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Review: Loowit Brewing Co., Vancouver WA

Review: Loowit Brewing Co., Vancouver, WA During one of our Tuesday ‘happy hour’ adventures, we started in Vancouver and found ourselves at one of the more established breweries, Loowit Brewing Company. Opened in 2012, Loowit has been producing, and more recently (past few years) bottling, and distributing a few of their beers widely across the SW Washington and NW Oregon regions (you can find them at grocery stores). Their brewery/taproom has a definate local vibe they do offer a decent line-up of house beers, which you can get to go in growlers during normal operating hours, the location is just a taproom, they don’t offer any food. As shown, they have a small seating area at the front, along with the bar seating and a back room where the brewing production takes place along with a few picnic tables, and high-tables. They usually have local sports teams on their TVs (Timbers, Sounders, Blazers, Seahawks, etc.) when games are on. Since they don’t offer any food (except some bar snacks), you are welcome to bring something in and enjoy something with their beers. They do have a mug-club and weekend specials on their beers, so it’s a good place to stop …

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Review: Trap Door Brewing, Vancouver WA

Review: Trap Door Brewing, Vancouver, WA On Friday, March 3rd, we hit one of the up-in-comming breweries in downtown Vancouver, Trap Door Brewing. Opened in 2015, Trap Door has gone through some evolution in their beer quality and they have made some improvements to their location, adding in more food carts and a refined patio space. The great part about the craft beer industry, is that there’s room for everyone. I’ve had the conversation with many beer-geek friends and while you may not have the best product, the greatest location, or the most awesome food, there’s room for you if you’re doing it right. Their location in downtown Vancouver is quickly becoming a craft beer destination with a few taprooms and other smaller microbreweries opening up tasting rooms nearby. Trap Door fits into the Vancouver brewing scene as having a line up of beers that can hold their own and are appealing to their audience that are quickly learning that craft beer is worth the trip to find. I must say that Vancouver’s scene is just starting out (compared to Portlands) and we need to give them room to grow and should allow them to improve over time. For breweries …

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Review: Trusty Brewing Co., Vancouver, WA

Review: Trusty Brewing Co., Vancouver, WA The second brewery visited on Friday, Feb. 10th in downtown Vancouver was Trusty Brewing Company. Located just down the street from Old Ivy Taproom and Brewery (prior review to this one), Trusty is in the old Dirty Hands Brewing location at the corner of Evergreen and Broadway. The brewery/restaurant has a small outdoor patio with tables out front and a few rooms with different sized tables to accomodate small and larger parties. The interior as you can see is a lot of old wood, classic and retro decor, a couple of large boards with the available beers and some food listings and a smaller bar to sit at. The food prep area is just next to the bar, so you can watch them make your food if you so prefer. This visit was the thrid time I’ve been since Dirty Hands sold. The first couple of times the beer wasn’t as good as it was this time around. My friends and I spent about an hour talking about them and the evolution of some of the other breweries downtown. I appreciate their low beer and food prices, while offering a decent variety of beers. …

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Review: Old Ivy Brewery and Taproom, Vancouver, WA

Review: Old Ivy Brewery and Taproom, Vancouver, WA Located in downtown Vancouver, the Old Ivy Brewery and Taproom has been around for a few years with a strong lineup of beers and a newly renovated food menu. This is one of the many stops that I visit on Fridays with my “Couve Crew” after work, we usually start here or at one of the other breweries in the downtown area. If we don’t start there, we’ll typically make a stop there for at least a pint over the course of the evening. This time around, I visited them on Friday, Feb. 10th solo before meeting the guys down the street at Trusty Brewing (which will be reviewed next). I’ve got to say that the Old Ivy head brewer, Chris Spollen, has done a tremendous job of making some solid, consistent beers. I was lucky a few years or so ago to home-brew some beer at a mutual friends (Erin Stephens) and got to chat with Chris about his approach to brewing and see his skills first hand. The taproom and brewery has a great paito space that is wonderful during the summer months, but not so much when it’s rainy …

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Review: Bent Shovel Brewing, Clackamas County, OR

Review: Bent Shovel Brewing, Clackamas County, OR The fourth brewery and final stop for the Sunday, Nov. 20th 2016 expedition was Bent Shovel Brewing located in rural Clackamas county, SE of Damascas just off of the Clackamas River. We again had no idea what to expect when we got there, quickly realized that the brewery was in the barn of the brewers yard. There were chickens running about, a few canopies to sit under, and inside the barn was the production tanks (10bbl system), some swag on the wall, a small bar to order at with the chalkboard of available drafts on it, and they do offer full pints, tasters, growlers, swag, and kegs to go. For a Sunday afternoon, there was a lot of people there inside so we ended up sitting outside under one of the canopies. Also, they don’t have an outside bathroom, but a porta-potty, so if that’s an issue for you, then don’t go. When we went in and talked with the brewer/owner Rick Strauss, he said that he and his friends started home brewing many many years ago and they kept getting great feedback and winning awards/medals for their home brews, so they decided …

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Review: Drinking Horse Brewing Company, Clackamas, OR

Review: Drinking Horse Brewing Company, Clackamas, OR The third brewery we stopped at on our Sunday, Nov. 20th 2016 expedition was Drinking Horse Brewing Company located in Clackamas OR. Clackamas is a suburb to the South East of Portland. You will find this brewery behind the Wichita Pub in an industrial complex/building just off of HW212. Parking isn’t an issue, there’s plenty of that around. Their signage has a little to be desired, so you need to keep an eye out for them when you’re driving through. Like most breweries just starting out, the easiest way to have a taproom is at the production facility. They have a small bar set up and a few random tables and chairs to hang out at while you sample or have a pint. They do have a ping-pong table by the front entrance and some couches to hang out on if you so desire. The brewing production kettles are towards the back, and they do have some barrels that they are doing some aging in along one wall as well. The large chalkboard above the seating area has their lineup, which the day we visited had nine beers listed and a few ‘comming …

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