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Category: Review

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR, Portland OR to Portland ME and back… 24 June-9 July, 2015

2015 BEER DISCOVERY TOUR, Portland OR to Portland ME and back…7800 miles later… From late June to early July 2015 I was lucky enough to go on a cross country road trip with Gary and our nephew Devin. We drove my car from Portland Oregon to Portland Maine in just about three weeks. We took a ‘central US’ path East and came back taking a more northern passage. Regarding where we went each day, we made it to about 40 breweries and a handful of tap-houses, bars, and brewpubs to find local beers and food along the way. While the long distance driving was challenging some days (10+ hrs at a time), we really enjoyed the trip with it’s the ever-changing scenery and wonderful cities, towns, and people we met. Before leaving on the trip, we gathered and then took a couple of cases of local specialty beers for our friend Rusty in Pittsburgh. The sucky part was that while we wanted the beers to not get ruined by the heat, we ended up unloading and reloading it a LOT as we stopped each night. This is a valuable learning experience, to stick to mailing stuff like beer and wine, …

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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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Review: Doomsday Brewing, Washougal WA

DOOMSDAY BREWING CO., WASHOUGAL WA On Saturday April 11th, Doomsday Brewing was the last of three breweries visited in SW Washington. I’ve only been to Doomsday brewing one time prior, and that was to their “Zombeer Halloween” costume party that happened last year (2014). It was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of compliments on my ZombEaster Bunny costume. The location is in an industrial building with limited signage (as you can see in the picture, and that’s Ryan, my drinking buddy for the day)…you need to use your nav to get there if you don’t know where it is. The inside has a small bar to sit at and a few tables. The day we went, it wasn’t busy, so we were able to order and get our beers pretty quickly. They do offer food on site, but we didn’t order anything so I can’t really speak to the menu or quality. They do have popcorn and other types of snacks if you are wanting something simple and cheap to nibble on while you drink. The bartender was super friendly and wanted to help us with our exploring of their beers. He explained them the best …

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Review: Anmesia Brewing, Washougal WA

AMNESIA BREWING, WASHOUGAL WA Back on Saturday April 11th, I visited three breweries in SW Washington, Amnesia Brewing was the second stop. I have been a fan of Amnesia beers for a number of years and used to go to their North Portland (Mississippi Ave.) location prior to their moving to their current location in Washougal WA. I’ve heard a number of stories as to why they moved, primarily to be closer to their home and family seems to be the most frequently heard. Regardless of the reasons, they have refined their beers and have expanded their menu of food available since they opened in Washougal and it’s definitely making the trip out to visit them. The brewery is located in downtown Washougal and has plenty of on-street parking. I really do appreciate the fact that it’s a ‘bar’, so no CRIpods are around when you go. They do have a couple of TV’s that typically show sports, so if you need a place to hang out and watch a game, this is definitely an option. We didn’t order any food, so we can’t really speak to that, but it looked like everyone that had ordered food was enjoying it. …

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