This is the go-to site/book for PDX bar-hopping!

You can search by neighborhood, by subject (like 'Strippahs!'). It's at least a decade old, and tells all ya need to know. Enjoy!

Don't worry about it, Mike! I'm just a beer geek who happens to live here, so beer-ese from anywhere is OK wit' me! You're one of the few punks here who talk of more than music, which is way cool with me.

Yeah, I do like Shiner Bock, but (O God, here it comes) I could swear it tasted maltier back in the 1980's! Hope they didn't change the recipe!

Another thing about it: for about a decade it's been owned by the folks in the Pearl, BridgePort! Small world, innit?

Yeah, bring on some Spanish and Italian beers I say, I always enjoy learning about other types/brands of beers from places reknown for wine!

Mike said:

Estrella is from Barcelona. It's everywhere in Spain along with Cruz Campo, Mahou (spelling?) and Alhambra. Never see anyone really rave aout them, they are I guess a bit like the Buds & Millers of Spain, but I really like all those Spanish beers. Easy drinking but with some flavor to them. Bohemia & Negra, those would probably be some of my go to beers especially on tap. And you being from Texas, how about Shiner Bock? I like that one. They have it on tap at one of the local bar/clubs here. Sorry, Dave, I know this post is supposed to be about Portland beers.

 

Estrella is from Barcelona. It's everywhere in Spain along with Cruz Campo, Mahou (spelling?) and Alhambra. Never see anyone really rave aout them, they are I guess a bit like the Buds & Millers of Spain, but I really like all those Spanish beers. Easy drinking but with some flavor to them. Bohemia & Negra, those would probably be some of my go to beers especially on tap. And you being from Texas, how about Shiner Bock? I like that one. They have it on tap at one of the local bar/clubs here. Sorry, Dave, I know this post is supposed to be about Portland beers.

 

Oh I didn't mean to sound like a Portland snob, I was just curious. More and more keep opening up here in town, they're even out in the 'burbs now! Gresham, Hillsboro, and Beaverton...

I useta *hate* hoppy beers, then one day in Austin about 12 years ago, some switch was flipped. It was (I think, details are hazy, haha) a beer from California, maybe Arrogant Bastard, that made me change my mind. Anyway, it had an incredible grapefruit smell to it (love citrus), and showed me that not all hoppy beers had to be resin-y. Insta-convert!

But thankfully here in town, brewers are slowly abandoning a whole menu of Uber-Hoppy beers. I think simple palate boredom (not to mention marketing, ahem) is responsible.

My own tastes go towards sweet beers like London Porters, or sour Belgian Abbey brews (I'll try anything from Belgium).

Growing up in Texas I still like a light(er) beer in the hot summer months, and Corona with lime fits the bill admirably. But I still would rather have a Bohemia or Negra Modelo.

Have not heard of Esrella Damm (out of touch), so I can't give my 2 cents. I'll look for it in future...

Mike said:

Oh, yea, I guess I was lumping all of Oregon together there, will have to try some PDX specific beers next time I'm up that way (late August most likely). My favorite go to beers? Cold ones! Nah really, I am a creature of opportunity, it's what ever is available most of the time and most of the time at the dives I'm in Stella seems to be the "upgrade beer" if you don't want bud/miller/coors lite. Sadly when I'm on my home turf, I don't seem to get out to the (very) few places near me that carry unique and well crafted beers. I'm also not a fan of the hoppy beers. Maybe my beer palette's not well developed or something. My wife carries Estrella Damm so I seem to drink that when I get a chance and it's a nice lager if not a bit generic I guess.

Oh, yea, I guess I was lumping all of Oregon together there, will have to try some PDX specific beers next time I'm up that way (late August most likely). My favorite go to beers? Cold ones! Nah really, I am a creature of opportunity, it's what ever is available most of the time and most of the time at the dives I'm in Stella seems to be the "upgrade beer" if you don't want bud/miller/coors lite. Sadly when I'm on my home turf, I don't seem to get out to the (very) few places near me that carry unique and well crafted beers. I'm also not a fan of the hoppy beers. Maybe my beer palette's not well developed or something. My wife carries Estrella Damm so I seem to drink that when I get a chance and it's a nice lager if not a bit generic I guess.

Mmm, Belgian-inspired, sounds great. Rogue always makes solid beers, but we've had such an influx of made-in-Portland brewers that it's almost sacrilege to try any that aren't made here. Guess I've gone native with a vengeance, hahaha!

But Rogue's Hazlenut beer I'm really fond of, and depending on the batch, their chile beer is nice, with a mild, persistent burn.

Finally brewers here are starting to tire of ultra-hoppy beers and starting to embrace Belgian-style drinks. At least 4 here now.

What are yr favorite go-to brews at the moment?

Mike said:

I'll have to review this post on my next trip to Portland. Some good info. Dave, I didn't get much a of a chance to see much on my last visit, but we did pop into Rogue's brewpub type place in the Pearl district. Had their Beard Beer, which I didn't realize the story or gimmick behind at the time. Anyways, pretty smooth and a liitle sweet, not hoppy. Reminded me a bit of a Belgian golden.

I'll have to review this post on my next trip to Portland. Some good info. Dave, I didn't get much a of a chance to see much on my last visit, but we did pop into Rogue's brewpub type place in the Pearl district. Had their Beard Beer, which I didn't realize the story or gimmick behind at the time. Anyways, pretty smooth and a liitle sweet, not hoppy. Reminded me a bit of a Belgian golden.

From Willamette Week- Bar Guide 2013: Listings A-Z

Besides Barfly (mentioned in the first post above), I've just found a cool li'l tool to hunt beer:

Taplister

Just type in a beer, neighborhood, bar, and zip! you've got information. When a bar pops up, you can check out all of the taps it offers.

And I just found out there's a free app for yr iPhone, too!

Sweet!

The No. 4 bus line—which runs from St. Johns south down North Mississippi Avenue and into downtown then over the Hawthorne Bridge and down Northeast Division Street to downtown Gresham—connects every major taproom in the city.

The No. 4 generally went through the “poor minority” strips. The transit agencies of the past would do that because it made it possible for more people to ride. Remember, most of these lines were designed 100 years ago, and the agencies had to work around the often perverse limitations of discrimination. To simplify the history dramatically, the “poor” areas generally are ripe for musicians and artists, which then make an area popular. Thus Mississippi and Division are now gentrified areas attracting higher-income people who want premium beer bars. It’s kind of weird how interconnected those trends are, but there you have it.

2013: Four Portland Beer Crawls

Oh, and I can't forget Reverend Nat's Hard Cider. Check out that Hallelujah Hopricot...

And there's a cider-house in Oregon City (confusingly named the Portland Cider Co.)

Here's the 2013 Willamette Week Beer Guide, it's really well-done. Their no.1 beer is a Belgian-style Saison, not even one of the super-hoppy IPAs!

The past few years have seen the beer scene here explode! Now there are 1 (or More!) micro-pubs in the small towns outside of PDX (Gresham, Hillsboro, and Beaverton).

Outside of Portland, there's a little brewery in Eastern Oregon (over the mountains) named Barley Brown's that won 4 medals at the GABF. It's a pepper beer, made w/ jalapenos and the newly-popular Citra hops that the reviewers loved.

And there are at least 3 Belgian ales being made here, a sign that we're moving on from Uber-hoppy beers (About time! I love a good hoppy beer in the summer, but my favorite styles are London-style porters and Belgians.). 

We also have cider-houses Out-Cider and Bushwhacker

and distilleries Distillery Row.