biggest breweries in portland

Yet its impossible to overlook their commitment to classics like klsch and stout, two beers in their regular line. One thing people dont realize is that Portland may also be the best place in the country to find a lager. Like a German hausbrauerei, Zoiglhaus offers a consistent line of characterful standards, including a GABF gold medal-winning hoppy pilsner in the style of Northern Germany (think Jever). Little Beast was founded by partners in life and work Charles Porter and Brenda Crow, who specialize in mixed-fermentation beers and bright, complex flavors. Cascade Brewingis not only a mainstay in Portland; its a serious powerhouse in the larger American sour scene. Yet as good as those beers are (and Little Beast has even won awards for IPA, amazingly), the real reason to visit is tasting these excellent wild ales, fruited, hopped, or unadorned. How many are below-average? Cold IPA came in part from Daveys devotion to tradition and what he learned making Czech and German-style lagers. Plus, the rooftop bar at the Pearl brewery is possibly the best place to drink a pint in the city. Meanwhile, Ganum has always had a barrel-aging and blending program that has produced among the best wild ales in the country. Now its excruciating. Many are made with local fruit and are often wonderfully sessionable and approachable (look for Dream State and Tree Spirit). Portland's Best Breweries (2022) Beervana Yet it also birthed new breweries, as veteran brewers and new hobbyists experimented. A brewing team led by Sam Pecoraro have developed a program that has, in three short years, won a ton of awards for its IPAs and wild ales. A post shared by Occidental Brewing (@occidentalbrewing). After an unblemished 30-year run, Oregon's biggest brewery finally ran on hard times a few years back. Website, Of all Portlands best breweries, remote Zoiglhaus, in the deep Southeast of Lents, is most often overlooked. A post shared by Jeff Grover (@sudsndrams), The Quintessential Restaurants and Bars in Northwest Portlands Slabtown Neighborhood, Where to Throw a Bachelorette Party in Portland. They are both densely aromatic, heady-smelling beers, but find a balance point between citrusy-juicy flavors and a firm dose of hop bitterness. Alex Ganum launched Upright in 2009 with a focus on Belgian-style farmhouse ales, and immediately garnered broad acclaim. 50 Industrial Way | (207) 878-5385 Photography courtesy of John A. Paradiso This was an easy choice; Allagash is not only one of the best breweries in Portland, Maine, but also one of the best breweries in the world. The brewerys name is a nod to the yeast and bacteria that makes the magic happen: Little Beast sells a lot of small-batch, barrel-aged sours and mixed-fermentation ales in cans as well as bottles, so customers should be prepared to pick a few up to-go. Great Notion was the first, and really only, brewery to import the New England model of hazy/milkshake IPAs and dessert beers to the Northwest. Food: Food trucks at both locations. That means some wonderful breweries making great beer got left off the list. Agile upstarts are always welcome in Portlands brewing community, and in the 1990s a series of newcomers helped keep the citys beer scene fresh. Many brews tend toward classic European styles, like cream ales and stouts, but they also make a flagship IPA and use plenty of local hops. The 18 Best Breweries in Portland, Oregon | Landing Those in need of a break from IPAs can check out the best Portland has to offer in cold-conditioned lagers and other obscure German styles. Portland has a few breweries that focus on lagers, and one, Rosenstadt, that would be on this list if it had its own taproom or pub. Brewery 26 in SE Portland listed for sale, will close in September Porter has a particular genius for these styles, whether theyre just aged and blended or flavored with dry hops or fruit. In case of ties, companies are listed alphabetically. Website. (For example, as I write this theyre pouring a rare polotmavya Czech amber lager.) The vast selection of organic beers offered by Hopworks Urban Brewery has drawn rave reviews since they started brewing in 2007. Within the last month, seven breweries and taprooms in Portland have closed or announced their upcoming closure. Gluten-free ale is the sole focus at Ground Breaker Brewing, where Willamette Valley chestnuts hand-roasted on-site take the place of grains in their award-winning brews. Website. So definitely keep reading to the end and give breweries listed under The Rest of the Best serious consideration. He makes classics, including bitters and a mild, but also edged into American-hopped versions that are very similar to the direction those in the UK have themselves been heading. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Things came into focus maybe five years ago, and the brewery is now widely regarded as one of the best. People will sort themselves based on whether they want to try liquid versions of these foods (and the divide is not always an amicable one), but its worth emphasizing that the sleight of hand is remarkable. (You might consider an IPA while youre there, as well.) For example, their Catch 23 pale ale focused on Hop #527, an experimental variety from Roy Farms in Yakima, Wash. Baerlic Brewing offers 10 taps pouring a mix of their year-round beers and seasonal or one-off concoctions. The brewery, in a fairly central but industrial pocket of Southeast Portland, is known for IPAs, and most of the buzz centers around their hazies. Ex Novo never shed its brewpub ethos, however, and the beers are engineered for easy drinking, especially in front of a Blazers game (the court is just a half mile away). Berlin-trained brewer Alan Taylor has a wall full of medals (hes especially adept at fresh-hopped German beer styles), and has one of the best pilsners in the country. Chicago is home to more breweries than any other US city Primo Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Portland, Where to Eat Exceptionally Well in East Portland. But the best at what? Go to one of their two (soon to be three) taprooms, and youll find a lot of IPAs. Despite Portland's dominance, other cities have thriving beer industries. Baerlic shares a space with square pizza fave Ranch PDX at the Southeast taproom. Publicans take the time to pour beautiful pints into glassware straight from lagerland, and most are brewed to sessionable strengths. I get emails, dozens of them every year, from people coming to Portland. Look especially for any wild ales that feature American hopsBug Thief was a recent examplebecause Porter does an amazing job matching flavors of fermentation and terpenes. When Tom Cook launched Von Ebert from the ashes of a downtown Fat Heads branch, he raised some eyebrows with his ambitions for the brewery. The evocations in these beers really works. Level is what happens when you fuse the subtle, traditional approach of European brewing with the exuberant, hop-forward style of the US: well-crafted, elegant beers kissed by the familiar saturated flavors of American hopping. Food: a full menu. This fall family festival returns with three days of authentic German food and beer, polka music, dancing, kids activities,. So just in time for the sunny season, here is my most popular (and controversial) feature of the year: the citys best breweries. BREWERY BREWPUB: 2444 NW 28th Ave ALBERTA BREWPUB: 2204 NE Alberta St. #101 Hours: Weds-Thu & Sun noon-9pm, Fri-Sat noon-10pm. Stay energized and hydrated with tropical acai bowls, guacamole-covered cucumbers and organic frozen yogurt. Two Portland locations, with a third on the way. as the most improved brewery for 2021. Every single beer we tried was a delicious adaptation without the sacrifice of quality. Frustrated Biden seeks to get manufacturing message to resonate It was one of the rare breweries that launched with just a taproom and no restaurant in 2014 (since changed), and had a scrappy feel in its early days. In Portland, youll find more hoppy beers than the sours 10B sells nationally. Now that the brewery has a full-time pub, more people should make a pilgrimage to Upright to experience Ganums incredible range of world-class beers. Hours: 3-9:30pm all days. Pizza at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Each category is listed in alphabetical order. Ganum isnt flighty, though. These styles of beers are, against all odds, very hard for Americans, who typically send them into an uncanny valley of just-not-quite-right. Below are three of the best, and could easily be included in the list above, were they native Portland breweries. Website. Save the day and stay tuned. Try a Relapse to understand cold IPAs, but really, stick with his versions of the classics. So here it is, the list of the breweries doing the best work right now. Ruse (4784 SE 17th Ave). Located in a fun and funky old warehouse, Ruse is the one brewery working at least in part in the New England oeuvre, with a line that includes hazy IPAs and smoothie sours. The mighty, hoppy IPA has long been a Portland staple. Over the years, Ex Novo has elevated its best beers to full-time status (Eliot IPA, Perle Haggard, a pils, and The Most Interesting Beer in the World, one of the earlier Mexican lagers), and they are now dialed in and excellent. We love those with kindred brewery research spirits. THE BEST 10 Breweries in Portland, OR - Yelp Though ambiance and food are important, I make recommendations solely based on the beer. Updated Jun 17, 2022 6:24pm PDT When the world stopped in March 2020, so stopped Oregon's craft beer sector. If you want a good lager, you have a lot of choices. The last few visits, Ive always been more struck by the unadorned IPAs and pales, which have a similar elegance and approachability. These are Portland's 20 best breweries for 2020 - oregonlive