Category: Where to go…

bottle shops, pubs and breweries

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PDX Summer 2024 – Report # 3

One day left in the Rose City and after fueling up with donuts ( Delicious Donuts ) and pizza ( Pizza Thief ) there were beers to be had and a last cocktail or two.

First up was Freeland Spirits which had an extensive Pride menu for their gins and bourbons. I went with the Butterfly G&T and it came in a big ol’ glass and was a vibrant purple. The base drink was not blown away by the blackberry tea and the pea flower.

Then, down the road was Great Notion and they were brewing beer. You could smell it in the air. Malt was a’ cooking. I figured that I should get something weird so went with the Orange Creamsicle Milkshake IPA. The ice cream part came through but the orange was a little lacking.

After a break, it was time for the last beer of the trip. And finally, I got to see inside of Function PDX. This beer bar hosts a single brewery each month from outside of Oregon and this month it was Dewey Beer from Delaware. I decided to go real big and chose an 11% stout ( which made the best of July list ).

Finally, since airport security was speedee, there was plenty of time to sample some Westward Whiskey. And we got a bonus taster as well. There was a White Dog, their flagship and a cask strength as well as Pinot Noir barrel-aged version, a stout barrel version and a rum barrel version. My favorite was the Pinot. Most were a little too on the hot side. There was a little mini- cocktail too.

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PDX Summer 2024 – Report # 2

This second report will be more spirited than the first. We head to 23rd Avenue and gin at Aria. A lovely little spot with all sort of cocktail accoutrements. You got to taste the gin plus the summer seasonal cocktail tasters including a preview of their upcoming G&T canned cocktail.

Then, more gin, over at Aviation. And, of course, the special July cocktail flight which was Weapon X themed. Deadpool drinks. Leaving out the jalapeno infused Aviation cocktail the rest were fun and weird and Marvel-ous.

Right down ( Wade ) Wilson Avenue is Brujos Brewing and their gothic-witchy theme. I like a brewery that leans into their theme and Brujos does. There is a pulpit of beer to order at as well as some serious collaborations which tells you the status of this new brewery. I had an IPA done with Goal Brewing in San Diego.

Lastly was a trip to Scotch Lodge in a random building in the basement. But there was a cellar of spirits there. I had an Old Fashioned but it was no ordinary drink. The bourbon was a blend of four bourbons. It was great and the atmosphere was tres chic.

More spirits as the drive sent us to Forest Grove and Sake One where I got the Happy Lotus Sake made with Eastern Gold hops. A very gentle drink but also pretty boozy at 14.8%. Their was a distributor tasting going on at the same time and I sorta wanted to hear their thoughts.

It was a hop, skip and jump to my college town of McMinnville and the Hotel Oregon of McMenamins. Two MC’s. My lunch was better than the beer which was supposed to be a rye DIPA but seemed more a slightly rye session ale.

From there we walked a couple blocks down 3rd Street to Acorn & Oak the wine bar of The Linfield University. So, I had to have a beer. A really good Helles Lager from local ForeLand Brewing.

The last stop was supposed to be a whisky distillery but the world’s longest train was in the way so an audible was called and we headed to the Emerald Room at Aimsir Distilling for a mega spirits taster tray and vegan dumplings. Aquavit, gin, vodka and bourbon too. Appropriate for Portland, my favorite was the Rose Gin.

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A Loyal Airport

Since it is a Portland and Oregon centered month here at BSP, thought I would pass on info that will be travel handy next time you see that famous PDX carpet at the airport.

Not only is Powell’s Bookstore returning but Loyal Legion will also be opening a spot in August. So now there is another beer spot for before or after a flight.

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PDX Summer 2024 – Report # 1

Summer in Portland and two vacation days that covered the spectrum of beer at five breweries. Starting at the Woostock Avenue outpost of Double Mountain. First but not last taster tray ( unless you are ranking and not going by time ).

I sampled the old school IRA, their Japanese lager, Jiro, an ESB and a pair of IPAs. Aside from Jiro, the other beers were below par to me. The IRA that I loved back in the day seemed a little mis-brewed. But it was great to be sitting outside watching the people go by in this busy section of town.

Second was a brief stop at Duality Brewing. Eagle eyed readers will remember that I raved about this brewery earlier this year and the second trip revealed another set of interesting stuff. Boysenberry Hazy Pale, Saison with fig leaves, and what I chose a Kveik yeast beer made with Egyptian barley. This brewery is just flat-out creative.

The next day was a trip to Mount Angel and the Abbey on the hill. Down at the bottom is the Benedictine Brewery. This is a lovely spot with two covered picnic table seating areas and an indoor area. Overlooking a bit of hop fields across the street. Which was already partially harvested.

Flight two time and these beers were solid to great all around. The St. Michael Helles was my favorite, followed by the Half Cloak Belgian single. There were dark beers aplenty and the table quickly agreed that the St. Gabriel Dubbel. It was a great melding of space, beer and divinity and it was real popular, filling up within the first hour.

Then it was a short hop ( sorry ) to Crosby Hop Farm and their beer garden in the hop field, TopWire Beer Project. Operating on the premise of pouring beers made with their hops. Which is how I could be sitting between rows of hops drinking a beer from Chicago, Anti-Hero IPA from Revolution Brewing.

Just a great spot to enjoy a beer and the variety was fantastic. Pilsners, hazies and even an amber ale. I mean who brews that anymore? And I love that it is a summertime treat.

Last stop of a full day was Little Beast on Division for their Tart Ale take-over and BBQ. I had a strawberry lemon sour that was like drinking lemonade. A small pour was what I needed though later I thought that I should have gotten their Japanese rice lager.

Busy, busy and still three days of drinking to do.

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Poor

Here at BSP headquarters there sits an old-style (thankfully not rotary) phone. It is the red phone, because it is red, and when people have bad ideas, they should call us. Which they never do.

Bit of an intro to say that the Brew Brothers who have eponymous spots in North Hollywood and Burbank are headed to a third place on Ventura Boulevard near Vineland. The place is called…

It is a bit of a tired name to me. Once you finish groaning about the pun, Google it and you get bars all across the United States so you won’t be really standing out namewise. Plus it has a negative connotation.

Now that I have that out of my system, it is great to see that there will be another craft beer bar coming to town and subsequent posts show that they are putting in a lot of effort on the interior look.

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It’s Handy

Handy Market has been a Burbank staple for years and with my love of going to non-chain grocery stores / grocery boutiques a miss on my part.  But after seeing a few beer posts from the store, I decides to drive a town over and see what I had missed.

It is a tiny space in comparison to most grocery stores but the first positive point was the availability of single cans. I picked up a pils from Highland Park and a pastry sour (never had one of those) from Ogopogo. The next positive was the double endcaps of beer. This was where most of the bottled and barrel-aged resided. There was Bottle Logic but also a couple Belgians and de Garde as well. Third positive was the prices were pretty fair. $5.50 for a local beer is pretty good.

The one down is that it is only the small cold case in the corner. It was a limited selection though one last up, was that it seemed to be curated well.

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BP11

The now mostly quarterly Beer Paper LA will be holding an 11th Anniversary shindig at ISM Brewing in Long Beach near the end of the month. I will be up north in PDX but this would be a good time to visit ISM, if you haven’t already….

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1st Visit – Campsite Brewing

Usually, visiting a brewery taproom for the first time, you expect it to be, putting it kindly, industrial. Campsite Brewing in Covina is decidedly not that.

It is a little oasis with a camping theme but more glamping since there is draft beer. There is an expansive outdoor area with fire pits, an outdoor balcony area, a hidden inside seating area and then the main indoor spot and bar. Oh and an event venue too. This is a restaurant compound. A smaller version of Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens.

I gad sampled two beers from Campsite two weeks ago at the L.A. Beer Week Festival in Long Beach and was heartened enough to go see it.

The beers were all well done and distinct. I went one light, two IPA and one dark plus a Shandy to gauge where their strength was and found all but the Blonde Ale well good and even the blonde was more m’eh than anything wrong. My favorite was the Cold Front Cold IPA since they are on Front Street. It was bright, real bright with a great combo of citrus and dank to it. The S’mores Sweet Stout was also good and sweet in a good way with getting too deep into marshmallow.

Next time I find myself in that neck of the L.A. County woods, I will drop in again.