Day Trippin': McMinnville & Newberg

Last weekend we hopped in the car with a couple of friends who had suggested taking a day trip to the McMinnville-Newberg area. They took on the task of putting together a list of places with the necessary information in advance so all we had to do was arrive at the specified time/place and off we went.

Upon entering McMinnville city limits we decided our first stop would be Allegory, the year old brewery where Charlie Van Meter (formerly of Sasquatch and Logsdon) has landed. Situated along the railroad tracks its outdoor space was perfect for the blue sky day that was upon us. Umbrelled picnic tables were placed closest to the building with a take out-style ordering window in the side of the building. Nearby sat cornhole games waiting for some competitive folks looking for a game, a raised area (presumably a stage) occupied one corner of the parking lot with ample space in between for food trucks, more seating and plenty of thirsty souls.

Prior to visiting we'd had some Allegory offerings and we've been fans of Charlie for some time but what we had at the brewery was really outstanding. From the grape-and-barrel-aged All the Free Time to the fruited sour Soursop Summer Hop to their hoppy offerings, there wasn't a beer in the bunch that we would hesitate about ordering again. While this stop alone would have been worth the trip, especially since we had the pleasure of chatting with Charlie and his wife Jenna briefly, we had to pull ourselves away to continue on.

Next up we put our sights on Grain Station but before we put the car into gear we realized it was with easy walking distance. Locking back up we meandered down the quiet side streets, coming upon Grain Station from their patio side. As it was around lunchtime on a beautiful weekend day, the patio (and even inside) was hopping. Making a quick decision to reroute, we continued another few blocks toward Heater Allen with plans to stop back afterward.

Housed in a nondescript red building, Heater Allen was opened in 2007 by Rick Allen, a former investment banker set on making "the best Bohemian-style Pilsner possible." Daughter Lisa joined the brewery at the end of 2009 after starting her career in the wine industry. Last year she took over the role of head brewer and earlier this year they completed a remodel of their patio, a compact area that spills out from the indoor bar and seating area. 

Pils is their signature beer in a lineup of German and Czech style lagers and when we visited they also had a NW version of it - Galaxy Pils. The hopped Pilsner was delicious and a great choice for our hop-loving palates. The remainder of the tap list was filled in with other traditional styles - Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Zwickelbier and Bock. After enjoying our beer on the quiet patio we decided it was time to get something more substantial than the snack we were munching on, perfect timing for visiting Grain Station. 

We didn't have much information on Grain Station, no experience with their beer so we'd set quite low for them. Upon arriving we were quickly seated in a comfortable booth and set to running through the beer list. What popped out to us was that Grain Station seemed to have a thing for barrel-aged beers. That was fine by us so in went our order and out came some beers which quite exceeded our expectations including:
- Saison Vermouth was brewed with rye and spent vermouth botanicals, with 2/3rds of the final blend being aged in sparkling wine barrels, the other 1/3rd in vermouth barrels. The result is a slightly sweet Saison with tasty vermouth notes.
- Oak Zymology followed a similar path, a gin barrel-fermented Saison, with great aroma and funky, delicious barrel notes. 
- Other barrel-aged beers included gin barrel-aged Rose Marie and whiskey barrel-aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Fate of the Gods.

Our next stop could be categorized under, "we're nearby, why not?" Evasion is a gluten-free brewery and although none of us (clearly) have gluten issues, visiting seemed the prudent thing to do. Sporting a surprising 10 beer taplist, their two Pinot Noir barrel-aged farmhouse beers hit the highest notes for us. Ripe? was fermented with Pinot Noir juice while Commit to the Funk built on that with the addition of Brettanomyces and a secondary fermentation with Pinot juice. On the hoppy side Hophoria IPA, with Mosaic and Citra hops, is worth ordering. 

While we enjoyed the experience we had to keep moving, heading on to adjacent Newberg and Deception Brewing. We'd visited their comfortable indoor/outdoor space before and were looking forward to enjoying their offerings again. Barrel-aged beers seemed to be a theme of the day that continued here with the gin barreled Old Tom Gin IPA getting the highest ratings from us. Also tasty was Ragged Rocks, a solid CDA that offered a well balanced combination of hops and malt.

The final stop of the day, as evening was creeping in, was Chehalem Valley Brewing Company. Choosing a seat on the spacious patio, we found the beer menu to be typical of many brewpubs. It covered the usual spectrum of beers, light to dark, less hoppy to presumably more hoppy. After making our selections we were split to as what we enjoyed most. Their flagship Chehalem Valley IPA hit some of our taste buds just right while the others found enjoyment in the roasty Bald Peak Black Ale. Where Deception's CDA was appropriately hoppy, Bald Peak skewed more toward a Black Ale with its [deliciously] roasty notes.

With a great day behind us and the sun setting, it was time to wrap it up and head home. Our adventure certainly wasn't a comprehensive look at breweries in the area but if you're looking for a day trippin' idea perhaps our stops will help guide your adventure.

Deceptively Good

On our way back from the Oregon Garden Brewfest we decided to sneak in a couple of brewery visits, places that aren't far from Portland but are just far enough that we knew it might be a while before we took the time to visit them. Wolves & People, the highly buzzed about addition to Oregon's breweries, was the first that came to mind but upon seeing that they didn't open until 2pm we searched a bit and were reminded of Deception Brewing in Dundee. Opening at noon, it seemed the perfect way to span the time between checking out of our hotel room and when Wolves & People would open.

Deception Brewing sits along 99W and while we'd driven by it at least once coming back to/leaving from Portland it hadn't been a planned stop so we ended up not stopping (sound familiar?). Coming south on 99W it was an easy turn into their parking lot in back and as we walked up the beautiful, heady aroma of beer being brewed hit our noses, bringing immediate smiles to our faces.

The front sports a permanently covered area with picnic tables and a fire pit. An indoor/outdoor bar with tall bar chairs on each side spans one half of the front wall, a perfect place for us to sit with our pooch (the patio being dog-friendly) while still feeling like we were getting the brewery experience. In our direct line of site was a window to the brewery where as our noses had tipped us off to, the brewers were hard at work.

Inside above the actual bar was a chalkboard with 10 beers listed, five of which we immediately ordered up in sampler size. We worked our way through two pale ales (Long Gone Day and Spruce Tip), Menage a Hop IPA, Ragged Rocks CDA and Sludge Factory stout. The Sludge Factory smelled amazing, giving a preview of the rum barrel-aged beer, but per our general tasting plans we started out on the light end. Long Gone Day was almost hoppy enough to be an IPA - excellent! - and while I didn't get much spruce character the Tip was fine for the style. The IPA was right up my alley and while the CDA could have used more hop bite in my opinion, Mag was quite pleased with it. Finally it was time to see if the flavor of the Sludge lived up to the aroma. Oh yes it did!

While we could have continued on the sampler path with a second set to ensure we tasted everything available that day we moved to pints of our respective favorites of the five. Leaving some un-tasted gives us all the more reason to head back in the near future. Perhaps you'd like to come along.

Deception Brewing
1174 SW Hwy 99W, Dundee
Open M-F at 4pm, S & S at noon

Day Trippin': Salem

Salem is just shy of an hour's drive from Portland yet our great state's capital isn't a place I'd considered a destination for a day or quick overnight trip until we were making our plans for the weekend of the Oregon Garden Brewfest. Instead of heading directly back to Portland on Friday after attending the first day of the festival we decided to extend our weekend with an overnight stay in Salem and take in some of the places we hadn't been to before.

Santiam Brewing and Salem Ale Works were on our short list of places to visit, being centrally located and in fact within walking distance from one another. A friend suggested staying at the Grand Hotel in the heart of downtown but being booked solid we stayed at a serviceable Howard Johnson's up the street from Salem Ale Works.

Santiam sits in a light industrial park, a common location for small breweries. What is uncommon is the number of taps - 12 when we visited - PLUS four, count 'em four, beer engines. As a fan of cask ale, the availability of which is seriously lacking in Portland, it was refreshing to see this many. The added bonus was that two of the cask offerings had pushed counterparts, offering folks the ability to taste side-by-side the difference between the same beer being served two different ways. With all of those options ordering a sampler tray, made from a barrel stave, was the only way to go.

Salem Ale Works is in a business park just across from the Salem airport not far from Santiam. Sitting on one edge of the complex, facing an empty field and with most of the other businesses closed when we visited on a Friday night, the sidewalk patio was a peaceful place to drink through a sampler tray. If the weather is not conducive to patio seating, there is also a small bar and additional seating indoors.

The third place we visited, pretty much just because it was on our way back to the HoJo from Salem Ale Works, was Sparky's Brewing. We were told that it was a combo homebrew shop/bar/brewery so I didn't hold out huge hopes but I am so glad we didn't skip it. Sparky's is primarily a bar - a bar with a great tap list that utilizes a Digital Pour menu displaying their Kilo Hops IPA, 25 other beers, four ciders, three wines and even two kombuchas. They have a kitchen and decor that was far more than expected. If I lived nearby you can bet my face would be a familiar one here.

In case you decide to recreate our trip there's something else you should know. There's a Popeye's between Sparky's and HoJo's. Not much better then ending a day of drinking than with a bag of Popeye's.

My last note on planning a trip to Salem is to visit Vagabond Brewing. We have been there a couple of times before - GREAT place - and the only reason we didn't visit this time is that they're on the north side of town, farther than we wanted to venture that night. But it's definitely worth a visit, just plan to do so either on your way into or out of town.

Day Trippin': Estacada & Sandy

We've never been the kind of folks that make big plans for Memorial Day weekend so the fact that we actually went out day trippin' was a big deal for us. Inspired in part by a recent Thrillist article on Portland road trips and in part by a conversation I had recently we combined the two into an easy day trip visiting Estacada and Sandy.

From our place Estacada is an easy 50 minute drive and like many of our beercation days we decided to start with the non-beer entertainment (also none of our beer stops were open yet). Thrillist had mentioned Milo McIver State Park for camping but what drew us there was a 27-hole disc golf course. The overall course is split into an 18-hole east course and a 9-hole west course. Maps are conveniently available at the beginning of the course that thoughtfully provides a scoring grid on the reverse. We were playing for fun and eschewed scoring, even skipping a hole or two along the way to leap frog over slower players, along the 18-hole course. This is one of the better maintained and laid out courses I've played and highly recommend it as a start to or break during a day of beering.

After getting our fill of "sports" it was time to fill our bellies with lunch and beer at Fearless Brewing in quaint downtown Estacada. We'd had some Fearless beers in the past and most we tried on this visit followed suit - nothing spectacular and nothing bad. The exception was their porter, an easy drinking 5% beer with a mouthfeel that is generally associated with something served on nitro. Kudos to Ken for whatever magic he employed to do it without a nitro tap.

Bellies sated and wits still intact we headed towards Sandy. I had been to Bunsenbrewer previously when doing a story for the Oregon Beer Growler but that was a year ago and Mag had never been. The interior was still basically the same with a small bar, plenty of table seating, a stage for live music and a couch area complete with an old school gaming system. The biggest difference was the chalkboard beer menu and the significant increase in the number of house brewed beers available.

I was thrilled with the Semmelweis sour stout I ordered, which lived up to its name precisely, although Mag was less impressed with his Tesla stout due to some sour characteristics he detected. The brewer wasn't on hand and the beertender was focused on talking to his buddy at the bar so there wasn't an opportunity to find out if Tesla was intended to be a bit sour or if perhaps there was some residue from the Semmelweis or another beer creating it. If we had decided to stay for another I definitely would have ordered the Dothraki CDA, a beer by the Oregon Brew Crew. Bunsenbrewer's beers don't make it far from their taproom, reason in itself to try them out at least once.

While that was the extent of our day trip, it could easily be beefed up by adding additional stops or extended with overnight camping. On our way to Milo McIver we passed Bigfoot Growlers (handy if refreshments are needed for golfing) and then just before arriving at the park was Viewpoint Restaurant and Grocery that apparently also has a beer garden and, in case you forgot yours, disc golf supplies. Not far from Bunsenbrewer in Sandy is The Beer Den, a beer bar that I've heard good things about from multiple people. And finally, if you should day trip this route on one of the few days a month Boring Brewing is open, they're just north from Sandy on Hwy 26, which you may be taking back into Portland.

5/30 Update: We visited The Beer Den yesterday and the rumors were true - great little place with a tap list that had lots of beers I've enjoyed before along with a few new to me beers including ones from Wingman and Thunder Island.

Day Trippin': A Slightly Longer Excursion to Eugene

Continuing on our day trip/explore more of Oregon plans we decided to head south to Eugene at the end of April. While Eugene isn't so far that it couldn't be a day trip (for most people) we know us and we know that by the end of a day of exploring beer places the last thing we'd feel like doing would be getting in the car to drive back to Portland. Instead we made the decision that we'd get a room in town and take the trip at our own pace.

Our first stop, which I hooked Mag with by relaying the message on their menu that they served brunch until 3:00 pm on the weekends, was Plank Town Brewing (technically in Springfield). We arrived around 1:30 pm, easily finding them based on one of the exterior pictures from their website, and the place was hopping. We could have found a seat at a table by we went with our standard game plan and bellied up to seats at the bar. Addressing the most important question first we perused the beer list, about 15 offerings, starting off with their ESB and A Streetcar Named Stout, great beers to start the day with.

As I mentioned, the place was pretty busy and with nothing to buffer the sound, the noise level was pretty high. Generally that would be a mark against them but since it is a family-friendly establishment the din covered up any child noises. What turned out to be a big mark against them was the fact that it took 45 minutes for our order (a hot sandwich and an omelet) and the food was so-so at best. Yes, the place was pretty full but on a Saturday afternoon the kitchen should be better staffed to handle it. Moral of the story - go for the beer and find somewhere else to eat.

Shoving off we steered toward Claim 52 Brewing located in a light industrial area. The space is nice, with two roll up garage doors, but the day (cool and rainy) was less than conducive to having the doors wide open. Nonetheless we tried their beers (none of which happened to be their most highly rated ones). In general they all had a Belgian twist, which many of you know isn't exactly my favorite. After a beer a piece we shoved off, checked into the hotel we booked, left the car there and headed out on foot to Elk Horn Brewery.

Prior to Googling "Eugene breweries" I'd never heard of Elk Horn Brewery and as we walked down what appeared to be Sorority Row, I wasn't expecting much. Oh, how wrong I was! Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, check out a shot of their interior.

In addition to a creative, split level house feel they had an extensive tap list including plenty of their own beers. Both the IPA 3 and the Samoa Stout I had were great and all of the food I saw come out looked like something I'd definitely want to eat, a notion I seriously entertained as a way to erase the memory of the food we'd had at Plank Town. But I resisted and with thoughts about potentially returning later in the night we moved on to our fourth stop, Falling Sky Brewing House.

I'd been to Falling Sky before, which is located in an alley, really, its address is 1334 Oak Alley, but was looking forward to returning. Their beer offerings included 15 pushed selections as well as cask. Coming off the Samoa Stout at Elk Horn I ordered up the Hard Rain American Stout on cask and found it to be outstanding. At this point we were getting the time of the day where we could use a little beer break so we circled back to a place we'd seen on our way to Falling Sky, Level Up Arcade.

Like Ground Kontrol in Portland, Level Up has plenty of old school arcade games (Pac Man, Centipede, etc) and pinball machines. The bonus was that here the games were just $.25/play (at least the ones I played). After blowing a load of quarters each we headed out to Bier Stein.

I had been to Bier Stein in its previous location and been impressed by both their bottle selection and tap list. Coming up to the new location it was clearly much larger and being a Saturday night, looked pretty busy. Sure enough, when we got around to the door there was a substantial line for beer (bar ordering only) and that was not something we were down for. Turning around we decided some grub would be good and found a Killer Burger near our hotel for a quiet end to our night.

The next morning it wasn't beer we were thinking of but breakfast before making our way back to Portland. That proved to be a taller order than we were expecting and after a few failed attempts (one place too busy, other places closed) we found a sports bar that was just opening their doors. Sixth Street Grill is just across the street from the Hilton where we first tried to get a room.

Our server, who was also playing host until reinforcements showed up, was cheery in that genuine way that was endearing, not the annoying, just shut up and get me coffee kind of way. Coffees came quickly and although the server situation might have been a bit short handed, clearly the kitchen was firing on all cylinders. Our food arrived promptly and I dove into my Firehouse Scramble - eggs with bacon, pepper jack and loaded with pickled jalapenos - while Mag made equally short work of his omelet, a far superior product than the one he'd had the day before. Bellies satisfied we hit the road home, chalking up another successful weekend outing.

Day Trippin': Into the Gorge

We continued our day trippin' explorations last weekend setting our sights on a few Gorge breweries. Buzzing east on I-84, taking the Cascade Locks exit we wound our way through town and to the end of the road where Thunder Island Brewing sits. Walking up we took in a good sized patio with nice view of the water...or it would have been nice if it had been sunny and warm instead of cool and wet. Inside we found a small but cozy place filled with more people than I had expected (and the cutest little fermenters ever) so we quickly claimed two seats at the bar and keyed in on the beer menu.

Don't you just want to hug the little buggers?

Sticking with our new places M.O. we ordered up a sampler tray to get the best feel for their beers as possible. Of the nine we tried Under the Radar, a 4.5% session pale ale, and Beliz Chocolate Stout hit the highest notes for me. Pale ales and session beers often don't do it for me but this was a highly flavorful beer. As for the Beliz, it was like drinking a 70% cacao bar - roasty without being overly dry and just a hint of sweetness. I haven't seen a lot of Thunder Island in the Portland market to date but you can bet I'll be keeping my eyes out for them from now on.

Finished and ready to hit the road we headed out into the wet, having concluded that any thoughts we might have had about a little hiking we'd save for another day. Passing up the parking area at the Dry Creek Falls trail head, we crossed the Bridge of the Gods (which is guarded by trolls) into Washington. In minutes we were in Stevenson, home of Walking Man Brewing. As we descended the stairs to the pub I again cursed the weather as they, too, have a great patio set up that I suspect sees plenty of use and live music in the summer.

Equally as full as Thunder Island, we wasting no time grabbing seats at the bar, followed by an inspection of the beer menu. The difference here was that we'd had quite a few of Walking Man's beers in the past, but there were still enough on the menu we hadn't had to have to require the making of the "what to have first" choice. Both the Pale Strider, a single hop (Topaz) pale ale, and Iron Man IIPA clicked for me. In addition we ordered a basket of garlic herb fries served with tartar sauce, which seemed an odd condiment choice but was surprisingly good. If you're a garlic lover like I am these are a must order!

As we finished up our beers we revisited the idea of cruising up the road a bit more to Backwoods Brewing in Carson but ultimately we decided it was probably better to start making our way back. No need to rush as if we're on vacation trying to fit everything in. We'd simply figure out a way to work that stop into a future day trip, which things continue will be a regular weekend or every other week(end) occurrence.

Day Trippin': Down South

Our recent situation change has given us the freedom to do day trips with much more ease than we've been accustomed to. And after living in Portland for nearly five years we realized that we haven't gotten "out" very much, a realization that came with some regret that there are probably plenty of great places and things we haven't seen. So a couple weekends ago we set our sights on Silver Falls State Park as our first "empty nest" day/half-day trip.

Before we hit the road we picked up supplies for a simple picnic lunch, then off we went, on the approximately 75 minute drive from our inner SE Portland abode. We opted to take 205 to 213/214 (I-5 is another option) to Sublimity, OR, just a bit south and east of Silverton. The park was surprisingly busy for the last weekend in March and the weather a bit cool but we found a picnic table in the sun and ate while we figured out which path to set out on.

Neither of us being hikers and not in the mood for anything with much difficulty we chose a route that took us past a few falls along a two mile or so course. The number of people, especially the couple with a stroller and mom with a bum arm, was more challenging to deal with that the terrain, although there were a few steep areas but it was a relatively easy walk that went behind the two falls. Pretty cool.

Back at the car, with the nature/park/hiking itch scratched we started to feel the beer itch. Being a stone's throw (ok, probably only if you were a giant) from Silverton we decided to pop into the taproom at Seven Brides Brewing. This is a place we'd visited the last couple of years on our way to the Oregon Garden Brewfest and found the same friendly woman behind the bar. As we enjoyed our pints we plotted the rest of the day and decided to make our way back towards Portland with a stop in Oregon City.

You may have heard some beer news out of Oregon City lately, that Coin Toss Brewing is opening up there, but our destination was Oregon City Brewing Co. I'm not sure what I expected but I know I didn't expect a good-sized, dedicated parking lot, nice patio set up and 40+ tap lines. That day the list included six of their own beers, a great selection of other craft beers plus three ciders and four wines. If you aren't able to find something to drink from their menu then you should probably just go to the grocery store and pick up a sixer of some crap macro.

The inside and outside were about as busy as one would suspect for a sunny Sunday mid-afternoon with a record player behind the bar sending out some old school tunes. The staff was inviting and friendly, pouring mostly pints but filling growlers as well. Perhaps the best overheard conversation was a patron with two growlers that asked the beertender how many growlers he could have filled at one time. The beertender's answer: How much money do you have?

All of the house beers we had were solid and without going into detail, suffice it to say that it's worth the drive to Oregon City to visit OCB. If you're looking to make more of a day of it or want some "nature time" as well, include Silver Falls State Park in your day trip plans with a stop at Seven Brides.