Beer Trip to Portland - Suggestions

My wife and I have planned a trip to the Portland area for my 40th birthday in October (weekend of the 11th to be exact). We’ll be there from Thursday to Sunday. Haven’t decided on a place to stay yet, so I’m open to suggestions/recommendations for places to stay, beer destinations, food, and any particular sights to take in. Thought the forum would be a good place to start to make sure I enjoy my 40th.

Haven’t been there is years, but I recall the Bridgeport brewpub being just awesome. A road trip out to Hood River afford great views and beer.

I visit my daughter every year in Portland and there seems to be a brewery every block. Sometimes at night the whole city smells like a brewery.
I would suggest going to the Hub Brewery and hopworks. Good beer and food. The Commons brewery has a nice tasting room and they keg most of the beers.
If you get on line and call ahead the Widmer tour is very interesting but there are booked in advanced.

+1 on getting up to Hood River. Double Mountain alone is worth it. But, if you’re staying here in town there are more than a few options. I totally back up a trip to Commons Brewery. They specialize is Farmhouse styles. Very interesting small setup. Then there’s the funky stuff: The Cascade Barrel House. Also known as the house of sour this is a place where you can go just to get very, very different beer. If you don’t feel like going to a brewery there’s always Apex taproom. Forewarning: it’s cash only and no minors. But they’re going to have upwards of 60 beers on tap at all times. I just went there last night and had a Ghost Chili Golden Ale that, although extremely spicy, was actually good to boot. Gigantic, Breakside, and Burnside breweries are great (Burnside being my personal favorite). If you want to stay in downtown Portland both Rogue and Deschutes have taprooms and Deschutes’ actually brews on the spot despite it not being their actual brewery. I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend a Mcmenamins experience. No one brags about their beer, but the locations are just a really fun experience. Kennedy School or seeing a movie at Baghdad Theater or Edgefield (really cool) on your way out/back into town from Hood River.

Hair of the Dog…don’t miss it!

I can’t believe I left them out! And while you’re in the area head down the road to Lucky Labrador (see if their logo has any striking similarity to an Idahoan brewery) and then over to the Green Dragon/Buckman Botanical Brewery. Then Cascade! THERE’S TOO MUCH TO DO!

Thanks for all the advice. Since it seems that Hood River is highly recommended, would you recommend staying a night in Hood River and then maybe staying in Portland Fri/Sat nights?

Stay at the Hood River Hotel or Skamania lodge. Portland best beer pub, the Horse Brass, some 50 brews on tap, great atmosphere. The Belmont Station is 2 blocks away, 1200 beers.

http://www.horsebrass.com/ http://www.belmont-station.com/

:cheers:

It’s been about 12 years since i have been to Portland, but the Lucky Lab and Bridgeport were both great. Dog Day IPA at Lucky Lab is one of the first IPAs that I can recall drinking (other than Victory’s Hop Devil).

We made that trek for our 24th anniversary last year and it was magical. Highly recommend the Hotel Monaco. Great location, rooms are awesome and it was even pet friendly (we didn’t take ours, but we loved visiting the resident lab, Timmy, in the lobby—BTW, he loves Goldfish crackers). 1st rate service. Can’t say enough good things about this hotel…

They have free bikes you can use too. We biked our way to Deschutes, Bridgeport, and Rogue. Tie between the 1st 2 for us w/ Rogue a close third. When we asked the locals where the best microbreweries were, they said “doesn’t matter–all are good!”

Make sure you sample the local food carts for lunch. You won’t be disappointed. Bijou and Besaws (our favorite) for breakfast were fantastic, Andina was funky and awesome for dinner if you’re a “foodie” and enjoy some more complex dishes.

It is a great, great city. And you can take the rail from the airport to downtown without renting a car if you’re flying.

Oh man, and while you’re downtown check out the nano brewery Tugboat. They have ONE 4 BBL fermenter that gives them about 4 beers on tap at any time with plenty of guest taps. If you’re feeling risky it’s only a few doors down from one of the oldest strip clubs in Portland, but like most strip joints it is really divey and… well it’s a strip club.