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Portland 2024 Beer Report – Part 2

Each time I come to Portland, I buy a four pack + as well as visit a few brewery taprooms. Each time, I try to plan the right amount so I am not leaving beers in my mom’s ‘fridge or having too many un-visited breweries.

And this year, I did good. And I really enjoyed the two new places that I visited.

First was Duality Brewing off Sandy Boulevard. Tucked away and sharing space with a food pop-up and coffee shop was a revelation. Based on two beers at least. Soft Side was a wheat beer with Bergamot and Satsuma. I posted on Instagram that I could drink buckets of it and it is true and I do not say that often, at all. Alpine Timeshare was a bourbon barrel-aged Saison filtered on pine needles and blended with cider! Crazy and it worked.

Second was Foreland Brewing’s Beer Study on Belmont. When I visited, there was a tap share with Kings & Daughters Brewing. The tap list was eclectic and fun. Zwickel, smoke and bitter. Super helpful service and half pours in literally a homey environment. Plus all sorts of outdoor seating. Atmosphere to spare and the two collaboration beers I had were spot on.

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Portland 2024 Cocktail & Spirits Report

First non-beer stop was Freeland Spirits in NW Portland near the towering Montgomery Ward blocks.

Lovely spot with nibbles and seasonal cocktails and mocktails and a little shop too with their signature bottle shape and an RTD Gin Rose and Tonic.

I sampled the “whole flight” which had three gins and three bourbons. The gins were each distinct from the previous one and I quite liked them all. The flagship gin had a mint top note. The Forest Gin despite the presence of chanterelles was very spring day in Oregon. The Navy Strength had a real punch to it and would be a boon to the G&T.  The bourbons were less impressive in contrast. I found the standard bourbon a little weak and the rye was extra malty and cereal laden.  The Cask strength was my favorite of those three.

Next stop (not the same day, don’t worry) was a trip to the Alberta bar and restaurant, the Radio Room.  A multi-level and multi-room experience with a fun cocktail list filled with creative new cocktails as well as reimagined old standbys.

Last, but not least was my first visit to Aviation Gin HQ. Since they only have a distillery license, they can only serve so much gin per person but you can get a flight of special monthly cocktails or classic Ryan Reynolds choices or just a G&T.

The candy Valentine cocktails was my choice and all but the last one was really good. The presentation was excellent and the setting and staff was really cool. Did not see any Wrexham gear though.

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Welbeck Abbey Connected to PDX?

In my beer Instagram scrolling, I ran across a post from The English Beer Gentleman about a brewery called Welbeck Abbey. A new to me brewery is always cool but what was cooler was in the unboxing video, two beers were placed next to each other.

Yup, they have a Portland Black and a White Stag. Portlandians will see the connection right away but I think this British brewery should collab with someone in the Rose City.

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Portland 2024 Beer Report – Part 1

First day in the PDX and the focus was Von Ebert Brewing.

I did not go to the main brewery, nor the newly acquired Ecliptic space but instead wandered over to their golf course brewery and restaurant instead. The Glendoveer location has a fireplace and some seating looks out onto a tee (though it was too gloomy and rainy to see any golfing).

The brewing smell of steeping grains was pleasantly everywhere. My taster tray was a bit of a mixed bag though. My favorite was a Baltic Porter with second best being a Modern Citrus Pilsner.

Apparently VE has two Italian pilsners, one has just kicked but later that day, I had their Lombardy Italian Pils which paired excellently with my salad and pizza.

I also made a stop at my happy place Belmont Station to pick up a mixed four pack that included Wayfinder, Great Notion, Gold Dot and Bale Breaker. But just so many good beer choices there, I could have blindly picked and gotten winners.

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The Birthday Beer of 2024

Each year, I select a birthday beer. A marker of the past year and hopefully positive harbinger for the next. For 2024, I am drinking …..

A barleywine from Breakside, Life Volume 3.

Seemed apropos to have this as a birthday beer. Aroma is really super grain forward. Like wort almost without that odd young, green beer taste. Very much on the sweet side as well. 9.5% on the ABV but does not taste it in the least. There is a slight caramel note here but overall pretty straight grain which I find fascinating with each sip.

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Three of Roses

L.A. is lucky to get Wayfinder Beer shipments sent from the Rose City. That is my transition to this love letter of a beer to Portland, Three of Roses which is a “An unapologetic rustic lager with subtle botanical notes of juniper berries and
lime.”

In a divided country it is good to see a little civic pride smack dab on your beer label.

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More Snow

Sierra Nevada has done a couple different Snow Cones. If memory serves, there was a White IPA and Belgian one previously.

Now there is a tropical Snow Cone…

…and it’s a lovely gesture for a retiring member of the SN team too.

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1134

Just to throw another number at you. Enegren Brewing is now up to # 17 in their Single Hop Pilsner Series #17. And the hop is still so new that it does not have a name. It is HBC 1134 a “new experimental hop bred in the Yakima Valley. It is an American twist on classic noble hop flavors, making this perfect for a German Style Pilsner with noble elements and flavors of floral, woody aromatic, herbal, and a hint of citrus.”