Perhaps also we'll do some skiing.Ted and family met us at the airport and we were quickly whisked off to find our digs for that night so we could dump our luggage. Then search for a brew pub for lunch. This was not difficult as Portland is reputed be the city with the most breweries in the whole world. Totaling 28 breweries. But this is America where everything is bigger and better.
Except their pint, oh and gallon.
Roots brewing company is typical of the Portland brew pubs in that the brewery is clearly visible from the bar.
Later that day we visited Amnesia. The smell of the boiling copper was very pronounced. The owner very kindly invited me right past the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" sign into the heart of the brewery to take pictures.Several other pubs were visited and much beer sampled. The beer community here likes heavily hopped beers. After a while I was pleased to get a more malty beer at Horse Brass Pub until Ted decided to have a Racer 5 which had an incredible orange peal nose and really nice very definite orange taste.
We then visited Bridge Port Brewing company, which seemed like it had gone too far down the wine bar look with all bricks and steelwork making it feel very impersonal. Finally Lucky Labrador beer hall which is a delightful spartan place and I got a very satisfying pint served with a sparkler.There is too much to cover in the short time I have here. I need to do some comparing of British pubs with these very interesting establishments out here.
Meanwhile I am sat in the Brewers Union local 180 while it is snowing heavily outside. So it looks like a while Christmas here and a very good chance of some skiing.
I believe we may show up on the Gordon Swindlehurst show on Monday, perhaps.
6 comments:
I rather liked Bridgeport and was comfortable in the Horse Brass. It's a great city.
If I (er...we) had to move back to the US, the only place we'd consider would be Portland. (Or possibly Seattle--if the salary were doubled.)
I miss the brewpubs, honestly, but not the plumbing. Several years in Krautley have spoiled me.
Bridgeport ceased to exist when they sacrificed their wonderful old rope factory pub at the altar of rich hipster urbanism sometime after 2004. Do they still have the big stillage w/ firkins under gravity pour out at the Hawthorne joint? (anyone?) That was nice.
"I got a very satisfying pint served with a sparkler"
It would have been better without!
"I got a very satisfying pint served with a sparkler
It would have been better without!"
What? You're not telling me that is now possible to serve without sparklers. Who'd want that...?
Tandleman has not seen the Bridgeport pub as it now has morphed. The description of it "going too far down the wine bar" . . . is unfortunately accurate. 20 years ago it was the epitome of Portland, laid back and creative (in the brewery) but now they make a LOT of money and they appeal to their yuppie neighborhood in a big way.
Pity that. I liked it the way it was.
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