PDX Visit Questions

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by Commanche, May 13, 2012.

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  1. Commanche

    Commanche Crusader (420) May 8, 2008 California

    This will be first visit in 4 years. It'll be the weekend of May 18-20. My friend and I will be hitting HOTD, Cascade(I think my friend will be there all weekend given his devotion to them), Belmont Station, HUB, Saraveza, Horse Brass(RIP Don) and Acropolis(for the steaks.)

    I really enjoyed lucky Labrador on my last visit. It seems they have fallen off. Is it worth a visit?

    Captured by Porches seems pretty kitschy, but is it worth it?

    Bunk Sandwiches. Any place named after a character in The Wire deserves a visit. See above two questions.
     
  2. ggfunk

    ggfunk Initiate (0) Mar 29, 2010 Oregon

    Yeah. The steaks. :wink:
     
    chinochino, djbreezy and hopsbreath like this.
  3. ramnuts

    ramnuts Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2009 Oregon

    Skip CBP. Awful beer. Bunk is worth a visit. Just don't go to the Water St. location on a Friday or Saturday evening. Ear piercingly loud live bands make it impossible to enjoy your meal. The good news is that HOTD is a few steps away.

    You might want to check out APEX. And Beer Mongers, cater corner from APEX.

    I am a huge fan of the Lab, but others may disagree with my reco. Superdog is awesome. Usually.

    You might also wish to add Breakside (from what I am told) and I also recommend Migration. Pretty solid pale ales and fresh hop ales (in season). And Upright, if you are here on a weekend.
     
  4. RedMedicine

    RedMedicine Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2005 Oregon

    I love a pint of Super Dog but don't adventure far outside of that with Lucky Lab. You can probably take it or leave it.

    What do you mean re: Captured by Porches? Do you mean, is it worth paying an extra deposit to try some of the worst craft beer of your life?
     
  5. RedMedicine

    RedMedicine Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2005 Oregon

    You won't be the last (by any stretch) to recommend Breakside in this thread, but I don't share the same love as others. The food has been "meh" for me, and the beers are creative but not always great.
     
  6. ramnuts

    ramnuts Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2009 Oregon

    Yeah, I have a qualified opinion on Breakside. Went there 3 times. Miserable food and service on 2 of those visits. The beers were limited and very unimpressive, yet several locals whose opinions I trust have raved about some of the "X" taps there. I guess I hit them on off nights.
     
  7. RedMedicine

    RedMedicine Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2005 Oregon

    Yeah, I think I had high expectations based on what I've read here. Gone twice, underwhelmed both times. Decent IPA though.
     
  8. hopsbreath

    hopsbreath Savant (1,133) Aug 28, 2009 Florida

    Gonna agree with both of you. I might be the only BA living in St Helens (CBP's location) and I won't even drink their beer. Go on runs through the city frequently and pass right by the front door of the brewery. Smells like kombucha and appears to be in disarray inside. The beers are frequently infected and inconsistent in my experience. They should probably stick with kombucha.
     
  9. guajolote

    guajolote Maven (1,325) Sep 12, 2008 Oregon

    I root for CbP, but yeah, almost every one of the bottles I've bought have been infected with some variety of wild yeast. I had a sour CbP beer called Puck at their cart on Sauvie Island last summer, but I'm now convinced that they didn't really mean to make it that way.

    I'm a Breakside fan. I've never eaten there though. But the beers are good to great. They do so much experimenting that I'd assume you'll run across some clunkers, but I've never had a straight-up bad beer there. And I've had several great beers there.

    Lucky Lab... meh.

    Bunk Bar... yes. Yummy sammiches & good beers on tap. And as has been mentioned, steps from HotD.

    Also yes... APEX/Beermongers combo. APEX first (hopefully for some Boneyard Hop Venom), then to Beermongers for whatever goodness they have on tap + the best bottle shop prices in PDX.

    And for what it's worth, I prefer the "steaks" at Union Jack's, but to each his own.
     
  10. CaptainTripps

    CaptainTripps Initiate (0) Aug 8, 2010 Arizona

    Their IPA taste like dirt. No joke. Straight up dirt. Not even good tasting dirt, like you find in the valley. Bad dirt. could anything even grow in dirt that tasted that bad?
     
  11. PDXHops

    PDXHops Maven (1,435) Nov 19, 2008 South Carolina

    The "Lab falling off" comments are puzzling to me. Still an awesome place as far as I'm concerned.
     
  12. RedMedicine

    RedMedicine Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2005 Oregon

    I go often. I just don't usually like to take chances outside of Super Dog, which is still one of my favorite IPAs in the PNW. If you only have a couple of days here it might not make the cut, but I don't think it's "falling off". Same as it ever was in fact.
     
  13. digita7693

    digita7693 Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2010 Germany

    The Apex and Beermongers tandem is hard to beat!
    Oft unmentioned is the fact that you can get some pretty tasty Mexican food next door at Los Gorditos and bring it to Apex, alternatively, next to Beermongers, you have the delicious Portobello (i know vegan food scares some people, but it is wonderful).

    I really really am a fan of Upright as well. I like the quirky hole in the wall basement location, very very cheap and good beer and local watering-hole friendly atmosphere.
    If you go make sure you try the Engelberg pilsner, one of the best I have ever had!

    If you like espresso, I cannot speak for their coffee as I do not drink coffee, Waterfront right next to HotD is wonderful.

    A bit further out, though let's be honest, nothing is hard to get to in Portland, but a place I am a huge fan of, is Roscoe's, great tap list and southern food (catfish sliders etc); even better, you can order food from the top-notch sushi restaurant next door.

    You will also be there just a couple days (the 15th) after Deschuttes releases Collage, the Hair of the Dog collaboration, perhaps there are bottles around still if you are lucky.

    have fun!
     
  14. msubulldog25

    msubulldog25 Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2005 Oregon
    Deactivated

    Re: this. Many bottle shops I've talked with get their Deschutes shipments from the distributor on Fridays, so May 18th sounds like the perfect day to be in Portland if Collage interests you. Just know that it's supposed to be pretty limited, so make some calls if you want to secure a bottle or two.
     
  15. Commanche

    Commanche Crusader (420) May 8, 2008 California

    Apex and BeerMongers it is then. Good to know about the Deschutes Collage. We are hoping to land just in time to get our hands on Cascade's Sang Noir & Figaro.

    Has anyone been to Gigantic Brewing?
     
  16. msubulldog25

    msubulldog25 Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2005 Oregon
    Deactivated

    Note that in this post the word is that Figaro won't be ready this week... but Sang Noir should be good to go.

    If Apex and Beermongers are on your 'must' list, consider adding The Commons Brewery's tasting room - it is near to both places, has limited hours on Friday & Saturday afternoons but (most importantly) has good beer!

    EDIT: Also, APEX 2nd Anniversary party is this weekend: http://www.newschoolbeer.com/2012/05/apex-2nd-anniversary-this-weekend.html
     
  17. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    I haven't personally been there yet, but I've heard glowing reviews of the IPA and black saison from several co-workers. The golden ale they were pouring at Fred Fest was pretty tasty as well, although I don't know if they're pouring that at the tasting room or if it was a one-off for the festival.
     
  18. MADhombrewer

    MADhombrewer Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2008 Oregon

    Skip Acropolis. The steaks are awful, the taps selection is about the same beers you would find in a gas staition, and you can find better "steaks" elsewhere.
     
  19. Commanche

    Commanche Crusader (420) May 8, 2008 California

    Sounds like Friday afternoon is booked then. Cascade/HOTD/Common/Apex. Excellent.

    Also, it's sounding like I may not have time to get a steak.

    Not that I won't have enough beer to drink already, I saw that Portland gets Walking Man. I have always wanted to try their Homo Erectus. Is it common to find any of their brews on tap?
     
  20. honkduh

    honkduh Initiate (0) Jun 2, 2011 Oregon

    Yeah it's common, check taplister.com and see if anyone has it when you're in town.
     
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