The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [15]
KEY BEER
Seizoen Bretta (8% ABV), a traditional malty, yeasty saison with an addition of Brettanomyces adding fruity notes, acidity, and woody, earthy, almost leathery notes.
Oregon City
HIGHLAND STILLHOUSE PUB
201 S 2nd St. • Oregon City, OR 97045 • (503) 723-6789 highlandstillhouse.com • Established: 2006
SCENE & STORY
Themed “Hibernian” (Irish), English, and Scottish pubs can be tiresomely phony. Not this one. Though it’s hardly old, this bar has all the character and patina one would expect from the real McCoy (i.e. Glasgow’s Pot Still bar), with one of the best—if not the best—selection of whiskey in the Portland area. Overlooking Willamette Falls, it’s a charming two-level warren of rooms built into a 1920s gas station building, all dark wood paneling and few right angles, with an impressive deck outside. Families can gather downstairs; the adults-only upstairs “snug bar” is exactly as it should be: cozy and embracing. When you go, you’re likely to meet the owners Tammy and Mick Secor—that is, unless they’re off on their twice-annual Scotland distillery touring adventures, especially in Islay.
PHILOSOPHY
Classic Highland pub—friendly, warm, and comfortable. Thanks to its distance from Portland (about 15 miles south), it’s a bit of a sleeper.
KEY BEER
It’s especially rare to see Scottish brewery Belhaven’s Twisted Thistle IPA (5.3% ABV) or the Wee Heavy (6.5% ABV), so do your duty and try them out. There are a total of twenty taps and seventy-five bottles to choose from, with added treats like Full Sail’s Bump in the Night Black IPA on cask.
Pendleton
PRODIGAL SON BREWERY & PUB
230 SE Court Ave. • Pendleton, OR 97801 • (541) 276-6090 prodigalsonbrewery.com • Established: 2010
SCENE & STORY
Most of the time there’s an inversely proportional relationship between average belt buckle size and the number of craft brews available in any given town. Located in the home of the massive annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo, Prodigal Son is helping turn those numbers around. Tucked in on a main drag among dive bars, the brewpub is the work of three friends who grew up in Pendleton, left town, and then came back to get serious about brewing (hence the name). The brewpub is a big and open space with tall ceilings, concrete floors, exposed wood beams, exposed air ducts, and a weathered brick wall on one side of the pub that has an old ad painted on the surface. It’s also family friendly with a theater room off to the side of the pub with a large screen and theater seating. Head brewer Brian Harder used to brew at Rogue in Newport and was mentored by John Maier, which means he’s got the experience he needs to make it as a craft brewer in a cowboy town.
PHILOSOPHY
Conservative, for now. They’re making fairly standard ales by Portland or Seattle standards, but that’s what the market demands, says Harder. It’s only a matter of time before the big belt buckle crowd comes around, growlers in hand.
KEY BEER
The 7.5% ABV Bruce/Lee Porter is as big and roasty and rich as cowboy coffee—but tastes a whole lot better.
Troutdale
McMENAMIN’S EDGEFIELD
2126 SW Halsey St. • Troutdale, OR 97060 (503) 669-8610 • mcmenamins.com • Established: 1991
SCENE & STORY
For those who live in the Northwest, the McMenamin Brothers’ quirky empire of fifty-nine (and counting) inns and brewpubs in artistically converted old churches, schools, theaters, utility buildings—even a lighthouse—are everyday neighbors, seldom spoken of with much passion anymore. It’s all too easy to forget that the Dead Head brothers Brian and Mike were right there at the start of things, though, with the Widmers and Ponzis of BridgePort in lobbying the Oregon state legislature to legalize brewpubs.
The fact is that while the beer and food are indeed unremarkable, most—if not all—of their loving, Age of Aquarius–inspired restorations, earnest local history murals, and other psychedelia-tinged whims will stand the test