Many beer pundits pick Portland, Oregon as the #1 city in the U.S. for quality beer and I would be hard pressed to disagree. You can barely walk a block without passing a bar, taproom, restaurant, or brewery offering outstanding craft beers.

I recently spent two days sampling #Portland craft beer and cider, meeting friends, seeking unique breweries, and learning about the growth in quality ciders. I skipped many of the better known breweries (like Rogue) in order to find smaller breweries with huge or emerging stories – The Commons, Upright, Cascade, and Baerlic. I also visited a cidery that is creating religious-like fervor among both cider lovers and beer drinkers – Reverend Nat’s.

The Commons Brewery

The Commons Brewery was founded by Mike Wright in 2011 and is rapidly developing a reputation for outstanding small-batch craft beer. Draft Magazine named The Commons Brewery as one of the top 25 breweries under 5 years old.

The Commons Brewery tasting room is co-located with the brewing tanks. Old barrels serve as tables and there is limited seating. Fortunately, my wife (Patricia) and I had our camping chairs and created our own self-seated environment.

The tasting bar offers a wide range of beers - as illustrated by my tasting flight. — With 8 taps, the tasting bar offers a wide range of beers – as illustrated by my tasting flight.

Flemish Kiss (6.5% ABV), a Great American Beer Festival (GABF) silver-medal Brett pale ale, and Urban Farmhouse Ale (5.3% ABV), a World Beer Cup (WBC) bronze-medal saison, are The Commons’ flagship beers. Brews like Biere Royale (a yogurt-fermented sour ale with currants) and Myrtle (offering fresh citrus character in a farmhouse ale) demonstrate delicious and innovative alternatives for discerning craft beer enthusiasts. I was also lucky enough to try their seasonal Fresh Hop Myrtle during my visit – which was one of my favorite beers during my entire Pacific Northwest tour.

With construction underway, The Commons Brewery will soon be tripling in size and moving to a nearly 100-year-old building in the Central Eastside district of Portland (just down the road from Cascade Barrel House and Green Dragon pub).

One of my favorite reasons for visiting breweries is that I meet the most fascinating and diverse people. My wife and I had just gotten comfortable when a group of blood-soaked folks walked into the tasting room. Turns out they were a heavy/black-metal Portland band, named Anonymia, arriving for a photo shoot. All of the band members were friendly, fun, engaging, and beer loving. Check out Anonymia’s Facebook page to listen to their music and learn more about their history.

Somehow Patricia managed to challenge the band to an arm-wrestling contest.

Round One - Ready for action! — Round 1- A challenge is issued!

Round 2 – Patricia demonstrates why she is the boss in our firkin household.

We toasted Patricia's victory! Any excuse for beer works. — Round 3 – We toast Patricia’s victory! Any excuse for beer works.

Upright Brewing

Located in the basement area of an office building, Upright Brewing can be a little difficult to find but is definitely worth the effort. In their own words, “Upright Brewing specializes in farmhouse inspired beers rooted in France and Belgium but made with a Pacific Northwest twist, while also dabbling in both classic and quirky projects from around the world.”

Upright Brewing produces four year-round “numbered” beers (Four, Five, Six, and Seven) named after the starting gravity and available in both draft and bottle. I tried Six, a dark saison with spicy rye, while visiting the tasting room and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also tried a variation on Four (named Four Play) that was aged for one year in barrels with tart cherries. The great tart cherry flavor with underlying oak had me clamoring for every drop. In fact, my wife said she had never seen me so enthusiastic about Four Play.

Upright also produces seasonal beers as well as beers available only on draft. One of my favorite draft-only beers was the Barrel Konducta Vol. 1. As described by Upright Brewing, “Barrel Konducta Vol. 1 was formulated with Rick Nelson from the Oedipus Brewery in Amsterdam. Based on one of his own rye beers, this collaboration has a grist of two-row, wheat, and roasted rye which dominates in the nose. French Aramis and Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand are used in the kettle and as a light dryhop, giving the brew layers of flavor. The dry finish is offset a bit by the bigger mouthfeel lent by the rye. Look for two different barrel aged versions (vol. 2 & 3) with blackberry and nectarine in 2015 and 2016!”

Cascade Brewing Barrel House

Cascade Brewing is a pioneer of the Northwest-style sour beer movement and a world-class producer of tart, barrel-aged style beers. Their brewery currently houses more than 750 French oak, Kentucky Bourbon and Northwest wine barrels filled with wheats, blonds, quads, reds, browns and porters that are aged and blended for the drinking enjoyment of barrel-aged sour beer lovers.

The taproom features more than 18 rotating taps, with a predominantly sour lineup at any given time. A large selection of bottled beers are also available. Indoor and outdoor seating is available, depending upon the weather.

Be certain to look for Foudre Project #1 (a blend of Triple ales aged in large oak tanks known as foudres), Bourbonic Plague (a blend of spiced porters aged for up to 18 months in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels), and Vlad the Imp Aler (a blend of Blond Quad, Spiced Blond, and Triple ales aged in bourbon and wine barrels for up to 24 months). One of my favorites was the Noyaux (2013 Project). This NW sour consists of a blend of Blond ales aged in oak for up to 14 months and then aged with raspberries and apricot noyaux (the seed/nut of an apricot).

Baerlic Brewing

Started by Ben Parsons and Richard Hall in 2014, Baerlic Brewing is one of Portland’s newest breweries. The word baerlic (pronounced bear lick) is an old-english adjective meaning “of barley.”

Baerlic Brewing offers four year-round beers and an array of seasonal and experimental beers. My favorite was the Primeval NW Brown Ale (6.8% ABV / 70 IBU). This NW take on an American Brown Ale provided great aromas of cocoa, oranges and pine and delicious flavors of malt caramel and biscuit with a slightly dry finish of chocolate and oranges.

Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider

I first met Reverend Nat West in April 2014 at a Slater’s 50/50 Brewfest. I was immediately impressed with his obsession and dedication to creating innovative ciders with complex flavor combinations. One taste of his award-winning Hallelujah Hopricot opened a whole new world to me with cider flavor potential that I am still exploring and learning about. So during my trip to Portland, I stopped by Reverend Nat’s Cidery and Taproom for a visit.

Jim Bonomo, Reverend Nat’s Bar Manager, gave my wife and I a tour of the Cidery and Taproom that was partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign in 2013. Thanks Jim!

Reverend Nat Kickstarter Campaign from Tom11 Films on Vimeo.

Jim explained that Reverend Nat’s makes both traditional dry and off-dry ciders from apples as well as non-traditional ciders, such as a Spicy Tepache which is made from pineapples, cinnamon, other spices, and ghost chili peppers. The Spicy Tepache is absolutely delicious and makes a great summer drink.

Reverend Nat’s offers four year-round bottle products: Revival Hard Apple, Hallelujah Hopricot, Revelation Newtown Pippin, and Deliverance Ginger Tonic. There have also been many limited and special releases, including a line of ciders known as the 7 Deadly Sins. Some of the special releases are barrel-aged, like the Bourbon Barrel-aged Raspberry Newtown Pippin.

Reverend Nat's offers a wide spectrum of ciders with delicious flavors. — Reverend Nat’s offers a wide spectrum of ciders with delicious flavors.

Many of Reverend Nat's ciders have won major awards. — Many of Reverend Nat’s ciders have won major awards.

My favorite is the Hallelujah Hopricot – Reverend Nat’s best-selling flagship cider. This off-dry cider is made with classic American apples as a Belgian wit-style cider steeped with coriander, bitter orange peel and paradise grains and then fermented with a Belgian saison ale yeast. On top of that rich base, Reverend Nat’s adds pure apricot juice and finishes with Oregon-grown Cascade and Amarillo hops.

A Big Thanks!

A big thanks to my good friend Lanakila (Kila) Michael Achong and his family for making us feel warm and welcome in Portland.

Visiting a city is so much more enjoyable when you have one or more friends to visit. Kila and his family hosted my wife and I for dinner in Portland. Their hospitality was wonderful. Thanks everyone!

I also recommend you buy and read Kila’s inspiring book – Haole Boy: The Adoption of Diversity. This autobiographical book compellingly illustrates how the power of love can change us all.