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 they are doing with their food menus and beers. This time around, we decided to do the full review and sampled all 14 available beers (see below). We sat at the bar and ordered some food and the samplers which came pretty quickly. We had our choice of tables as well, but picked to sit at the bar as it was slightly cooler there.

The best part about the visit this time around was that the bar/restaurant was that it was pretty empty, not loud, and the servers were super attentive to our needs and wanted to make sure that I got all the samples I needed. We did end up drinking a couple of beers after we ate and hung out for a little bit. Overall this is a great establishment that I can highly recommend if you’re on the East side of PDX looking for something to eat or drink. My favorite beers sampled were the Fifth Element, Silence of the Lambs, and the Too Sticky to Roll.

Burnside Brewing Co.
701 E. Burnside
Portland, OR 97214
Brewery: 503-208-3476
Pub: 503-946-8151
info@burnsidebrewco.com
Web: http://www.burnsidebrewco.com/
Face: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burnside-Brewing-Co/143765235649430/

Burnside IPA
Burnside Brewing Co. • IPA • IBU: 85 • ABV: 6.5% • 9 SRM
Hops: Galena, Cascade, Meridian. Dry hopped with Amarillo.
The draft has orange/yellow hues and a softer white head that lingered on the rim, leaving a nice complex lacing. The nose is a lot of complex floral and pine hops that retain a bit of citrus and caramel malts. The front mouth is pretty mellow with softer grassy hops, lots of rounded malt/grains to hold it together. Mid to back end are solid, with a little bit of lingering pine esters.
Oatmeal Pale Ale
Burnside Brewing Co. • American Pale Ale (APA) • IBU: 44 • ABV: 5.5% • 8 SRM
Opaic yellow/golden orange with a one finger white head that dropped quickly. The nose has aromas mix of dry cracker grains, slight wet-hop pine esters, and lingering citrus. The front mouth is a little bit chewy from the malt build, with a lot of pine and citrus hops to balance it out with hints of spice (nutmeg?). Body is effervescent with plenty of carbonation. Ends with a little bit of hop bitters, really session-able.
Project Ale
Burnside Brewing Co. • Imperial IPA • IBU: 99 • ABV: 8.3% • 8 SRM
This draft has a orange/yellow hue and pillowy white head that lingers a film on the rim. The nose is lemon zest to grapefruit/citrus rind, slight sweet malts, and a dry character. The front mouth is a little bit dry with the sharper grapefruit hops, pine and dried hop oils are expressed. The mid and back mouth-feel are solid with a lot of malts and lingering hop esters. It hides the ABV well.
Too Sticky To Roll
Burnside Brewing Co. • India Red Ale • IBU: 78 • ABV: 6.2% • 20 SRM
Slight red/copper hue, softer off-white head that drops quickly and left little lacing on the rim. The nose has a bit of gritty grains, earthy pines and dried leaves. The front/mid mouth are pretty solid, lots of caramel malt and hop balanced, but a little muddled as it goes to the back mouth. The after taste has a bit of sharp hops with citrus, pine and grass.
Couch Select Lager
Burnside Brewing Co. • Dortmunder/Helles • IBU: 18.5 • ABV: 5% • 2 SRM
Hops: German Tettnang
Bright yellow clear hue with a solid white foamy head. The nose is grassy, thin hops, lemony and backed by yeasty esters. The front and mid mouth are bright citrus, sharper grassy/pine hops, a slight yeast back end. The mouth-feel is solid, the mid and back have a bit of chewy character to them, leaving a little bit of chalky haze. There is some medicinal qualities to the sharp notes.
Sweet Heat
Burnside Brewing Co. • Fruit/Vegetable Beer • IBU: 9 • ABV: 4.9% • 4 SRM
Note: Brewed with 200 pounds of Apricot puree, then dry hopped with imported Jamaican Scotch Bonnet peppers.
This draft is a hazy tangerine hue of orange/yellow, the head does linger a little bit then drops completely, leaving a bit of lacing on the rim. The nose is sweet, softer yeast like esters, subtle pepper oils. There is a sharp heat that presents on the front with the initial sip, but then drops to a nice rounded sweet fruit bodied draft. This is a medium bodied beer that has a decent amount of carbonation and malts to help the flavors dance on the tongue.
Permafrost
Burnside Brewing Co. • Winter Warmer • IBU: 77 • ABV: 8.3% • 16 SRM
Malts: Meridian, Amarillo
Hazy and slight amber/orange hue, head is slightly off-white and solid leaving a lot of lacing on the rim. The nose is really malt forward with a range of dark dried fruit expressing with a sweetness that is a bit fuzzy. Dried cherries and rasins are on the front with a little bit of dried bitter sweet chocolates. Mid and back are caramel malts, biscuts, dried nuts (oils), hops are pine and citrus rind. The mouth-feel is solid bodied, with a slight dry finish.
Hot Chocolate Stout
Burnside Brewing Co. • Chile Beer • IBU: 40 • ABV: 6.4% • 40+ SRM
The dark brown beer has a thinner, slight off-white head that left a nice lacing on the rim. The nose shows a bit of bittersweet cocoa powder, slight coffee/bitters, chilies are secondary and on the back. The front mouth is pretty chocolate forward, tons of malts and caramel, slight vegital vibe from the chilies, and almost a ‘day old coffee’ like dry bitter as it goes to the mid/back. The heat shows up really as a secondary note, with the flavor of the chilies present all around. The mouth-feel is solid and flavorful, but a little thin on the carbonation for a stout for me.
2013 Whiteout Barley Wine
Burnside Brewing Co. • Barley wine • IBU: 55 • ABV: 10% • 25 SRM
Note: Port barrel aged
Dark amber/orange hue, solid white head that dropped and left some nice lacing. The nose is sweet, orange peel, citrus rinds, and soft bitters. The front mouth is pretty alcohol/boozey forward with sweet sugars, caramel. The port (grapes) and dried fruit shine on the mid/back. Few bitters if any. The body has a lot of malt characters to it, from toffee/cookies to bread.
Silence Of The Lambs Dry Irish Stout (Nitro)
Burnside Brewing Co. • Irish Stout • IBU: 20 • ABV: 5% • 40+ SRM
Note: Brewed with charred goat hearts!!!! that is no joke…
Super dark brown/black with a two finger tan head that lingers. The nose is dry and bitter from the roasted malts. The front is a little sharp, thin, creamy and has tons of roasted character. The hop/bitters do show on the mid/back, and are really secondary to the malt profile. I am not sure about the goat heart thing, this is a pretty decent example of a Irish Stout, clean finishing, not heavy, dry on the back.
Blueberry Mint Saison
Burnside Brewing Co. • Saison / Farmhouse Ale • IBU: 21 • ABV: 6.9% • (rose colored)?? SRM
This cloudy rose colored saison has a full white frothy head and a sweet, fruity nose. The yeast characters don’t really show up until the mid/back, and even then they are pretty secondary to the fruit forward characters of this saison. The mint flavors do show up on the mid/back as well, with a full mouth-feel and almost chewy finish. There are little to no bitters present at all. Gary says it tastes like bad lemon aid.
Skyline Extra Pale Ale
Burnside Brewing Co. • Pale Ale • IBU: 38 • ABV: 4.8% • 10 SRM
Hops: Horizon, Amarillo
Malts: Caramel, Honey
Slight orange/copper hue, bright white head, nice lacing on this session ale. The nose has a lot of grassy and orange rind present. The front and mid mouth are pretty sharp with the citrus and back end malts that help balance it out. The mid/back are pretty thin, with a leafy dry finish to the hop profile.
Highbury Strong Bitter
Burnside Brewing Co. • Extra Special / Strong Bitter • IBU: 37 • ABV: 5.8% • 18 SRM
This is a mid-orange, slight amber hue draft with a solid white head that dropped quickly, leaving little lacing. The nose has a mix of grassy hops (vegital), slight citrus pith and a stronger bread/malt end. The mouth-feel is full bodied, but the carbonation is a bit lacking for the style. The sugars are present on the front to the back, solid malt profile (biscuit to earthy like) but there are few hops present which is disappointing. The back is a little flat.

The Fifth Element
Burnside Brewing Co. • India Cream Ale • IBU: 45 • ABV: 90% • 12 SRM
The nose on this mid-orange hued beer has subtle sweetness with peaches (fruit) and some grain. The front mouth is a little grassy from the hops, fruit and grain’s expressed with a creamy mid/back approach. The vanilla comes in on the back.
Creekside
Burnside Brewing Co. • Smoked Beer • IBU: 18 • ABV: 6% • 20 SRM
NOTE: Collaboration beer with Three Creeks Brewing in Sisters, Oregon.
This beer had a really shallow head that drops quickly, color profile is a darker orange/red hue. The nose has hints of caramel and dried fruit (cherries). The front and mid mouth are full of the malts with touches of smoke. The dried fruit and thin hop profile come in on the back.

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