmont Station per your advice and she also bought a bottle of New Deal Gin #1 from Distillery Row. My opinion of that is that it smells like olives (martini) and finishes with strong juniper. Thanks again for the advice.

steinsato said:

Ok, so she hauled in Upright #4, Laurelwood Free Range Red, Elysian Promethius IPA (I'm aware this is from WA but she was up there too), and a Logsdon Seizoen. All 22oz or 750ml bottles so I was pretty impressed. I was just expecting a couple of 12 oz assuming she didn't want to deal with hauling beer bottles through the airport. Can't wait to give them a try. Thanks for the advice pdxal, oh and Broham I think she got them all at Belmont Station per your advice and she also bought a bottle of New Deal Gin #1 from Distillery Row. My opinion of that is that it smells like olives (martini) and finishes with strong juniper. Thanks again for the advice.

Click to expand...

Glad to help. Those were excellent choices. Enjoy.

Oh, and she sounds like a keeper!

Cheers

Crap, forgot about the Logsdon. The brewery is owned by the founder of Wyeast. Good Saison. Belmont Station is my local, so good choice for bottle shopping.
Cheers.