Category: Other Beers

One of the best brewers in the NW has left his old post at Laurelwood and will be opening a brewpub that caters to bikes, scooters and motorcycles. I don’t think it should surprise anyone that bikes and beer go together (Fat Tire, Radler, DUIs, etc), but this is just cool.

Laurelwood has promoted the former assistant brewmaster (great choice) and I expect he’ll be able to keep up with Laurelwood’s great beers and well deserved reputation.
via the Oregonian

A question about family-friendly brewpubs came across the Brew Crew list yesterday and it got me thinking. Not only does Portland have a dearth of non-smoking pubs, there are even quite a few that provide kids with thirsty parents a place to hang out. Not yet a parent, there are a few questions I have about the thin line that separates a normal pub from a kid or family friendly one, but I think there has got to be a few basic ground rules.

1. No Smoking
2. Kid friendly menu (i.e. grilled cheese, corn dogs, etc. )
3. visual stimulation (be it art, knick-nackery, motion in the brewery, the street..)
4. A tolerant clientele

There would be bonuses for things like coloring books, paper tablecloths you could draw on, dirty Legos, or other games, but I think the first four are the most important. From these, I’d say the following places (in my experience) fit the bill.

• Laurelwood Brew Pub
• New Old Lompoc 5th Quadrant
• McMenamins’ (Kennedy School, Hillsdale Brew Pub, Barley Mill, John Barleycorn)
• Laurelwood NW
• Lucky Lab Public House (on Capitol Hwy)
• Roots
• Raccoon Lodge
• BJ’s at Jantzen Beach

This list isn’t exhaustive, so let me know if you think I’m missing some, or if you have any personal contention with one of the listed. There are a couple places that may be family friendly, but aren’t quite list worthy (maybe to their preference).

I was going to update my beerfly review of Bridgeport’s brewpub the other day and discovered that it had disappeared. This upset me so much that I decided to put it off.

It doesn’t really make too much sense to wax about how terrific the original brewpub was because it is long gone. Suffice to say that it was easily one of the best brewpubs ever. The Pizza was fantastic, the caesar salad unrivaled, and cask IPA made the trip worth it. We spent a great deal of time there during our first couple years in Portland, but our visits slowed when the Pearl started growing up around it and the menu changed and service required waiting for a table. One of my last experiences at the old pub was standing in line next to a family who was visiting for the first time and had simply stumbled upon it while exploring the Pearl. I couldn’t decide if I was excited or annoyed, but I didn’t have time to decide before Bridgeport announced a 10+ month closure to remodel.

Insert log wait.

A friend was in town the week after Bridgeport’s re-opening and so we included it in our list of places to drink beer. I had heard a few comments through the Brew Crew list serve, but waited to judge myself. When I arrived, some folks that looked like they could have been parallel universe versions of my friends were leaving. One commented to the other that it had turned in to “Henry’s II.” I stuck my fingers into my ears. “La la la la la.”

It’s quite shocking to enter the new building. There’s a lot of room – especially vertical space, that the rather cavernous inside really shrinks you. The warm brick and timber is still there; but it is dwarfed by a darker, classier collection of blacks and whites. On the east end (formerly the quiet room) is a cafe and a few seats. The entry contains a number of standing tables and chairs, and is full of folks enjoying beverages from the expanded bar. Beyond the seats is a dead zone of lonely space that separates people from the bar. I was a little nervous to approach at first, but eventually crossed the divide to order a cask IPA.

The new bar itself is quite lovely. There are serving tanks along the back wall, nice white tiling and stainless accessories. The bar buzzes with activity. What used to consist of taps and pulls and a couple bottles of wine now includes a selection of deep amber liquids and some additional spirits. The bar staff were quite friendly. In fact, everyone was. One thing that was a bit of a change was the army of service that always seemed to be buzzing around.

I took my pint and wandered, checking out the new dining rooms to the east and west of the bar, then upstairs to the cocktail lounge. Up on the sky bridge I found the remnants of Bridgeport that I’d missed. The brick had been re-framed with steel, and still showed that it was the same building. The architecture is very clean, and quit elegant, though much more formal.

The addition of Supris and the new digs reminded me of the Belgo Centraal beirodrome I visited in London several years ago. I loved it there, but I’m still not sure about it here. I need to try again.

There’s murmuring about changing the beer style name “double India pale ale” to “San Diego pale ale.”

What a load of crap. I do hate the name “double IPA” though and insist upon calling the wonderfully bitter and robust drinks Imperial IPAs.

Another chapter in the Yakima beer scene unfolds with plans to open a Bert’s Pub. The pub has no affiliation with the late, great beer-Moses.

Sadly, the pub is opening in the Glenwood Square location rather than the old train depot. The 98908 crowd has been tough to sell much on, but I hope the new venue does better than the two predecessors.

The proprietor, a Mr. Aaron Gamache, is a hop grower from the valley, and related to the cultivar of one of my favorite varietal, the Amarillo, which is a mutant that was found in the field. Gamache will be selling Coors at the pub, which Bert would have probably scoffed at, but Gamache does business with the brewer, so it makes some sense.