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: Victor-23 Brewing, Vancouver, WA

Review: Victor-23 Brewing, Vancouver, WA One of the newest breweries in Vancouver, Victor-23 Brewing opened back in September 2016 and is going strong today. Their name is based on the historical figure D.B. Cooper, who hijacked a commercial flight out of Portland and jumped from it over the Cascades with $200,000 in randsom money, never to be seen again. They use the airline and parachute theme with their branding and decor at the brewery location with some great artwork, and the name Victor-23 was the call-sign of that infamous flight. It works pretty well in creating a unique environment to enjoy their local brews. As shown, you can see a pretty good sized brewing system in place and they’ve started barrel aging some of their beers recently. They are also doing some custom blends with smaller batches to experiement with the product. You have to ask for them at the bar, they are not on the beer list. One of the great things about them, is that they are located less than 2 minutes away from my job, so I’m able to stop by on a Friday for drinks with my friends without much hassle. I was lucky to visit …

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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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