Deschutes Pub to Open in the Pearl

Very big news:

Deschutes [Brewery] has been looking for suitable digs in Portland for several months and recently found space occupied by an auto body shop at Northwest 11th Avenue and Davis Street, near the renovated armory. The planned pub will have a brewery and will pour many of the special and one-off beers on tap at the Bend brewpub, which generally offers 18 Deschutes beers on tap including a couple of cask-conditioned offerings. And there will be the X-tap - which has occasionally been connected to a keg of Lemongrass Mirror Pond or the like.

The pub is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007 and will be the first Deschutes operation not located in Bend.

A few comments. That location, though it's in the heart of the Pearl, is actually also the heart of Oregon brewing. It is two blocks from where the Henry Weinhard brewery sat for 130 years, two blocks from the original Portland Brewing (now Rogue), a few blocks from BridgePort, and a few more from the original Widmer. Given founder Gary Fish's knowledge about Oregon beer, I wouldn't be surprised if he chose it for the history as much as the trendiness.

The good news for locals (local Stumptowners) is that we'll be able to get a lot of the tap-only beers like Bachelor Bitter, which have always been the reserve of locals in Bend. I predict this will become one of the most popular pubs in Portland and join the must-visit ranks for visitors.