Self-Guided Beer Tours
Portland Craft Beer Tour 2021
These photos were taken Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16 and 17, in Portland, Oregon, where I joined some friends for a 36 hour whirlwind craft beer tour. The breweries we visited included Von Ebert Brewing, Deschutes Portland Public House, Backwoods Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, Upright Brewing, Rogue Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery, Cascade Brewing, and Deschutes Brewery PDX. As half of our crew had never been to Portland before, there were also some tourist stops, such as Pine State Biscuits, Voodoo Donuts, The Big Legrowlski, Kelly’s Olympian, and Poet’s Beach.
So yeah, this trip was a little (okay, a lot) different than 99.99% of the articles I have written about my travels, because this time I had zero say in what we did or where we went. My only decisions for two days were what beer I wanted, and what did I want to eat. I have not had so little responsibility since I was 17. Continue reading
Craft Beer Guy Visits Huntington Beach
These photos were taken Friday in Huntington Beach, where I did a small craft beer tour with my friends, Jeff and Yurany. We visited Riip Beer Company, Flashpoint Brewing, and Beachwood Brewing.
Those of you that were following my Craft Beer Tour 2021 may have noticed that it had a pretty abrupt ending; as a result, I decided that instead of driving thousands of miles to visit new breweries, I would try to fit in a few day trips to breweries that were a little closer. As Jeff and Yurany had the day off, we decided to venture out together to Huntington Beach. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Medford, OR
These photos were taken Thursday evening, September 30, day 16 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, when I visited Medford, Oregon. My reasons for visiting Medford were pretty simple; I do not really enjoy driving in the dark when on these trips for the simple reason that I cannot see and appreciate the country I are driving through, this pretty much guaranteed I would be spending another night in Oregon. Since I had already visited Grants Pass in 2018 I decided that Medford would be my home for the night.
I don’t know if you have ever visited Medford, but it is not an easy town to navigate for a first time visitor; at least in my opinion.
As I have mentioned before, when I do these trips I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants, and Medford was a perfect example of that as I had zero clue where I would be staying and the name of one brewery that may, or may not, still be open according to rumors in Eugene. Since I really had no idea what else to put in my GPS, I aimed for Opposition Brewing Company. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Eugene, OR
These photos were taken Thursday afternoon, September 30, day 16 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, when I revisited Eugene, Oregon. This time I spent my time at Hop Valley Brewing Company and Manifest Beer Company. I had planned on leaving Oregon City on Wednesday, but my presence was an asset for my friends, so I hung out another day.
I set my sights for Eugene as I wanted to visit a friend I had not seen since my visit in 2018; our plans were to meet for lunch and a beer at Hop Valley Brewing. When I pulled into their parking lot I noticed a text message suggesting I would be doing this visit solo due to illness. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Vancouver, WA
These photos were taken Tuesday, September 28, day 14 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, when I visited Trap Door Brewing in Vancouver, Washington. Yes, you read that right, I am in Washington.
Hopefully you have been following along and recall that when we left off, I was planning to drive to Boise in the morning. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Yakima, WA
These photos were taken September 25, day 11 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, and I must admit, I was looking forward to what this day would bring. Actually, I had a very good idea of what this day would bring because I was headed to Yakima, Washington; home of Bale Breaker Brewing Company, one of only two breweries I consider to be one of my destination breweries.
A destination brewery to me, is one that if I am within 200 miles of it, I must do all I can to get there. As I was staying a mere 193 miles from them, I don’t see that I had much of a choice in the matter. I knew I was going to find fresh hop beers there. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Grains of Wrath Brewery
These photos were taken September 24, day 10 of my Craft Beer Tour 2021; a day that started off innocent enough, but resulted in a couple unexpected surprises. One surprise I should have remembered, but 2020 must have screwed with me; the second was totally unexpected and the fact that everyone was wearing masks made it totally mind-blowing.
So, it was Friday morning and I had arrived the previous Saturday, it was time to go before I bored them; I announced I would leave for Yakima, Washington in the morning. As I sat down to Google Maps to figure out how long it would take to get there and whether or not there were any breweries along the way, I remembered Grains of Wrath in Camas. When I put it as a destination I discovered it was only 30 minutes away; and I knew they would have the fresh hop IPAs that I was looking for. Matt was game and we had a few hours before we could pick up Dom; game on. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Hood River, OR
These photos were taken September 23, day nine of my Craft Beer Tour 2021. As Dom was recovering with her parents, and Matt loves showing off Oregon to me, we headed off to Hood River to visit pFreim Family Brewers and Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River; the fact that we had to go through the Columbia River Gorge to get there was icing on the cake.
We started off at pFreim Family Brewers, which seemed to begin filling up as we arrived. Matt got a quinoa salad and I set up a flight made up of their Pilsner (because you kind of have to), Jammy Pale Ale (really was jammy), Strata IPA, Kolsch, pFreim IPA, and Flanders Blonde (first time ever). Each of them seemed to be better than the last, and I am falling in love with Strata hops.
pFreim Family Brewers is located at 707 Portway Avenue in Hood River. They are open daily and offer can’s, bottles, and crowlers to-go. I think I noticed a dog or two on their patio. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Oregon City, OR
These photos were taken between September 18 and 22, days four through eight of my Craft Beer Tour 2021. There were several repeat visits, including McMenamins, Oregon City Brewing Company, and Shattered Oak Brewing, and a first time visit to Stickmen Brewing Company.
When I left Bend the weather had turned crappy, which was probably a good thing for Bend as the evening before had been quite smoky so I am sure the wind and rain helped clear that out, but it also cleared me out. Continue reading
Craft Beer Tour 2021: Bend, OR
These photos were taken September 17 and 18, days three and four of my Craft Beer Tour 2021, aka the search for fresh hopped beers; this time in Bend, Oregon. The breweries I visited were The Ale Apothecary, Crux Fermentation Project, Boss Rambler Beer Club, and GoodLife Brewing.
I intended to spend two nights in Bend, but the place I was staying at the first night didn’t have room for me for Saturday night, so I was going to have to play it by ear. I remember when I got out of the car when I arrived how great the air smelled, and there was a blue sky. To be honest, the air quality from Sacramento on had sucked due to the fires that had been in the area. I had put a post on Facebook asking the first bend brewery I should visit, and The Ale Apothecary was the first that came up that I had been to before, so I set my GPS for it and headed over. Continue reading