Home Archive by category "beer" (Page 14)

Category: beer

Review: Laurelwood Brewing, Portland OR

LAURELWOOD BREWING, PORTLAND OR This was the second stop on our Black Friday brewery crawl (28 Nov. 2014). The NE Sandy brewery location has some parking on the back and east side of the building. Inside, it has some windows to look in on what the brewers are up to and a full accompaniment of swag from clothing, hats, sauces (mustard, BBQ, etc.) for purchase at the front counter. The restaurant itself is broken into a few parts. The two main sections inside are for kids and large groups, the patio is only used during warm weather months. The bar area has self seating as well as seated booths towards the back. Keep in mind, that there are always a lot of kids in this restaurant, so you can not really get away from the criPODS if that’s important to you when enjoying a beer. The bar area is where we sat, next to the NE Sandy street entrance at a long table top in front of a huge picture window to watch the cars and people go by. The service at this location has always been good, and the bartender was quick to come over. Their menu is full …

Continue reading

Review: Alameda Brewing, Portland OR

ALAMEDA BREWING, PORTLAND OR We stopped at a few breweries on Black Friday (28 Nov. 2014) when we were out and about, and this was were we went for lunch. We’ve been to Alameda brewing (EST. 1996) a number of times in the past and it’s always been a decent experience. As this is a brewery in a busy business/residential neighborhood, you need to be warned that there is a good chance that the table next to you, will have kids at it. Their food is better than bar food overall, with a large variety of sammiches, burgers, salads, and various other styles of food represented. The servers can be super busy at times, so you gotta be patient or sit at their bar top for quick service. The building itself is really echo-y (high ceilings), with brewery swag in a case to look at the front and brewery equipment/tanks being right there next to the bar. Their brewers work during the day, so if you stop at lunch, you might see them working, which is cool. Overall, it’s a decent place to go, their beers tend to be more middle of the road than memorable. I can honestly recommend …

Continue reading

Review: Drop Anchor Brewing, Cathlamet WA

DROP ANCHOR BREWING, CATHLAMET WA Drop Anchor Brewing is the third brewery we visited on Saturday (15th Nov.) on our returning drive from the coast. We wanted to stop in the Longview area at some of the breweries and discovered this new brewery in Cathlamet (small fishing town 20 miles NW of Longview on the Columbia river) before we left that morning and decided to take the north route back to Longview and check it out. Please note, they have limited hours of operation: Friday and Saturday 4:00pm to 8:00pm with special days for boat clubs and special events. The location is a boat house next to Cathlamet Marina (including a boat ramp/dock). It’s owned/run by a couple of experienced brewers, Andy Lea (worked at Pyramid) and Steve Sharp (over a decade of home brewing). The small building includes tons of windows and a rough interior with the production in the back half, a small bar to sit at, as well as a few tables inside and outside. The overall feel is that of a small mom/pop operation, but the beer’s speak of decades of experience and skill. Drop Anchor Brewing www.dropanchorbrewery.com 285 3rd St, Cathlamet, WA 98612 (360) 355-4662 Here’s …

Continue reading

Review: Fort George Brewing, Astoria OR

FORT GEORGE BREWING, ASTORIA OR This was our second stop in Astoria OR on Saturday 15th of Nov. The brewery is located on the east end of downtown, just south of the main strip. The restaurant has a main floor and upper level which were super busy when we got there so we actually ended up across the parking lot at the taster room “Lovell Brewery & Taproom”. This doesn’t look like a tap-room from the outside, so look for the “OPEN” sign. Part of their production takes place in the space, they also do tasting and instructional events in the larger room. The tap-room space is really small, cozy and inviting with a fireplace. Fort George Brewing, www.FORTGEORGEBREWERY.COM 1483 DUANE STREET, ASTORIA, OREGON 97103 |BEER@FORTGEORGEBREWERY.COM | 503.325.7468 Here’s a review of the beers we tried: Style Beer Name ABV IBU Thoughts American Pale Ale SUNRISE OATMEAL PALE ALE 5.2% ? This is one of the better Ft. George beers you can find. It has a clean/clear bright color, has a citrus and grapefruit nose. The mid and back mouth feel are full bodied with bitterness, grassy and sharp notes. Pale Ale FRUITION PALE ALE 6.75% ? Pale with a strong bitter forward, …

Continue reading

Review: Buoy Beer Company, Astoria OR

BUOY BEER COMPANY, ASTORIA OR We spent Saturday traveling to the coast from Portland to hit the Tillamook cheese factory and some of the breweries in Astoria, Cathlamet, Longview, and St.Helens. Here’s the breakdown of the first brewery we went to. Bouy Beer Company,http://www.buoybeer.com/ No. 1 Eighth (8th) Street, Astoria, OR 97103 | Taproom 503.325.4540 | Office 503.468.0800 The brewery is situated behind some industrial buildings by the trolly tracks, built on the pier. Inside they have a few spaces for customers to sit at, a main restaurant room, taproom, and an entry hallway. The brewing tanks are located to the left as you enter and they are visible to you. There are no ‘kid-free’ areas at this brewery, so if you hate criPODS you’re SOL. The tap room had plenty of empty tables at lunchtime when we got there. The server was super friendly and food came out in less than 10 mins after ordering, which surprised us all. The beers came out (as you can see in the image) on taster trays that hold 6 each. Here’s a review of the beers we tried: Style Beer Name ABV IBU Thoughts Helles HELLES 5.3% 19 This Helles had a standard German approach …

Continue reading