New(ish) Breweries: Fracture and Pono

Despite the churn of recent years and the density of good breweries in Portland, brewers continue to regard the Rose City as fertile ground for opening up new places. Within the past year we’ve had four fairly high-profile openings. To my shame, I hadn’t made it to two of them yet—Pono Brewing, which has been around as a brand for years but opened a taproom early last autumn, and Fracture, which has a separate packaging brewery that has been around for about a year before opening their new taproom in November.

Both are great landing spots. Pono has taken over a site that has housed breweries for the past two decades in the Hollywood district. It was the founding location of Laurelwood, and then for the better part of a decade, Columbia River Brewing occupied the spot. It’s always been a comfortable hang with a British pub vibe. Fracture has gone for a more modern approach, setting up with a breezeway that leads to a cart pod with wonderful pockets of outside seating.

As we approach my annual “Portland’s Best Breweries” list, I figured it was well past time for me to have a visit.

Pono Brewing

Pono Brewing has actually been around Portland for a while. Larry Clouser launched it as brand, brewing his beers at Zoiglhaus before entering into an alternating proprietorship with them. Not long after that, Erick Russ joined him as a partner working on sales. Then, last year before the duo launched the pub, they got a third partner, Hawaiian Byron Sina, who did their graphic design. The brewery’s calling card has been a fruit kolsch called Pineapple Express that is surprisingly tasty even for kolsch purists like me—and the company’s flagship.

All the way back in the Laurelwood days, the pub was a great place to hang. Despite the menu’s Hawaiian theme, the color scheme leans Jamaican, but the eye is drawn to the fir floors and wooden wainscoting. It’s a bit of a throwback look as well, with deep, private booths that recall the Old Portland/McMenamins’ aesthetic.

Many people will be aware of Pono’s beer, which has leaned into its tropical themes by using fruit and other distinctive flavorings like agave and green tea. My favorite was Niamalu, an imperial porter that came in regular and coconut (I liked the former best). The lagers were crisp, and Aloha, Mr. Hand had an unusual blend of hops that straddled European and American. I did have a past-its-prime saison, but that isn’t entirely unusual for saisons. The IPAs ranged from pithy, bitter West Coast versions to sunny hazies. At least part of the brewing has now shifted to this location, and you can peek down at the brewery, which is almost invisible down in its little hole until you’re on top of it.

Portland has an almost faultless beer scene—almost. The food at breweries has collectively been some of the least interesting in the country, however. If you want burgers or maybe a pizza, you’re golden, but it’s hard to find much else. For that reason, possibly the biggest draw is Pono’s eclectic menu, which has Asian and Hawaiian highlights. I had the Kalua pork, which is like Hawaiian pulled pork, but they have great choices like Korean fried chicken, Filipino lumpia, Hawaiian poke and loko moko—and, if you must have it, even a hamburger. The prices are great, and the food is even better.

Fracture Brewing

Like Pono, Fracture found a way to enrich the Portland scene as well. The brewery backstory is a cool one, and if you’re unfamiliar with the long version, have a look at this article at the New School. The shorter version is this: Darren Provenzano met his future wife, Ny Lee, when he was in Vietnam working as a brewer. Thanks to a chance meeting with Portland’s Tomas Sluiter, they decided to relocate to the states and open a brewery here. The brewery formerly known as Burnside, which Mikkeller had left behind after they departed town, was available, so they grabbed it. But only the brewery. The spacious pub next to the production space is now a pizza place, so Fracture needed a taproom—and they created a great spot between 10th and 11th on Stark, amid the greatest concentration of breweries in the city (it’s just four blocks down the street from Grand Fir).

The taproom is a sleek space that looks more like a cocktail bar than a pub—which is intentional. In addition to the beer, they have an extensive array of liquors and a well-selected menu of tropical cocktails. It’s a nice change of pace from the very common taproom aesthetic you find throughout America, and I’m going to enjoy dropping in after dark. For several months of the year, however, most people aren’t going to spend a lot of time there. The taproom is adjacent to a large courtyard that has lots of seating and a half-dozen BIPOC-owned food carts. It has a dazzingly range—Guyanese, Filipino, Mexican, Asian chicken, and Korean chicken, plus a coffee cart. You can grab a pint and head outside—and as a bonus, the taproom building shades the space from the afternoon sun.

The beer is impressive as well, and with three pilsners, catered pretty well to this blogger, too. The standard pilsner was excellent, with classic lines and flavors, but I actually fell for the New Zealand pils, which was a whole lot more like a tropical pale ale. The third pils won silver at this year’s Oregon Beer Awards. We’ll get to the IPA, but they also had some underrepresented styles as well—a biere de garde, brown ale, and saison. That’s probably pretty canny, because they’ll want to cater to the group who is primarily there for the food and may not want a “goes-to-11” double IPA. We’re losing eclectic Ex Novo this year, and I loved them for the way the championed underrepresented styles. It looks like Fracture may help soften the blow.

But, speaking of hops, they can do those as well, too. I happened to see a friend there who loves their West Coast IPA, but I was impressed with the hazies, particularly the oat cream they had on tap. I first discovered that “style” four years ago in NYC, and while I loved the name I didn’t always love the beers it described. This one, with just a hint of lactose sweetness, delivered the goods.

Because Portland has so many breweries, it’s hard for the newcomers to make a mark. One way they can do it is by offering a new experience or unusual kinds of beers. Both Fracture and Pono offer something you won’t find many other places. Midway through my stops at both, I was kicking myself for not visiting earlier. My regular rotation, which now includes a good two dozen breweries and pubs, just got bigger. I hate to say it, but if you carve out time to visit, yours probably will, too.