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Category: Oregon

Review: Stickmen Brewing Co., Lake Oswego OR

STICKMEN BREWING CO., LAKE OSWEGO OREGON On Friday Feb. 27th, 2015 we went to the south end of the Portland metro area to visit a couple of breweries in the late afternoon, to include Stickmen Brewing Co. in Lake Oswego. We have been lucky enough to have visited this great restaurant and brewery a number of times since they opened in 2012. The location is divided into a couple of larger dining rooms, a bar area with booths/tables, beer production area behind glass that you can take a tour of and a wonderful full size, tree shaded patio that overlooks Lake Oswego. During the summer months their patio bar gets super busy as you can get drafts outside directly. The restaurant part of the business recently went through some changes, removing the ‘Skewery’ from their name/logo and changing the menu to no longer provide Yakitori or other grilled/skewered food. They also removed most of the asian inspired dishes (noodles, stir fry, etc.) and now it’s more traditional American restaurant fare such as: nachos, burgers, seafood, sandwiches, salads, and a few one-off BBQ dishes. We tried a couple of the new happy hour dishes and they were quite delish. We sat …

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Review: Fifth Quadrant Lompoc Brewing, Portland Oregon

LOMPOC BREWING, PORTLAND OREGON Tuesday Feb. 24th, 2015 we visited the Lompoc brewery location in North Portland, the Fifth Quadrant. This restaurant and brewery has both a bar area, inside family seating, front-street smaller tables, and outside (smoking) patio/porch that is covered with larger tables. If you want to stay clear of the criPODS, you have to stick to the bar area. Lompoc has a number of locations (bars & restaurants) around Portland and has been brewing beer since 1996. Their recopies have changed a bit over the years and the recent ‘regulars’ have a decent level of complexity and quality that stands against most other mid-sized breweries in the area. The menu at this restaurant/brewery has a good range of NW food ranging from sammiches, burgers, Pork mole tacos (da-BOMB), and salads. The happy hour is pretty decent as well, and we normally visit it during a weekday prior to 6pm. It’s always busy, every time we’ve gone, so be ready to either sit where you don’t want, or show up early. This time around, we were lucky and got a table on the bar side so we didn’t really have the criPOD effect going on. We ordered happy …

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Review: Vertigo Brewing, Hillsboro Oregon

VERTIGO BREWING, HILLSBORO OREGON On Saturday Feb. 21st, 2015 we went on a little trip to visit a couple of breweries in Hillsboro Oregon, which is a suburb just west of Portland. Vertigo Brewing is the second stop from that day. We’ve been to this brewery a few times before, so we’ve had some of their beers and new what to expect when we got there. The taproom is located next to the brewing location in an industrial park. There isn’t a lot of signage, so if you aren’t sure where you’re going it can be a bit confusing. The door into the taproom isn’t marked that well, so look for their signs. It is 21+ ONLY, so don’t bring your kids or your pets and eat before you come because this is JUST a taproom. Inside they have a variety of games you can play for free, just look along the wall for the tables of games and grab one to enjoy while you sip their beers. There are locally made pretzels you can buy to snack on which are available at the counter. The customers range from old to young, and locals to visitors from other countries. When …

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Review: Three Mugs Brewing, Hillsboro Oregon

THREE MUGS BREWING CO, HILLSBORO OREGON Saturday Feb. 21st 2015 we ventured out to a couple of breweries in Hillsboro, and this was the first stop. Three Mugs Brewing is a small taproom with a homegrown vibe back in an industrial complex. The location is pet friendly, and has no food but there is a local Hawaiian place that delivers if you’re really hungry, just ask the bartender. There is a Foosball table located in the back, and during our visit we enjoyed the blaring radio playing the classic rock station. Other side of the building is there brewing supply store, Brew Brothers (http://www.brewbrothers.biz/. You can enter either side of the building, there is a door that connects the two. Staff is super cool and knowledgeable and was interested in what we thought of their beers as we did the tasting. There were a number of other people coming in and out while we were there doing growler fills of both their beer, and picking from the 20+ other beers they had on tap. The only issue I might point out is that while this is a dog-friendly establishment, people just let them wander about so if you’re not a …

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Review: Breakside Brewing Co., Portland OR

BREAKSIDE BREWING CO, PORTLAND OREGON We decided to visit one of our old favorites, Breakside Brewing’s Dekum restaurant for this week’s ‘Wednesday Hoppiness Hour’ outing (18 Feb. 2015). Breakside has been setting the bar for quality independent micro-brewing in the Portland area since 2010. Their Dekum St. restaurant has one of the best brewery menus, combined with their constantly rotating list of outstanding beers keeps us coming back at least twice a month for many, many years. The restaurant space used to be an old car repair shop with both outside table and inside seating with long a bar area. When the weather permits, they open the large garage doors and the outside space is pet friendly. Be warned that due to the somewhat limited amount of seating, that the restaurant does fill up quickly during dinner hours, and there always tends to be families with kids around. We normally sit by the bar and watch sports on one of their two large flat screen TV’s when we go on the weekends. This time around, we were able to sit at one of the large round tables in the main floor area. The servers are usually attentive and provide quick …

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Review: Ex Novo Brewing Co., Portland OR.

EX NOVO BREWING CO, PORTLAND OREGON We visited Ex Novo on a recent ‘Wednesday Hoppiness Hour’ trip here in Portland (4 Feb. 2015). This is a non-profit brewery. For those that aren’t sure what that means, they donate 100% of the net profits to “organizations that are working to affect positive social change both in Portland and around the world.” This is not the only bar/restaurant in Portland that has this model. It prevents them from being bought out by a larger company (InBev) while producing a top quality product. They do pay their staff and owners a decent living wage, don’t mistake that for a second, just the rest of the $$ after they pay their bills and wages go towards a number of organizations that deserve support. The brewery location is close-in North Portland across the street from a neighborhood park (with baseball and soccer fields). The on-street parking is a little bit limited and you may have to walk a little bit if you go during peek hours. The inside of the brewery mixes raw-wood and cool art with an upstairs seating area, bar seating and small dining area on the main floor. The production tanks are …

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