Portland's Best Breweries 2020
This annual list began as a way of giving visitors to Portland a place to land when they were searching for breweries to visit. This year, when visitors are absent, it's more like an appeal to preserve our best and brightest.
Well, 2020 sucks. It started out well enough, but as I was busily revisiting breweries for the late-winter release of this post, a viral pandemic encircled the globe in its deathly grip. The original function of this list, offered principally for the benefit of visitors looking to answer the key question of their trip—which breweries should I visit?—now made no sense. Breweries didn’t just lose tourists, they lost every in-pub customer for four months.
The idea of reworking this post into a coronavirus-specific appeal dawned sometime in mid-June. In fact, breweries need our support more than ever, whether the visitors are coming from a thousand miles away or live just down the street.
So this year, I’ve put together an expanded list of 20 breweries—a beer ticker’s menu of those places we absolutely, positively must support with our dollars and love. Even twenty slots is inadequate, so please keep reading for the “rest of the best,” along with a sidebar or two of other places to note. And please please please #SupportYourLocalBrewery. This year we must do the heavy lifting in place of all those Californians who normally flood our city. 😉
Selection Criteria
This year as in the past, my goal is to balance diversity and depth, so that anyone would be able to identify a brewery with beers precisely in their wheelhouse. This year, think of it this way: if Portland had to make do with far fewer breweries than it currently contains (and knock wood we won’t have to), what portfolio would contain a group to scratch our every itch? That’s what I shot for here.
In terms of qualifications, I don’t include contract/nomadic brewers—each brewery must have a physical location and there also has to be a physical pub to visit (this eliminates Rosenstadt, for example, a company making exceptional German lagers that would make the list in a heartbeat otherwise). Outposts of breweries whose main locations are elsewhere in Oregon (Double Mountain, Deschutes, 10 Barrel, etc) are considered for the Best Oregon Breweries list; on the other hand if the only place to drink the beer is in the city of Portland, even if the brewery is outside the city limits (Little Beast), it’s included here. I also see no reason to eliminate breweries that have home offices outside the state so long as they have breweries here making unique beers for Portland—and there are now a growing number of these, including Modern Times, which is on the list.
All right, enough jibber-jabber—let’s get to the list. This year, to mix things up, I’ll go in reverse alphabetical order. Also, one final note: with the Coronavirus waxing and waning throughout the year, be sure to check opening times at the website.
Zoiglhaus
For years, Alan Taylor has plied his trade at the edges of Portland’s beer scene—literally. Zoiglhaus is located in the distant Lents neighborhood of Southeast Portland. The German-trained brewmaster has built a reputation for offering some of the best lagers in the state, however, including a GABF gold medal-winning hoppy pilsner in the style of Northern Germany. Zoiglhaus was the anchor tenant in a once-sketchy neighborhood that is now bubbling with life. It may not be in the heart of things, but Lents isn’t an afterthought, either. There are IPAs if you must, but try the Pilsner, Kölsch, and, when it’s on, one of the most authentic Berliner weisses in the world.
Brewpub: 5716 SE 92nd. Normal Hours: Daily, 11am-10pm. Food: a full menu. Website
Wayfinder
In the three years Wayfinder has been nestled on the east bank of the Willamette, it has quickly come to be regarded as one of the state’s premier breweries. The reputation rests mostly on the shoulders of Kevin Davey’s wonderful lagers (including the winner of our all-state blind pilsner tasting), though the brewery’s impressive hoppy ales have also started to lure the non lager-oriented. Sessionable lagers perfectly inhabit a vision co-founder Charlie Devereux had of recreating the beer hall atmosphere of Bavaria and Bohemia. The pub is enormous, sprawling out to a huge patio usable in the fairer months, and it’s centrally-located, just a stroll from downtown. In addition to pilsners Davey makes classic German and Czech styles—and appropriately, using decoction where appropriate as well as German and Czech ingredients. Though some folks have glasses of haze in front of them, this is the one of the few breweries where you’ll see people eschewing those for tall glasses of sparkling světlé pivo instead.
Brewpub: 304 SE 2nd. Normal Hours: Sun-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Sat-Sun 11:30am-11pm. Food: a full menu. Website
Von Ebert
One of the most ambitious breweries in Portland is barely two years old, but already has two sites, including a beautiful brewpub in the Pearl District. It grew out of the ashes of what was once a Fat Head’s, and, following the lead of that brewery, does a lot of IPAs. But it’s equally known for its impressive lagers (one of two brewers is German-trained) as well as its wild-barrel program, which includes a coolship. The brewing team manages to keep its focus, though, and each realm is highly accomplished. You’ll have to sample around, but try Wolf Summoner (an IPA) and the Pils before you get too far afield.
PEARL (Downtown). 131 NW 13th Ave. Normal Hours: Mon-Sat 11:30am-9pm, Sun, 11:30am-8pm. GLENOVEER 14021 NE Glisan St. Normal Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun, 11am-8pm. Food: full menu both locations. Website
Upright
Upright is undoubtedly the best Portland brewery most people haven’t visited, and should be on every drinker’s short list. A truly world-class brewery, it is also one of the most diverse. Founder Alex Ganum was heavily inspired by the beers of Belgium when he opened Upright in 2009, but over time he has extended his approach so that it has become entirely original. The show-stoppers are barrel-aged wild ales, particularly those using locally-sourced fruit. Because of their restrained acidity and supreme balance, Upright makes the kind of wild ales that nearly everyone enjoys. Alex also loves overlooked traditional lagers and English styles, and makes one of the best pilsners in the state. The brewery has always dabbled in hops, but lately even these are getting more of a showcase—though as usual, Alex’s IPAs are made with unique twists. Before the coronavirus, Upright even expanded their tasting room hours so more people could actually have a chance to visit. Make sure you do.
Tasting Room: 240 N. Broadway, in the basement. Normal Hours: Tues-Fri 4:30-9pm, Sat-Sun 1-0pm. Food: none. Website
Ruse
Ruse Brewing had one of the most impressive debuts when it arrived in 2018, and it continues to be a trend-setter now in its third year. Much like Great Notion, Ruse is best-known for its hazy IPAs, which, especially during the coronavirus closures, have proliferated. But their regular flagship IPA is a West Coast variety, the impressive Translator. Unlike Great Notion, the brewery doesn’t do pastry beers, but does pursue session ales and lagers, which it often seem to be the most lovingly crafted. A recent excample was a Czech tmave. The brewery also likes saisons and barrel-aged sours. If Great Notion has become the cool kids’ brewery, Ruse seems to be emerging as the cool adults’ stop. It’s located in a slightly odd spot, but it’s a short Lyft from the city center.
Taproom: 4784 SE 17th Ave. Normal Hours: Tues-Thu 3-9pm, Friday 3-11pm, Sat Noon-11pm, Sunday Noon-9pm. Food: No food. Website
Occidental
Occidental has long been one of Portland’s most under-appreciated breweries, and surely the best excuse to go to St. Johns. One of several area breweries focusing on German beer—the first, in fact—the brewery originally started out making ales like weizen, kölsch, and altbier. Over time they’ve added a great stable of lagers, including, for their 9th anniversary, a very tasty kellerbier. The pub sits literally in the shadow of the iconic St. John’s bridge, and the St. Johns neighborhood is one of the most interesting and quirky—worth exploring if you’re out in that neck of the woods. The pub has great feng shui and is perfect for waiting out a drizzle on your explorations.
Taproom: 6635 N Baltimore Ave #102. Normal Hours: Check website. Food: No food. Website
Old Town
You know that scrappy little corner brewpub that could settle for being a neighborhood mainstay but has bigger dreams? In Portland, the best example is a 46-year-old pizza restaurant that a few years ago added a brewery. Old Town debuted with a typical line-up of well-executed but staid pub favorites, seemingly content to offer easy-sippers for families. A couple years ago, under the leadership of former Sam Adams brewer Andrew Lamont, Old Town stepped up its game. It now boasts one of the most eclectic menus in town, with quirky experiments, a robust line of IPAs, and a solid segment of classic lagers and traditional (often historic) ales. Thanks to wonderful creative work and an industry-leading series of viral videos, they’ve finally started to attract attention. The coronavirus hit the brewery hard, but they applied their sense of creativity to stay afloat—and are worth a trip to NE Portland.
Brewpub: 5201 NE MLK Jr Blvd. Normal Hours: Sun-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Sat-Sun 11:30-11pm. Food: Pizza is the house specialty, including gluten-free options. Website
Montavilla Brew Works
Montavilla Brew Works, another corner brewery, is a great story. Owner Michael Kora was a Detroit session drummer who relocated with his wife to Portland in 2005. He bounced around, trying to figure out how to open his own brewery—and finally did, a decade later. He located the brewery in the homey East Portland neighborhood of Montavilla, with the ambition to make it a fixture there. Devoted to the neighborhood, he named beers after area landmarks and businesses—and music. Unlike Old Town, Montavilla is not experimental. It finds inspiration in the kinds of brewpubs that built Beerana—classic hoppy ales and a few lagers. They’re not in fashion, but they’re really well-made and remind you why they were popular in the first place. Best of all, the taproom (no food) has become the neighborhood local, and the vibe makes it one of the best places in the city to enjoy an evening.
Taproom:7805 SE Stark St. Normal Hours: Tue-Th 3-9pm, Fri 3-10p, Sat noon-10pm, Sun noon-8pm. Food: None. Website
Modern Times
Portland was an unexpected landing spot for an outpost of one of San Diego’s buzziest breweries when they took over the old Commons spot a couple years back. The company refashioned the old urban brick building into something resembling a sparkly 1970s basement rumpus room which they named the Belmont Fermentorium—all very California. It seemed a bit cheeky to think Oregonians, famously California-averse, would bite. And yet Modern Times has not only become a part of the landscape, I daresay they taught their new town a few things. It’s a fun place to visit, and the beers tend toward hazy IPAs and sweeter confections, illustrating the power of joy to move people. Now even the most jaded Portlander is happy to spend a afternoon drinking sunny California-inflected suds in a dayglo environment.
Brewpub: 600 SE Belmont St. Normal Hours: 11am-10pm daily, closed Tues. Food: A full vegan menu.
Little Beast
Brenda Crow and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales alum Charles Porter founded Little Beast in 2017 in Beaverton, later relocating to a warehouse Southeast of the city. Fortunately, their move to the former home of the Lompoc Hedge House on SE Division put them front and center both literally and figuratively in Portland. Porter carried his passion for wild yeast and bacteria with him from Logsdon to Little Beast, and the foeder-aged ales he makes are some of the best in the US. Most are made with local fruit and are often wonderfully sessionable and approachable (look for Dream State and Tree Spirit). Those are the beers to start with, but don’t overlook the IPAs he’s increasingly started making. They’re unusual, drawing on his affinity for fermentation flavors. Little beast also does dark ales, the occasional lager, and excellent Belgian ales—including a truly stellar quadrupel.
Brewpub/Beer Garden: 3412 SE Division Normal Hours: Weds-Thu Noon-10pm, Fri-Sat Noon-11pm, Sun-Mon Noon-10pm. Food: Snacks, small plates, and sandwiches. Website
Level Beer
Level Beer has carved out a niche that is evident even in their name; the brewery is less known for the styles of beers it makes than the way it makes them: with a gentle, balanced hand. Whether the beer is a fruity saison, a dry-hopped pilsner, a pale ale (something of a specialty), or an IPA—of which many hazy and clear choices abound—the key characteristic is harmony. Another way to think of it: if you fused the subtle, traditional approach of European brewing with the exuberant, hop-forward style of the US, you’d end up with well-crafted, elegant beers kissed by the familiar saturated flavors of American hopping. For a quick survey course in their oeuvre, try Pixelated Pale, Let’s Play (dry-hopped pilsner), Ready Player One (saison), and Stable Genius (hazy IPA).
BREWERY TAPROOM: 5211 NE 148th Ave. Regular Hours: Sun-Thurs 11a-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm MULTNOMAH VILLAGE: 7840 SW Capitol Hwy. Hours: Tues-Sun 3-9pm Food: Four food trucks serving Latin American, gyros, seafood, and burgers at the brewery; no food at Multnomah Village. Web
Hair of the Dog
Founded in 1994, Hair of the Dog is one of the most important Oregon breweries. Owner Alan Sprints shattered the Northwest’s constrained understanding of what beer could be when he debuted, offering only massive, hugely flavorful beers. Two of these, Fred and Adam (both 10%), are still standards, and the latter is one of the best beers made in the US. An evocation of the defunct German adambier style, it is dark, very rich, slightly smoky, and surprisingly dry. Big beers are still the name of the game, and they’re served up in a charming gastropub that overlooks downtown. It has in recent years been beset by uneven quality, but when the beers on on, there’s nothing like them. It’s a Portland classic, and just a short stroll from Wayfinder and Modern Times.
Brewpub: 61 SE Yamhill Normal Hours: Tues-Sat 11:30a-10p, Sun 11:30a-8p. Food: A full menu of above-average food. Website
Interlopers
Portland—Beervana—has surely become one of the world’s great beer cities. One way we know is that breweries from elsewhere want to open pubs here. Other parts of the state, sure, but also other parts of the country and, lately, the world. The following breweries don’t meet the criteria for this list, but think carefully before you skip them.
1. Deschutes Brewery (Pearl District). There’s a reason Deschutes has long sold the most beer of any brewery in Oregon and Washington—it’s spectacular. The Pearl District pub is a massive space that nevertheless usually has a waiting list. The attached 10-barrel system makes a number of site-specific beers.
2. 10 Barrel (Pearl District). Another Bend-born brewery, 10 Barrel is now owned by AB InBev. Don’t let that stop you from trying their exceptional beer, especially if you can get a seat at the rooftop bar on a sunny day.
3. Double Mountain (Woodstock/SE). This Hood River brewery is known for classic West Coast IPAs, estate ciders, and fantastic wood-fired pizzas.
4. Backwoods Brewery (Pearl District). This Columbia Gorge brewery has done something few Washington breweries have managed: selling beer to Oregonians. The pub has an airy cafe feel.
5. Oakshire (Northeast). This Eugene institution caught Portlanders by happy surprise when it opened in the underserved Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood.
Ground Breaker
One of Portland’s best breweries is routinely overlooked for one unfortunate reason: it makes only gluten-free beer. Thus it is usually considered separately, if at all, at best an asterisk in the landscape of beer. This is a shame because drinkers who entered and ordered unaware of this detail would encounter ales that taste like and match up with the city’s best. They manage this with Oregon chestnuts, lentils, and sorghum, in a process founder James Neumeister had to invent. The place to start is IPA #5, which illustrates just how good and beery these beers are. It’s full-bodied, with a hint of sweetness and rich, Nortwest hops. The Dark Ale has won a ton of awards, and they have a regular slate of irregular offerings. It’s also a great place for a tasty gluten-free meal.
Brewpub: 2030 SE 7th Ave Normal Hours: Weds-Sun noon-9pm.. Food: A full gluten-free menu. Website
Great Notion
Great Notion, which has continued plans to expand throughout the Northwest during the pandemic, certainly doesn’t rely on lists for fans. For several years now, it has boasted the most avid supporters in the region. More than just beer, it offers an immersive experience (complete with an app). But aside from all that, Great Notion earns the love honestly; it really is like no other Oregon brewery. It specializes in hazy IPAs and flavored beers that taste variously like blueberry muffins, stacks of pancakes, or ice cream desserts. People will sort themselves based on whether they want to try liquid versions of these foods (and the divide is not always an amicable one), but it’s worth emphasizing that the sleight of hand is remarkable. The evocations in these beers really works. And, if you just want to see what’s happening, they do a few regular beers—including a nice pilsner.
BREWERY BREWPUB: 2444 NW 28th Ave ALBERTA BREWPUB: 2204 NE Alberta St. #101 Normal Hours: see website. Food: Full menu at both locations. Website
Gigantic
In many ways, Gigantic offers its own immersive experience. The brewery adopted the unusual business model of releasing new packaged beer in brightly-colored bottles long before it was standard practice. Each bottle has unique artwork by well-known artists. Sometimes bands even collaborate by providing aural accompaniment. The beers, however, don’t strive to taste like something else; made by a team with decades of experience, they are marked by quality and consistency. Standards include mainstream styles (IPA, kölsch, Double IPA, and stout), while the slate of new releases runs the gamut in style, strength, and tradition. Recent releases have explored hops, and Gigantic has been one of the breweries making a formal distinction between their “juicy” and “hazy” offerings. Sometime soon, they will add a second taproom in Northeast Portland.
BREWERY TAPROOM AND CHAMPAGNE LOUNGE: 5224 SE 26th Ave Normal Hours: Mon-Wed 3-9p and Thurs-Sun 2-9p. GLISAN TAPROOM: (6935 NE Glisan) coming soon. Food: No food. Website
Ex Novo
Ex Novo has quietly built a reputation for impressive beers that fly under the radar. Some of them become cult favorites, like the spectacularly-named pilsner Perle Haggard or their Mexican lager, The Most Interesting Beer in the World. But they can also uncork some really special beers. Last year they released Quinque, an entirely spontaneous beer that was startlingly accomplished. On a visit right before the virus, I had a wonderful Belgian table beer that was around 3% and bursting with flavor. Ex Novo has developed an avid following and you don’t want to visit on game night for the Blazers (the Moda Center is a half-mile away), but do visit. They don’t get credit for making some of the most interesting beers in Portland, they just go ahead and make them anyway.
Brewpub: address Normal Hours: Times . Food: Food. Website
Ecliptic
Many locals know Ecliptic as the House that John built—John Harris, the iconic founding brewer from Deschutes, who had a hand in making classic beers from the McMenamins and Full Sail as well. He is a local treasure, and that would be enough to ensure devotion. Yet Ecliptic is much more than the shrine to a legend. Harris’s great talent as a brewer is evolution, and the beers at Ecliptic are on the leading edge of trends. The brewery specializes in two areas: IPAs, including a fantastic rotating-hops hazy called Vega, and tart fruit ales. The latter was the most surprising; Harris is known for his hops, but wasn’t allowed to indulge his passion for fruit at previous breweries. He makes up for it here with delicate, balanced sours made with fresh fruit and lactobacillus. The kitchen is also one of the best at any brewpub, so plan ahead if you’re looking for a meal.
Brewpub: 825 North Cook St. Normal Hours: Sun-Thurs noon-9p, Fri-Sat noon-10p. Food: Full menu. Website
Culmination
Located in a quiet pocket of neighborhood between the freeway and NE Sandy, Culmination has developed a reputation for championing obscure styles, particularly in the British tradition. If you’re looking for a mild or ESB, Culmination the place to find it. It also makes one of the city’s best IPAs, Phaedrus—and has a full range of dark, tart, and experimental ales and lagers. As the Coronavirus has forced breweries to adapt, Culmination has demonstrated its facility with hazy styles, and dreamy-looking cans have been coming out to high praise. In what I consider a personal kindness, the brewery also offers a number of porters and stouts throughout the year, including Choco Mountain, a mainstay made with coffee.
Brewpub: 2117 NE Oregon Street Normal Hours: Mon-Thurs 3-8p, Fri-Sun noon-8p.. Food: Light fare. Website
Breakside
With BridgePort gone and Widmer as good as, does Portland have a city brewery any more? If so, it’s probably Breakside, which in just ten years has become an institution. It wouldn’t have seemed possible when it was founded as a 3-barrel brewery in a distant neighborhood. But in the time since, Breakside has refashioned itself as the leader in hoppy beers, creating a laboratory when they built their third brewhouse in Slabtown, specifically to make them. They have explored the further reaches of IPAs, but continue to lead through quality and consistency as well—as their gold medal in the IPA category in this year’s Oregon Beer Awards illustrates. This was to be the year of constant celebration as they collaborated with 25 breweries to celebrate their anniversary, but the fun has been dampened. Nevertheless the beers keep coming, and the brewery has made plans to buy a canning line to replace lost draft sales.
SLABTOWN. 1570 NW 22nd. Current Hours: Noon-8pm everyday. DEKUM 820 NE Dekum, Current Hours: Noon-8pm everyday. PRODUCTION BREWERY & TAPROOM: 5821 SE International Way Current Hours: Mon-Weds 3-9p, Thurs-Sun noon-9p. Food: full menu Dekum and Slabtown, no food at the brewery.
Baerlic
Every brewery exists in the context of others, but also their own baseline. In the past year, no brewery did more to impress than Baerlic. They did this not by radically changing their approach but rather producing beer that was, top to bottom, just sharper, more dialed in, and well-made. I fell in love with Hellsner, their pilsner, and wasn’t at all surprised to see it make the finals of our Oregon pilsner taste-off—and the brewery has become a specialist in toothsome but unadorned lagers like it. Yet they’ve also begun to make some of the city’s best IPAs. One of the few breweries interested in dark ales, they usually have a stout or porter available, and they also continue to experiment with ingredients, always shooting for beer-flavored concoctions rather than pastry beers. Of their two locations, you might enjoy the Halsey site, which is located in a tres Portlandia cart pod.
BREWERY TAPROOM: 2235 SE 11th Ave Normal Hours: See website. HALSEY FOOD POD: 6035 NE Halsey Food: None at the brewery; ten food trucks at Halsey. Website
The Rest of the Best
No matter where you draw the line—five, ten, twenty—you’re always trying to fit a larger number of breweries into a small number of slots. And so it is with this list. I see absolutely no reason the following breweries shouldn’t be on this list except the artificial constraints of list size: Hopworks, Laurelwood, Migration, Sasquatch, Stormbreaker, West Coast Grocery. They very much deserve your respect and dollars.
The omission of one final name may surprise readers: Cascade Brewing, one of the few breweries many people can easily place in Portland. It was an important and often sublime alternative to Northwest hops when it arrived around 2007. The idea of fruited, barrel-aged sour beers was, if not unique, certainly underrepresented in the marketplace. And what did make Cascade unique was its use solely of Lactobacilus as an inoculant—no Brettanomyces. With time, however, this came to be a limitation, imprisoning Cascade’s beers in a small range of expression. This became more obvious as other breweries added their own barrel programs and started to release more complex, subtle beers. Even so, Cascade would normally make a top-20 list—except that it was recently sold and the new owners are figuring out what Cascade will become. Let’s give them some time and see where they land.
And thus comes to an end this edition of the best Portland breweries. Patronize them, enjoy them, and help make sure they survive this terrible time.
PHOTOS: Brewery websites and social media accounts.