Beer City Portland

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting one of the great beer cities in the country, Portland. With several great craft breweries in the region, great hop-growing regions in the surrounding area, and a population thirsty for great beer, Portland has very high cred in beer circles. So, needless to say I I was looking forward to this visit for the opportunity to sample some great beers that weren't available in my region.

But this was a family vacation, so though my wife was very accommodating in terms of where we ate and letting me go out to get beer, I couldn't make the entire trip about beer (and books--yay Powell's). Still, I did have an opportunity to get a sampling of what makes Portland a great beer city.

I visited two different breweries in Portland, Bridgeport and Deschutes' Portland mini brewpub. As far as the atmosphere and food, I'd have to give the advantage to Deschutes. It was just a really friendly place to sit down and eat a great burger, followed up with an ice cream sandwich featuring their Black Butte Porter. Bridgeport's dining area seemed like it was just a bunch of chairs & tables crowded into a big empty room. I had a very unusual brat plate at Bridgeport, which combined the beer-flavored brats with cooked cabbage, cheese & spaetzle, and apple chutney. Actually really pretty good, but a bit too rich and subtle for combining with beers.

I had two beers at each place. At Deschutes I had the Bond Street Bachelor's Bitter, because it was labeled a "local favorite" that wasn't generally available at my liquor store. This was an okay ESB, but not anything too special. I then followed it up with the Inverted Pale, a combination of the hop profile of their Inversion IPA with their Mirror Pond Pale Ale. This seems like a noble experiment, and a great idea for a pub exclusive, but not altogether a success to me. To me, the Mirror Pond malts kind of blurred and muddled the clear, fresh hoppiness I like about the Inversion IPA.

At Bridgeport, I had the Highland Ambush because it was a seasonal and a Scottish ale, which can be very tasty (for example Claymore and Naughty Scot). This one was kind of in the middle of the style. More successful was their Kingpin. A very pretty color, pretty good fragrance and fairly tasty. I'd drink it again.

But what really makes Portland a great city for beer drinkers is the easy access to high quality beers. Because their liquor laws are different, grocery stores and convenience stores can stock full-strength beers and they take full advantage of this by representing a surprising diversity of local and regional beers. The corner convenience store had dozens of bombers in addition to a full selection of craft beer six packs. And Safeway puts its beers in an endcap cooler right inside the door. We just walked by it, but at a rough glance, I'd say they had at least 50 different bombers on sale. At Safeway!

So, overall, I've got to say that I'm impressed with Portland's credentials as a leading beer city.

Obsidian Stout

This is a pretty good stout. Not a standout, but if you have this as an option, you won't be disappointed if you like stouts.

Hop Trip

Deschutes, a fresh-hop ale--need I say more to explain why I was excited? But this just didn't work out as well in practice as it did in conception. Overall, this is a pretty well-received beer, but some reviewers indicate that it ages poorly. Mine may have been old.

Jubelale

My second winter warmer. Nothing quite so memorable as the last one.

Green Lakes Organic Ale

Deschutes. Some people never learn, huh? I just keep going back to the well. But in this case, I'm rewarded, because I really enjoyed this one. And it's not only organic, but salmon-safe as well!

Black Butte Porter

Deschutes. I have heard from its fans that this is one of the best porters around, but I just didn't like it. Either I just don't like porters or, as I guessed before, the brewmasters at Deschutes and I just don't mesh.

Inversion IPA

Deschutes. A disappointing IPA, continuing a long string of less-than-stellar entries from Deschutes. I guess my taste just doesn't match with that of their brewmasters.

Twilight Summer Ale

Deschutes.

Mirror Pond

Deschutes

Red Chair

Deschutes