Alameda Brewing - Portland, OR

Alameda Brewing was brewery #3 of the day. Great place, and I must say my favorite thing is the giant hop on the entrance sign. When you walk in it is a very large long bar with probably about 40 bar seats and plenty of tables. This place was very classy and upscale especially for a brewery.

-With lots of beers on tap, I got a sampler which you're able to choose.  I had the Yellow Wold Imperial which was very tasty, Double Down barley wine Double IPA...10% but I liked it a lot, a Session beer which wasn't bad, Pale Ale which also wasn't bad, the El Torero IPA I liked, and the Stout Black Bear which was just okay.

-The waitress was very nice and even took time out to cut some stickers to give me when I asked for them. Not much else in the merch dept at least that I could see. All in all a great experience, we didn't eat but they had great happy hour prices and the food looked delicious. Check them out...alamedabrewing.com/

The Mash Tun Brewery - Portland, OR

Next brewery stop was the Mash Tun Brewery.  Off the main road and somewhat hidden, I didn't expect the size of this place to be so big. When you walk in you just see a giant open room with good sized bar, keep walking in and you'll see tables out back and another room adjacent to the bar with plenty more seating.

-The scenery was nice, lots of hanging plants, fun artwork.

-I got the sampler...the Pale Ale was light but good, IPA had a unique taste..had a strong smell but was very good, the Porter was very good and light for a porter, the Red was decent.

-I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the area.  I like that the bathroom had wall to wall chalkboards, very unique.  Also saw some board games, although most Portland breweries seemed to have that...I spotted Trivial Pursuit though. Check them out!http://themashtunbrewpub.com

Kennedy School - Portland, OR

Our first brewery stop on Day 2 was Kennedy School which an old school taken over by McMenamins (they buy out lots of old buildings and turn them into breweries). Unfortunately we went a little early so most the room attractions weren't open but this place is awesome!

-First off it is huge and as I guessed it looked just like a school inside.  Long hallways, tons of artwork, old school pictures from the actual school.  They have a giant restaurant and brewery. We only had the IPA and it was probably one of the worst beers we had on the trip but hey we weren't expecting great beer there.

-The Boiler Room is a bar downstairs with pool tables, darts and a great hang out.  The Detention Room is a cigar bar.They also have a movie theater and banquet hall. Plus an awesome giant courtyard with a fire pit and lots of outdoor seating.You also can rent a room here which is literally steps from the restaurant/brewery, they are somewhat expensive but would be fun for a night.

-If you can make it here while in Portland make sure you do..just come later in the day. Don't come for the food or beer, but simply to enjoy the scenery and fun of drinking in a school. Check them out! http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home

Brewpubs/Restaurants Day 1 - Portland, OR

Throughout Day 1 in Portland besides all the breweries we stopped at other places including...

The Horsebrass is the must go to place while walking Portland.  They are a huge restaurant, nice ambience and have a GREAT beer menu. We got there somewhat early so it was pretty dead.  We got good seats and I was pumped when I saw the beer menu. Lots of choices to choose from, but we had to start off with the Boneyard IPA since we had heard such great things. It was VERY good.  Next up we tried the Boneyard Pale Ale…may have even been better but it was VERY good also.  Great trip to Horsebrass, didn’t eat just drank but it’s a must stop for beer lovers. Check them out www.horsebrass.com

Next stop…Belmont Station.  We wanted to get there kind of early since there was a Pelican tasting around 5.  This place has a LOT of good beer for sale…their slogan should be “if you can’t find it here, you won’t find it in Portland. However we weren’t shopping, we were there to drink.  Next to the beer store is the Biercafe, had a few tables and a large bar and a great beer menu. Unfortunately I can’t recall what I drank there (just look at my previous posts..I already had a few in me), but I did enjoy Belmont Station and highly recommend stopping in but check out their tap list online first…it’s updated daily. www.belmont-station.com

For dinner we went to The Woodsman. Smart to get a reservation here since it tends to get crowded, however we showed up an hour early and got sat immediately.  The prices are a little steep, but to some it may be worth it. We drank the Widmer Half Nelson, but after all the beer I had already that day it just didn’t match up.  To start we split the chicken wings, they were large wings, the sauce was okay and the meat itself wasn’t bad.  Next I tried the corndog…nothing special here just a corndog. For dinner I had the burger and I must say it was fantastic. However served with a burger was a side salad…SIDE SALAD? I’m not sure if the waitress was trying to imply something by giving me a salad, but I like fries with a burger. Plus the salad was dry and not very flavorful.  Overall this place is worth checking out if you have a night out and don’t mind dropping around 35-50$ a person. woodsmantavern.com

Burnside Brewing - Portland, OR

Before we traveled back to the hotel we decided ONE more stop since it was around the corner from the hotel.  Burnside has a bunch of picnic tables outside under a tent, and inside lots of room with a giant wrap around bar.  They serve plenty of food, we tried the pretzels. The dipping sauces were good, but the pretzels were just your normal pretzels. 

-As for beers the double IPA was very good and the IPA was tasty.  After all the beers I had drank up until now..these beers just didn’t stand out even though I enjoyed both of them.

-For merch, you can buy their beer there, t-shirts I believe and we brought home a glass which is about 20oz. Check them out for more info! www.burnsidebrewco.com

 

 

Basecamp Brewing - Portland, OR

Basecamp is a fun place that is very large in its layout.  Lots of room to move around, a very long bar and about 10 beers on tap. Right when you walk in you can see the brewery itself to the left but it is closed off to the public.  We went there to end the night with desert…the s’mores stout.  They roast a marshmallow on the edge of the glass to top it off which I think is awesome. The stout itself didn’t blow me away, but it was good! I also had a chance to try the In Tents IPL, it was tasty.

Not much in the merch catergory..I got some stickers and coasters, and saw a t-shrit for sale. Check this place out, basecampbrewingco.com

Cascade Brewing Barrel House - Portland, OR

I had been to Portland before but only went to a couple of places. One of those places was Cascade and was looking forward to going back. It was later in the night so as expected, pretty crowded.  Lots of seating, nice atmosphere, and probably the most expensive brewery you could stop into, reason being? SOURS! I’m somewhat a fan of sours, but Cascade makes some great ones. The service is good, even though it was crowded. However, only complaint is the second night we went the waitress asked a couple members of our group if they were "trashed"...now yes we had a few beers but not falling over sloppy and made it very uncomfortable for us to stay there..which is why we left shortly after.

-I started off like an idiot trying something rather than the sours. I had a sip of the IPA and Pale Ale and neither were very good.  Next up was a taste of the Chocolate Bournonic Plague, this was good but strong.  Next was the Noyaux, this was VERY VERY good. Next try was the Blueberry sour, this also was amazing.  Next, 2010 Apricot, this was hands down my favorite and just delicious.  Lastly was the Strawberry Crème, very unique and tasty but tough to drink a lot of it.

-As for merch, you can buy a lot of their beers, also they had t-shirts and hats, and stickers I had to purchase…bring on the free stickers!

 

-All in all this place is a MUST for sour lovers or even someone who wants to give sours a try. Fun place, good crowd and tasty sours. Check out their beers.www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com

Migration Brewing - Portland, OR

Migration is still a new brewery, but I will say it is gorgeous.  Pretty big with lots of outside picnic tables.  The inside is a good size, VERY clean looking and spacious.  The ambience was nice, good menu, the bartender was very polite and nice. 

-As for the beer, I will say the sample try I got here is easily the best sample tray I’ve ever had.  Typically you get dinky 4oz glasses which don’t allow you to really let the beer breathe.  But with these tulip glasses, the beer could breathe, and I could really smell it and enjoy each beer.  The 503 IPA was very tasty at 7.3 it was very good.  Old Silenus Strong Ale was just that…strong but good. PDX Kolsh was light and tasty. The Migration Pale Ale was light and tasty also.  Glisan St. Dry Hop was really good.  Luscious Lupin IPA was good but the 503 was much better.  The Blood Sweat and Red wasn’t bad, I was hoping for better. 

-Not much in the merch department..they had a glass, t-shirt, and stickers.

-All in all a great experience, great workers, beautiful layout inside and tasty beer, so check them out! migrationbrewing.com/

Fire on the Mountain - Portland, OR

After checking into the hotel on Burnside, our first stop was Fire on the Mountain, a place that specializes in chicken wings. One nice thing about this place is they have about 16 sauces and they have a counter set up to try them all before ordering.  Besides wings, they have much more food. You can order 24 wings with four different sauces (so 6 wings of each sauce) which I think is really nice.

-We got the Jamaican Jerk (not for me but tasty), Raspberry Habanera (really good), Hot (kind of spicy but good) and the Chipotle Bourbon (my favorite). Now I’m from Buffalo, so I’ve had some amazing wings…the wings themselves were pretty small and slimy but the sauces were great! They have a SUPER SUPER hot sauce I forget the name of it, but if you eat a certain amount you get your name and picture on the wall with the official wing hat.

-The atmosphere is really nice. Lots of high top seating and normal tables.  Also really liked the art work.

-As for the beer, they have about 4 of their own on tap.  The Wonderin Rye Pale was very good especially with the wings.  The Shocks of Sheba IPA was also very good.
-As for the merch they just had some t-shirts and hats.

-Recommended for a quick bite of wings with a few friends, a pitcher of good beer and nice setting. Check them out…www.portlandwings.com/