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Category: Brewery Review

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins Colorado (June 25, Brewery Stop #3)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins Colorado (June 25, Brewery Stop #3)The third stop on our beer discovery tour (click here to read about the whole trip) landed us at New Belgium in Fort Collins Colorado. This well known establishment is just a few minutes from Odell Brewing. This is one of the best known micro-breweries in the US with Fat Tire Amber Ale being their largest distributed beer. The company is ’employee-owned’ so it’s definitely got a ‘sort-of-corporate-while-not-trying-to-be’ vibe going on with all the low-key stuff on their walls and ‘community’ atmosphere. The main building gets lots of visitors, so parking can be an issue. Just inside, they have a BUNCH of swag for sale and a bar area to get samples, pints, growler fills, and bottles to go. Once inside, we decided to grab a small table once one came open and ordered a few samples at the bar. They do offer everything they distribute in bottles and cans via tap there on site, as well as a few experimental and one-offs that are not distributed. We decided to try the one’s we had not had before with the local only beers. We did …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins Colorado (June 25, Brewery Stop #2)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins Colorado (June 25, Brewery Stop #2) The second day of our journey to the east coast on our beer discovery tour (click here to read about the whole trip) in late June we made our way from northern Utah into southern Wyoming and then into Colorado to Fort Collins, just north of Denver. The first brewery stop for the day was Odell Brewing Company. We got there just as they opened for the day, and discovered they had a food cart truck and live music over the lunch hour on their patio (see pictures below). The facility is quite large with lots of seating inside and outside with lots of interesting artwork and things to keep you distracted. The brewing production areas can be viewed if you go on one of their free brewery tours which you have to sign up at the bar. The surprise for us was that we didn’t think that they would have so many beers on draft on site (18 the day we were there). We knew that they had a lot of varieties that they distribute across the west coast, but it was quite a …

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2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: Highlands Hollow Brewhouse, Boise ID (June 24, Brewery Stop #1)

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR: HIGHLANDS HOLLOW BREWHOUSE, BOISE IDAHO (JUNE 24, BREEWERY STOP #1) The first day of our journey to the east coast in late June on the beer discovery tour (click here to read about the whole trip), we stopped in Boise ID for lunch at the Highlands Hollow Brewhouse. This old-school brewery is located on the north edge of town, just past downtown off of N. Harrison Blvd where it turns into Bogus Basin. While there are a number of breweries in the area that we could have gone for lunch, I wanted to revisit this great establishment as it had been over a year since I was last there and I was curious what their brewer had produced since then. The vibe is certainly on the ‘down to Earth’ and everyone is treated with attention and respect. This is a ‘family’ restaurant that serves beer, there is a small bar you can sit at, but for the most part, it’s a big room with lots of friendly people. We arrived just at the start of the day-time lunch rush. Actually, it’s not much of a rush, but more of a trickle of visitors and locals. The …

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Review: Fortside Brewing Co., Vancouver WA

FORTSIDE BREWING CO., VANCOUVER WA The second brewery stop on Friday, May 29th was at Fortside Brewing Co., located off of NE Andresen (just south of Fourth Plain Blvd. a few blocks). We were super excited to learn about this brand spankin’ new brewery at the Thirsty Sasquatch bar and decided to make the drive down Fourth Plain to try it out. Fortside just opened in late April 2015, so it’s really new and they only have three of their own beer available, +1 root beer (non-alcoholic). The location is in an industrial mall complex, the signage on Andresen is limited to just a small thing on the side of the building, so you need to keep an eye out for it. The building has a large painted logo on it, and as you can see from the pics, it’s a long open space with lots of raw wood, metal, and windows. The bar seats just a few people, they have plenty of tables, and a few seats outside for the smokers. The brewing facility is in the back of the business behind a large glass/windowed wall. We spent a few moment talking to the bartender about it and he …

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Review: Rail Side Brewing Co., Vancouver WA

RAIL SIDE BREWING CO., VANCOUVER WA Back on Friday, May 29th. I met up with a few friends at this newly relocated brewery in the Hazel Dell neighborhood of Vancouver Washington, Rail Side Brewing around 3:30pm. It’s located behind a large outdoor strip mall off of NE 76th st (behind the Natural Grocers and The Barbers). So if you don’t use your GPS you’ll have a tricky time finding it. The building is somewhat small, they take up 1/2 of it on the east side. The parking is on all sides so it was nice finding a close spot and not having to walk. They usually have the front garage door open, so you can easily see how busy it is. They also have outdoor seating for the smokers. The original location that I had visited a few years ago was in Washougal WA (now occupied by Doomsday Brewing), and this spot isn’t much bigger in size. They do offer pizza and some snacks which are made on site. A few people at the table I was at ordered the nachos, and OMG they were HUGE and looked really good. The main room has a small bar you can sit …

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Review: Burnside Brewing, Portland OR

BURNSIDE BREWING CO., PORTLAND OR Memorial Day (Monday), May 25th we ended up at Burnside Brewing for a late lunch. The location is along the north side of east Burnside Blvd in Portland Oregon next to a lot of newly renovated buildings, shops, boutiques, strip bars, and restaurants. It has outdoor seating (as you can see from the pictures) that is open year round in their front parking lot. Which I must say, I have always been able to find a spot in every time we’ve gone, must be my awesome parking karma at work. Overall, this is a well established brewery with a full menu for lunch and dinner. The beer list includes a large variety of seasonal drafts and they do offer a bit of swag and 22oz. bottles for sale to go. You can do growler fills there as well. The bar/restaurant is on the left side of the building, and the brewery to the right. I haven’t been into the brewery side, so I can’t speak to their production and size. I have been to the bar/restaurant a number of times, sitting both inside and outside, and can attest to the fact that they know what …

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