One More Brewery Down
What is the best reward after a long day of stupid errands? Why, a brewery trip. On Saturday, this is exactly what I did. Teresa and decided to try a new brewery, BridgePort Brewing. This brewery holds the distinction of being Oregon's Oldest Craft Brewery. I've had their beers and been very impressed. It was time to stop by one of their pubs.
We choose their location in the Perl. Its located right on the edge of the neighborhood near NW 13th and NW Lovejoy. The building is a restored factory of some sort. The interior is gorgeous with exposed brink and iron beams. The downstairs is assigned seating with seat yourself at the upstairs bar. We choose upstairs and didn't have to wait a minute.
I was throughly impressed with the service. Our waitress was kind and quick. Keeping with our Portland tradition, we ordered BridgePort's version of the hummus plate. Its called a mezza plate and features hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, house olives, French feta, and warm pita. Very tasty.
Instead of choosing just one beer, we went for the tasting plate. Small glasses of each brew were brought to the table including Haymaker Extra Pale Ale, Blue Heron Pale Ale, Ropewalk Amber Ale, India Pale Ale, ESB, Beertown Brown, Porter and Old Knucklehead Barelywine Style Ale. Which one to try first? I went for the Knucklehead and definitely like its strong flavor. I've had the IPA and Beertown Brown. Both are exceptional. They don't have very strong flavors but are excellently subtle. The rest were new to me. I especially liked the ESB, Porter and Stout. I felt their lighter beers didn't have enough flavor. Teresa really liked the Ropewalk Amber Ale and Blue Heron Pale Ale. I decided to order a pint of ESB, and she choose a pint of IPA.
For dinner, we ordered pizza. Our choice was the Sellwood. Its loaded with BBQ chicken, bacon, tomato and green onions. I liked the pizza, and we also like its neighborhood namesake. When moving to Portland, we almost rented a house down in Sellwood. When the pizza arrived, we were both impressed. In Portland, Apizza Scholl's is the only other better pizza I've had. The crust was slight burnt and very crispy, but it remained soft in spots. It was perfect. They weren't stingy with the ingredients. There was a lake of BBQ sauce in the middle. It was awesome.
We finished up the night early, and went home to fall asleep fat. I really enjoyed my first BridgePort experience. They've crafted some nice beer. There are a few I don't care for, but the ones they did right I love. The Beertown Brown is one of the best Brown Ales in the city. Their food is top notch. I'd like to try every pizza on the menu. We'll be back to this spot soon.
