Portland, Day One

Beervana USA
Eric’s Tour of Portland
Day One (Monday)

I arrive while Daniela is in class, midafternoon, so I begin my tour straight away. I consult BeerAdvocate.com to see if I can find a bar or brewpub reasonably close to the hotel. I succeed. Henry’s 12th Street Tavern is a few blocks away, and incidentally, close to Powell’s World of Books (one of America’s greatest bookstores, don’tcha know). Henry’s is housed in a large brick building-- I discover later that it used to be the Henry Weinhard brewery. I take a seat at the nearly empty bar and am presented with the beer list (can be seen as a PDF here). It contains over 70 drafts. Wow. Nearly all of them are West Coast beers, and in fact, the vast majority are from Oregon. This means that almost all are new to me-- and anyone who has been to a beer bar with me knows that this is a rather rare occurrence. The only problem is that Henry’s, for reasons surpassing understanding, offers their beer in chilled pint glasses, even setting them on a little shelf of snow on the edge of the bar. This results in beer which is much too cold, and I spend a good bit of time with each of my first 2 pints grasping the glass with both hands and warming it up as best I can. Before my 3rd pint, I ask the bartender if I could get a non-chilled glass, and he readily complies.

I have a good time, drinking my beer and thinking about what I’ll order next-- so many choices! The list is full of breweries I’ve never even heard of: Amnesia, Elysian, Terminal Gravity, Mac & Jack’s, Laurelwood, Ninkasi, Indian Pelican, Skagit River, Walking Man, Eel River... A few I have heard of but never had: BridgePort, Full Sail, Deschutes. And just a few I know: Dogfish Head (the only East Coast brewery with more than 1 beer on the list; both 60- and 90-minute Ale are here), Victory (Prima Pils), and a few macro beers for the tasteless-- Bud, Bud Light, Bass...

All the beers I drank were on the “seasonal” part of the list-- I figured they were ones I’d be less likely to find elsewhere in Portland. I began with the Amnesia ESB. Amnesia is a Portland brewpub/micro and one I’d hear more about as my tour went on. It will merit its own stop later in the week. A nice ESB in the English style-- not too hoppy, lots of fruity ale flavor, drinkable but suitably complex. The hops emerge a bit more as the beer warms up from its arctic chill. A good start.

Next up was the Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA. Yep, apparently it’s brewed with jasmine, which gives it some interesting exotic flavor and smell. Also not very hoppy-- I am on the West Coast, aren’t I?-- but a nice beer for summer drinking.

Third was Widmer Brewmasters’ Release W’07. My bartender explained that this is an annual brew made by Widmer Brothers which is made in a different style each year. Apparently the top brewers assign a style to the junior brewers, who then come up with a recipe which is tweaked by the top brewers and then brewed. This year’s is a Pale Ale made with all Cascade hops (that's what the bartender told me-- turns out he was lyin'..) It wasn’t a very pale Pale Ale-- I believe it was the darkest of the beers I had. Nice hop flavor and a stunning grapefruit bouquet right at the outset, with a hint of pine too. The beer tastes more balanced than the smell suggested. A good beer.

Day 2 was much more beer-filled than day one, so stay tuned!