Which breweries to visit while in Portland

A couple of friends and I are going to a Trailblazers game next Saturday but we decided to head on down Friday and tour some breweries but questions is which ones are worth it and which ones to pass on by? We are driving from Tacoma and should be in Portland around noon ish since I'm driving so hopefully we have time to visit a few of them. Maybe a Google map link or anything really to help out also maybe take the MAX and not drive around town? Thanks in advance

Alameda
Breakside
Rogue (little pricey for some items)
Deschutes (little pricey for some items)
Hopworks
Laurelwood

If you feel like driving into the gorge a bit I highly recommend Double Mountain in good river!

Around the rose garden. Hit upright. Good little brewery with open fermentation. Another mainstay is widmer

Hopworks, Laurelwood, Breakside, Cascade Barrel House for sours, maybe Upright (close to Rose Garden but hard to find and open limited hours) and Burnside (also not far from Rose Garden). Places to avoid: any McMennamin's unless you are just there for the historic buildings, and Tugboat. Not a fan of Alameda myself, but mediocre in Portland might qualify as good in other places. All are online with websites or you can use Yelp to search them out.

We are staying just across the bridge from the Rose Garden so I'm going to check up on Upright and Burnside. Also heard some good things about Rogue as well. So many choices but need to stay next to the MAX

Well, only something like 45 choices in the Portland area!
Rogue is good, but available in bottles so I rarely go there. If you want to check them out you should go to the Green Dragon, which is inner SE and not far from Cascade. Much more available and less corporate.
If you like Harmon, you'll like a lot of the places I mentioned.

Another cool place is Horse Brass Pub.

Can't remember if there's a max line close to that at all though. Maybe Al ^ knows?

All good suggestions, Widmer's pub is underrated and close to the Rose Garden. Skip Alameda, +1 on Breakside, Gigantic, Commons, Laurelwood, Cascade and Amnesia.

pdxbg said:

Another cool place is Horse Brass Pub.

Can't remember if there's a max line close to that at all though. Maybe Al ^ knows?

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No max, but there's a bus line. That's a good pub! More beers on tap (all craft) than anyplace I know, and they have a broad range, not just 45 different IPAs.

I love horse brass. Haven't been for a while. Maybe I will venture over there this weekend and stop by Belmont station as well.

You know what this much beer culture is there is in Portland, they should have a website directing people for exactly this sort of a vacation, sightseeing, beer drinking tour.

I know I drove 3 hours to go to a rogue brewpub.
Reading this I might have to grab a buddy and hit one or two new ones next time.

3 words

Cascade barrel House

45_70sharps said:

You know what this much beer culture is there is in Portland, they should have a website directing people for exactly this sort of a vacation, sightseeing, beer drinking tour.

I know I drove 3 hours to go to a rogue brewpub.
Reading this I might have to grab a buddy and hit one or two new ones next time.

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Guides/lists:
http://www.portlandbeer.org/

http://oregonbeer.org/

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=portlandor

Blogs:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/index.html

http://beervana.blogspot.com/

http://brewpublic.com/

http://www.its-pub-night.com/

http://www.newschoolbeer.com/

pdxal said:

Guides/lists:
http://www.portlandbeer.org/

http://oregonbeer.org/

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=portlandor

Blogs:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/index.html

http://beervana.blogspot.com/

http://brewpublic.com/

http://www.its-pub-night.com/

http://www.newschoolbeer.com/

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Cool links! Now I can plan my next excursion better.

pdxbg said:

I love horse brass. Haven't been for a while. Maybe I will venture over there this weekend and stop by Belmont station as well.

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Horse Brass and Belmont Station are my locals, I love both of them. Both are worth a visit.
Horse Brass has 53 taps, Henry's has something like 100 (not as good beers, though, and not a beer culture brewpub), and Green Dragon has around 50. Belmont Station only has 17, but usually an amazing taplist and a huge bottle selection in the store. http://www.belmont-station.com/
As noted above, Horse Brass is on a bus line, but nowhere near Max and a long way out for someone staying close in near downtown and the Rose Garden.

But well worth the trek!

Totally forgot about the bus so now that will help our selection a bit. Don't use enough public transportation I guess.

I'm going to stick with the inner SE Portland


I've been hanging out at the commons lately personal fav.... Belgium style beers farmhouse , Flemish ales.
No food, music or flash. You'll drink beer from taps in the brewer on the brew floor next to oak barrels and bright tanks.
There are no chairs it's a brewery no time for sitting around. If you can make it on a Thursday or Friday you might catch Sean Burke head brewer and graduate of
Siebel Institute and Doemens Academy and for lack of better term a walking encyclopedic of brewing.

http://www.commonsbrewery.com/

Hair of the dog food sucks beer is strong what else can I say?
http://www.hairofthedog.com/

Cascade barrel house mostly barrel aged and sour beers
cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com‎

And across the street from the barrel house green dragon lots of beers on tap 70+ pulled pork slider are really good
http://pdxgreendragon.com/


There's McMenamins Barley Mill Pub it the original first Mcmenamins pub and in many ways the catalyst for Oregon micro brew.
A bit of a throwback but nostalgia factor is cool!
1629 Southeast Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97214

Lucky Labrador Brew Pub beer is good but the food is hit or miss a bit rustic and rough on the inside.
915 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard


Burnside brewing, good beer and the burger seared in duck fat is unbelievably delicious, yet the fries where a let down!
701 E. Burnside
http://burnsidebrewco.com/


heading south a little

There's hop works good beer and really good burgers
2944 SE Powell Blvd
http://hopworksbeer.com/


If you have anything specific your looking for let me know i'll try to help

Ill be out there next week for work. Subscribing, thanks everyone for the comments.

http://www.portlandbeer.org/breweries/map/

pdxal said:

Well, only something like 45 choices in the Portland area!
Rogue is good, but available in bottles so I rarely go there. If you want to check them out you should go to the Green Dragon, which is inner SE and not far from Cascade. Much more available and less corporate.
If you like Harmon, you'll like a lot of the places I mentioned.

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This.

Green Dragon, Cascade Barrel and Eastside Distillery all in walking distance. Hair of the Dog also fairly close and Belmont station is a 10 minute bus ride on the 15 (which goes right by Cascade).

I don't know why people INSIST on going to rogue, been there twice, bad food over priced mediocre beer (sorry, but I can't find anything I like)

Green dragon and the horse brass have excellent Food and a huge selection of beer.
Breakside is good, lucky lab, HUB is great.

Green Dragon IS Rogue.

pdxal said:

Green Dragon IS Rogue.

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Wow, I didn't realize that. Were they always a Rogue property?

Someone has to put in a plug for Sassy's. Great selection of beer, knowledgeable bartenders (at least Amy was the day we were there). All beer's $2.50 from 10:30 am - 7:00 pm. Oh yeah, full disclosure: it's Portland so there's "entertainment." Don't bring the kids or SWMBO.

Beer - Gigantic and Hair of the Dog
Food - The Screen Door. The BEST fried chicken you will ever have without having to marry it.

Pat
ps - Stop by Tim's Great Cigars in Wood Village for a treat. He's my bro!!

ong said:

Wow, I didn't realize that. Were they always a Rogue property?

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No, but Rogue bought them about 5+ years ago. There was controversy about employees not wanting to join them.
Green Dragon service is crappy, you can't find their taplist online anywhere to check before you go, and you can get the same or better selection at many other places in SE. If in Green Dragon's neighborhood Cascade Barrel House is less than a block away.