The Portland area has many good and great brewpubs, restaurants serving local brews, and breweries making small batch ales, pilsners, Belgians,etc.. Portland has a nickname- Beervana....Visit and find out why.

Whether you are a local or not, you may enjoy an honest opinion or two regarding some interesting places visited by a beer appreciating native here.

Is it family friendly? if so, an FF will be inserted. Typically children are allowed. Is the bar staff friendly and management inviting? If so, a rating system of 1-5 will be used with 5 being awesome and 1 being poor. The same will be used for quality of food and beers.

If you are only here for a few days, try some of these 3 first.

  1. Any of the 4 "Lompocs"...A.Original is called "New Old Lompoc Pub and Brewery"-1616 NW 23rd, Portland-503-225-1855 Lompoc Pubs.... B. "New Old Lompoc-5th Quadrant"-3901 N. Williams Ave., Portland;B+.  Their newly opened tasting room, the Sidebar, at the Fifth Quadrant location where you can enjoy a variety of barrel aged and seasonal specialty beer that will only be available at the tasting room in limited quantities.The Sidebar is open Fridays from 4 PM to 9 PM and Saturdays from noon to 5 PM.  C. " Hedge House"- 3412 SE Division, Portland; D. "Oaks Bottom Pub"- 1621 SE Bybee, Portland. The small batch-brewed ales from the Lompoc brewers are consistently some of the best in town, never changing with popularity like some larger establishments. They all have outside dining for those great days, and some covered outside areas for misty days when you still need the fresh air. In all 4, the food is a 5 (Nachos, Best Clam Chowder in Portland, Chicken Pot Pies, Sandwiches and Burgers), the beers are a 5, and the service is usually between 3 and 5, depending on the amount of customers usually. Do not miss the C-Note Imperial Pale - This HUGE Imperial Pale Ale (100 IBU!) is a hop head’s dream. Using Crystal, Cluster, Cascade, Chinook, Centennial,
    Columbus and Challenger hops.  (6.9% a/v) The LSD is awesome...Lompoc Strong Draft...What were you thinking?It is an American strong ale with big body, a touch of smoked malt and a generous hop profile.  (6.9% a/v)Or try a Centennial IPA -A classic Northwest IPA. Nicely balanced and easy drinking with all the hop flavors that Portlanders insist on.  (6.0% a/v). B, C, and D are FF. A is adults only. Happy Hour varies per location, most are 4-6PM and 10 to close everyday $3.25 Lompoc pints, all day Saturday and Sunday at A. and D . Sunday Bloody Sunday $3.00 Bloody Mary's at A., B., and D.
  2. Lucky Labradors (3) A."Lucky Labrador Brewing"-915 SE Hawthorne, Portland-Lucky Lab-B.Lucky Lab Beer Hall- 1945 NW Quimby  C. Lucky Labrador Public House-7675 SW Capitol Hwy.-503-244-2537...Again, the brewers are awesome and do small batch specialties all the time. Super Dog, Top Dog, Stumptown Porter, Dog Day IPA, Black Lab stout, you get the drift...See website for full descriptions of hand crafted ales and menus.-All 3 are FF, and  DF(Dog Friendly)-A. has sandwiches and salads, B. and C. has salads, soup, and hand thrown pizzas you can order by the slice or by the pie...YUM! Food-5; Brews-5; Service-5

  3. The Laurelwoods- Laurelwood Brewing Co. - A. Laurelwood Public House & Brewery-5115 NE Sandy Blvd-Portland, OR 97213-503-282-0622 ; B. Laurelwood NW Public House-2327 NW Kearney Street-Portland, OR 97210 ; C. Laurelwood Pizza Co-1728 NE 40th Ave-Portland, OR 97212.  Brewers are great here-Always an interesting seasonal (Workhorse IPA-a true West Coast IPA, with over-the-top hop flavor and aroma. Three separate dry hop additions in the fermenter make this one of their hoppiest beers so far-7.5% ALC by Volume. 17º Plato O.G. 3º Plato T.G. 80 IBU - awesome!) to try in addition to the Space Stout, Hop Monkey IPA, Organic Tree Hugger Porter, Organic Free Range Red, Piston Pale Ale, etc. (see Website...)Service-4;Food is a 4-5 at all 3 locations; Brews-5, Very FF(Award Winning).

If staying a while, some of these might be helpful for your enjoyment of the Portland Breweries and Brewpub experience

  1. The McMenamins- McMenamins Beer Kingdom...Too many locations in the NW to list here-Try ...A. John Barleycorns-503-684-2688-14610 S.W. Sequoia Pkwy.-Tigard, OR 97223-nice for outside dining, FF-Food-5, Brews-4, Service is usually 4-5 ; B. Bagdad Theatre and Pub-503-236-9234-3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.-Portland, OR 97214 -Grab a movie for 3 bucks and a beer and a slice of pizza while you watch the movie.

  2. Widmer Brothers Brewing-Widmer Bros.-929 N. Russell, Portland-503-281-2437- Excellent Ales- German Alt style brews- Also the world-famous Hefeweizen- unfiltered and refreshing; Broken Halo IPA- an authentic IPA-FF, Food-4; Brews-5

  3. Bridgeport-Bridgeport-1313 NW Marshall St.-The original Portland Brewpub has seen some changes, not all for the better, but the beer is what matters, and it is good. If they are pouring the Old Knucklehead Barleywine, give it a try. FF; Service-3; Beer-4; Food-4

  4. Amnesia Brewing-832 N. Beech St., Portland-503-281-7708; Owner Kevin King always has some fine beers pouring such as: Imperial Pale Ale, Eight-month-old Sour Power Cherry Ale, Sleighjerker, Frosty's RevengeDubbel Whammy Belgian-style ale, Amnesia Farmhouse Ale, Desolation IPA, Copacetic IPA ; Beer garden, Dog friendly, 21 and over only. Food-3; Brews-4; Service-3

  5. Alameda Brewing Co. - http://www.alamedabrewhouse.com -4765 NE Fremont St. 503-460-9025; FF; Food-3; Service-3; Brews-5

  6. Henry's 12th Street Tavern (Restaurant)-Henry's-   in the Pearl District..10 NW 12th Avenue-Portland- 503-227-5320

    Quote-“A new brew landmark…beer is a big part of Henry’s draw in the form of 100 well-chosen draft beers. The selections runs from Bud to Belgians and includes a couple dozen excellent imports and almost 60 craft brews from around the country. They obviously care that beer is served at its peak ¾ a glycol-cooled system sees to that."-John Foyston, Brew News, The Oregonian A&E-     ;FF in restaurant only-Service-5; Food-5; Brews-5 

  7. Hopworks Urban Brewery-2944 SE Powell Blvd; Portland, OR 97202;  Hopworks Happy Hour. They have amazing food deals in bar area  from 3-6 pm everyday, like $1.75 slices of pizza, $2.75 salads, and $3.75 GIANT German-style sausages: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/-F60MZ...   (503) 232-4677  www.hopworksbeer.com

  8. Rogue Ales Public House- Rogue 1339 NW Flanders St., Portland-503-222-5910- Service-3; Brews-4; Food- 

  9.  Roots Brewing; 41520 SE 7th Ave.; Portland, OR 97214; Roots serves $10 pitchers on Sundays.(503) 235-7668; Roots Brewing   www.rootsorganicbrewing.com