Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

htomsirveaux

Texas

4.18/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$$

Finally had a chance to stop in here 2 Sep 2012 as part of the almost never ending (despite the best intentions of interlopers) CA-OR beer tour Aug-Sep 2012 edition.

Restaurant upstairs, bar down. Sparsely occupied early Sunday evening. Was nice of them to switch the TV, but service was slow otherwise.

Three things to add: the tasters were shot sized and $2, seemed a bit pricey; food was kind of average; staff happy to switch TV from golf to BU-SMU football game.

Original review 31 Jan 2012:

(4.0/4.5/5.0/4.0/NA)

Did not stop in here in person, but I ordered several bottles from here for A's birthday a while back. While in transit, one of the bottles was compromised; the cork failed and leaked about half the beer out.

I called and left a message about the state of the bottle that I had received. The owner got back to me within a day. I had ordered the last of one of the apricot vintages (that was the damaged bottle), and they could not replace it exactly. So he suggested that I wait a few weeks and offered a Vlad or Burbonic in exchange. I picked the Vlad, but they graciously sent both to me. Beer was reasonably priced but shipping was a bit expensive.

Great customer service and great beers, I can't wait to stop in here in person the next time I'm in Portland.

01-31-2012 03:36:48 | More by htomsirveaux

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

4.4/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

One of the musts of my visit to Portland, the beers did not disappoint... as the reviews here can attest. This was around noon on a Sunday so many people weren't there. The place had a rustic vibe to it. Service at the upper level bar was ok, but the guy on the lower level was exemplary, giving me a beer after a visit and even offering to photograph me in the brewery. I didn't try any food there because I had to hit a Burgerville up the street. I was told of the Barrelhouse downtown and would probably visit there before this, especially on a Tuesday night when they run specials. Note: same beers, no condemnation of the place, just a better taste of the city and of the beers.

11-13-2011 07:24:55 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher

cbarrett4

Oregon

3.8/5  rDev -10.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Overall Raccoon Lodge is a decent place to grab a bite and beer. It's rather large and tends to cater to a broad range of clientele, not just the beer lovers. You'll bump into a lot of kids upstairs.

I prefer the downstairs bar. Good selection of beer. Good food with some vegetarian options as well.

Service downstairs was nice. The staff is friendly and appears knowledgeable.

Of note: The cascade barrel house is a far superior location with a greater variety of beer, better service, and much more knowledgeable staff.

08-28-2011 21:44:07 | More by cbarrett4

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.15/5  rDev -2.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Rolled in bright and early at 11am. Upstairs walk, cool open restaurant and bar, neat hop stuff going on around it. Lots of wood throughout the seating area.

Super impressed to drink the Vine on tap, delicious. Bartender super helpful, poured samplers of anything we wanted to try first. Broke out some Vlad for purchase, damn was that some good stuff.

Even picked up a little shirt for the little guy, $7 out the door, what a deal.
Massive plate of nachos that were good. This is a lesser known place in the area compared to the Rogues and Deschutes, but damn if they don't deliver. Not a big fan of their ipa's, but the barrel aged sours is the real treat here. Can't go wrong w/ the kriek, apricot, vine or vlad, especially when they are only $5.50 on tap.

07-19-2011 18:56:48 | More by Beerandraiderfan

squaremile

Oregon

4.44/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$$

I am reviewing this place based on a trip during zwickelmania. It was my first time out to the lodge since sour beers have become more of an interest and getting out there from SE PDX is a bit of a chore. Regardless, this was far and away the best experience I have had at a brewery anywhere. The brewmaster was generously pouring from the tanks, has above and beyond expert knowledge of his craft, was very opening out his blending methodology, and seemed more intoxicated in that fun way than anyone else there. Bonus that they poured tastes DIRECTLY FROM THE BARRELS. Outrageous. A must visit on that special day, and from what I understand about the bar, any other time is generous and pleasant as well.

05-31-2010 17:04:46 | More by squaremile

djbreezy

Washington

4.3/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

I visited the downstairs part for Zwickelmania. Everyone was super friendly from the bartender to the head brewer and other brewer.

A great barrel room/brewery. The space was nice and had good lighting. Way awesome to be able to check out the barrels.

Really some great high quality beer here. This is a staple place in Portland for serious beer and should not be missed. I learned about this place very late in the game, but I am happy that I am aware of it and the exceptional beer that is produced here!

03-11-2010 23:47:38 | More by djbreezy

jdense

Oregon

4.26/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Visited several times the last couple of months and wanted to share the love, especially after their fine showing at HAF.

I went in early afternoon both times while the better half was shopping at nearby mega-mall. They had their usual selection of taps, plus an Autumn Gose and Nightfall, a blackberry sour. Both were outstanding. While I didn't eat, they did a brisk lunch business and the food looked quite good, the usual pub fare at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, my timing wasn't quite right to partaken in their Gold and Silver sours which rumor has it may be bottled soon. The female manager was extremely nice and informative. A bit of the beaten path (I've mastered the shortcut from John's Marketplace :) ) and for fans of sours a must stop. For those of you willing to step out of your aleness, a revelation.

01-01-2010 20:02:34 | More by jdense

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.54/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

Finally had occassion to visit this notable (now) beer landmark in West Portland. To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement.

The Raccoon Lodge doesn't look like much from the outside, just another informal looking cafe/restaurant in strip mall land out on hiway 10 (Beaverton-Hillsdale hiway). Things don't get a whole lot better upon walking inside, with the large upstairs dining room and smaller, cozier, informal dining area and small bar on the ground floor. This place is anything but pretentious, and has a very relaxed, laid back, easygoing vibe.

The regular core beers here were OK I thought, with the spiced blond and nightfall sour ale the clear standouts. Was here for a meet up wth ccrida for an in person trade, and when he arrived we cracked open a bottle of the cuvee (fabulous stuff - review coming). As Adam (ccrida) lives nearby and comes by fairly often, the bartender was happy to arrange a tour for us of the awesome barrel room at Cascade. The beers we were able to sample were nothing short of mind blowng, with a bourbon barrel aged triple, the "red," and the apricot blend the most memorable of an incredible afternoon of tasting. I think we sampled close to 10 different beers, all right out of the barrel (except the apricot, which was in bright tanks and almost ready to bottle - get some!). The folks here were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and I'm happy to report that apparently the move to the east side barrel room is going as planned. The guys indicated that nearly half the barrels have already been moved, and it appears the January opening will take place as planned.

What the brewers here are doing with their wild ales (infected with lactic acid I believe; they do not use brett infections) is nothing short of amazing. The beers here are incredible and worth a special effort to find. Also, while they typically have around 10 beers on tap, on this day they also had bottles of the cuvee, kriek and apricot (and one other - I forget what it was now) for take out or on premise consumption.

The beers here, at least the barrel aged sours, are nothing short of amazing and deserving of all the accolades this outstanding brewery has received of late. It's a bit out of the way from downtown Portland (probably a 15 minute drive), but is well worth the effort to visit.

12-02-2009 16:06:45 | More by johnmichaelsen

mjl21

California

4.28/5  rDev +0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped in here during my recent PDX beer tour. The Raccoon Lodge is located a few minutes away from downtown and has plenty of parking. It is a large space with an upstairs bar/dining room and an area downstairs called "The Den". They also have a beer garden that was not open when we went. We only went upstairs, but The Den is supposedly a great place to watch games.

The main dining room is full of booths and four tops and can accomodate large groups. They have a large screen for games and also have a few small tvs. The bar has a few stools to sit at. The place feels like an old hunting lodge and is adorned with the heads of some departed animals.

When you walk in the front door, they have a chalk board with their special drafts and bottles for sale. The beers are very good. I went with the sampler and got to try a lot. The only sours they had were the Autumn Gose and Mouton Rouge. I also sampled Fresh Hop, Ipanox 2009, Cascade Porter, Ring Tail Pale, Celtic Copper, Blond Bock, and IPA. The sampler cost $10. They typically pour sours in 12 ounce glasses and most others are served in Imperial pint glasses.

The food is standard pub food. I had the Buffalo Chicken salad, my wife had the turkey sando and my buddy had the pulled pork. We all agreed that it was good pub grub.

The service was friendly but not very knowledgeable about beer. I asked our waitress about which order I should do the sampler and she had no idea. She did say the brewer is usually downstairs.

We found the prices for food and beer to be reasonable. I also picked up a bottle of The Vine for $16.

This is definitely a worthwhile stop if you come to PDX. It is a very chill place with a lot of good beers.

10-20-2009 23:37:38 | More by mjl21

wolffman17

Texas

4.53/5  rDev +6.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

With the growing interest in Cascade sours and positive BeerFly reviews, visiting this brewpub was a high priority while in Portland. I can't speak on the upstairs area as we spent our time in the space down below, "The Den". It's spacious and has a sports bar feel with large flat screens on the walls and a small bar area in the corner. Thankfully we actually did have plans to watch a particular football game, and the bartender was nice enough to turn the bar TV to that game. Old ladies playing video slot machines next to the bar doesn't exactly scream "awesome craft beer joint", but that not-ideal vibe did little to deter us from enjoying our lengthy stay. The brewing operation, including the oak barrels, are open to view through glass windows. In fact, we were encouraged to browse around the barrels at our convenience.

Slow on a Saturday afternoon, we instantly connected with the bartender, Davy(sp?), who seemed genuinely interested in us and the fact that we came from Houston to Portland solely to drink good beer. Conversation consisted of just about everything, and Davy befriended us to the point of gifting us a Cuvee 750ml. Great guy and perfect service.

No let-down whatsoever when it comes to the beer. The raspberry wheat defines what a "real" fruit beer should be. The unique Gose challenges the palate. Mouton Rouge on draft satisfies the sour cravings. Upon learning that we were into all the really creative stuff, Davy took the initiative to go "find" us a sample of one of his favorites: Bourbonic Plague. Wow, one of the best beers I've ever had. ISO when/if it's ever released.

We didn't get the chance to meet Art or Ron. Davy assured us that if they would have been there our four hour stay could have been extended quite a bit...it's not uncommon to see them giving samples from the barrels and chattin' beer with the patrons (as noted in previous reviews).

Food was really good. Pork sliders hit the spot for me, while my wife enjoyed the hearty meat loaf plate.

Go here, relax, drink some amazing beer.

09-23-2009 21:26:33 | More by wolffman17