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Beer is not the most important thing until after you find the bar

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Other Reviews

September 2000 - Pacific Northwest

Those of you who may be subject to the dreaded pub jealousy syndrome may wish to avert your eyes at this time, as following is a list of beer purveying establishments visited on this trip. I think they are pretty much in the order that we visited them (OK, go ahead and make jokes about why I am not sure of the order). The trip didn’t really start out as a beer tour but rather evolved into one with the help of the referenced beer guide. Pretty much all lunches and dinners were had at these places. There are a great number of people making superior beer in the Northwest and these wonderful places only scratch the surface.

[click thumbnails for full-size images, or you may see the entire photo gallery by clicking here]

Pictures	Bar, Brewery, or Brewpub	Contact Information and Review
	Bar	Clawdaddy’s Bar 660 Cannery Row Monterey CA 93940 (831) 648-8500 http://www.clawdaddys.com/ - First, but far from the best – they did have Mardi Gras beads however and draft Bass Ale at half price for happy hour.
	Brewery [coaster]	Anchor Brewing 1705 Mariposa St. San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 863-8350
	Brewpub [coaster]	Bear Republic 345 Healdsburg Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 433-2337 http://www.bearrepublic.com/ - Visiting friends who took us to this one.
	Bar	Patterson’s Pub 10485 Lansing St. Mendocino, CA (707) 937-4782 http://www.mcn.org/a/pattersons/ - Just a bar but very friendly. Had a nice moose head wearing a tie and a chatty bartender from Massachusetts who went to Mendocino a long time ago and never left.
	Brewery	North Coast Brewing 444 North Main St. Fort Bragg, CA 95437 (707) 964-3400 http://www.ncoast-brewing.com (1 of 6 of my favorites)
	Brewpub [coaster]	Lost Coast Brewery and Pub 617 Fourth St. Eureka, CA 95501 (707) 455-5726 http://www.lostcoast.com/ (2 of 6 of my favorites)
	Brewpub	Humboldt Brewery 856 10th St. Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 826-2739 http://www.humbrew.com/
	Brewpub	Six Rivers Brewing 1300 Central Ave. McKinleyville, CA 95519 (707) 839-7580 http://www.sixriversbrewery.com/ -They have a quite good porter (Moonstone) and the weirdest beer of the trip – chili pepper flavored. It was not to my liking but more than made up for by the rest of the brews on the menu and the fact that one of the owners sang and played a mean guitar as did some poor rich kid slacker who came on next – great 12-string work). Learned about this place from a guy sitting at the bar at Lost Coast and the guy at the motel desk – can’t miss if two people think it is worth a visit. (3 of 6 of my favorites)
	Brewpub [coaster]	Bank Brewing 201 Central Ave. Coos Bay, OR 97420 (541) 267-0963 - The trip’s pick for most likely to go out of business soon and undeservedly so. Decent beer in a really nice bar converted from a bank - nobody in it on a Wednesday night except us and 12 women playing some obscure game that required lots of shouting and not much drinking = doom? The owner (actually a lawyer trying to go enter a more noble profession) told us that it is pretty much a Budweiser kind of town. Craft beers are apparently unappreciated by the locals.
	Brewery [coaster]	Rogue Brewery Tasting Room 2320 SE OSU Dr. Newport, OR 97365 (541) 867-3664 http://www.rogue.com/ -What can you say?
	Brewpub	McMenamin's Tavern 6179 SW Murray Blvd. Beaverton OR 97005 (503) 644-4562 http://www.mcmenamins.com/ - One of many brewpubs from the McMenamin brothers with excellent beers.
	Brewery [coaster]	Full Sail Brewing Tasting Room 506 Columbia Hood River, OR 97031 (541) 386-2281 http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/ - Provided a 13 beer sampler that was a bit too hoppy for my pallet. Sampler volume alone however has certain rewards. Picked up a nice ceramic tap handle for a friend.
	Bar	Horse Brass Pub 4534 SE Belmont St. Portland, OR 97215 (503) 223-2202 http://www.horsebrass.com/ - Nice craft beer selection, Shepherd’s pie, and a group of guys who rebuilt a B-17 dressed in WW2 8^th Air Force Uniforms hanging out and drinking beer – yes, they will give you the lowdown if you go up and ask what they are all about. Got there too late to do anything other than take a quick walk through the adjacent Belmont Station before they threw me out and closed for the night.
	Brewpub	McMenamins Market Street Pub 1526 SW 10th Avenue Portland OR 97201 (503) 497-0160 http://www.mcmenamins.com/
	Brewpub [coaster]	Portland Brewing Taproom 2730 NW 31st Ave. Portland, OR 97210 (503) 226-7623 http://www.portlandbrew.com/
	Brewpub	BridgePort Brewery 1313 NW Marshall St Portland, OR 97209 (503) 241-3612 http://www.firkin.com/home.html - Drank very good brews on a loading dock, one end of which overlooks dumpsters in the midst of the warehouse district – picturesque? – maybe after a few more cool ones. The brewery/pub/restaurant/big room upstairs is in an old converted cordage mill. Lots of exposed post and beam construction made from huge trees that you can’t find anymore. (4 of 6 of my favorites – dumpsters not withstanding, I sat on the less dumpstered end of the dock)
	Bar	Latona Pub 6423 Latona Ave. NE Seattle, WA (206) 525-2235 http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wapubs/Latona.html - Cool little dump in a time warped section of town. Who says that the hippies died out in the 80’s.
	Bar [coaster]	Kells 1916 Post Alley Pike Place Market Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 728-1916 http://www.kellsirish.com/seattle/index.shtml - I think it takes the idea of being an Irish pub too far if you make a black-and-tan with Harp rather than Bass – it is way too anti-British if you exclude Bass Ale. We told them they were actually making half-and-half and they would not listen. Irish stubbornness? Overly mellow waterfront attitude?
	Bar	Virginia Inn Tavern 1937 1st Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 728-1937 http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wapubs/VirgInn.html
	Brewpub [coaster]	The Pike Pub and Brewery 1415 1^st Ave. Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 720-2218 http://merchantduvin.com/pages/3_pike_brewing/ -Interesting place in the Pike Street Market tourist zone. See them throw fish in the market, give a buck to the street musician with the parrot on his shoulder, and then go have some brews. Met a very strange guy at the bar who would talk your ear off. Want his life history? He gave it to me! That is what I get for being too polite. My brother was more sensible. He went off to document the bar with the camcorder.
	Brewpub [coaster]	Bert Grant’s Brewery Pub 32 North Front Street Yakima, Washington (509) 575-2922 http://www.grants.com/ (Grant’s Perfect Porter is pretty close to it) (5 of 6 of my favorites) This place is located in an old railroad station very close to the tracks. Nice and modern until you walk through the door to the rest of the building. It was about 40 or 50 years ago on the other side of the door.
	Brewpub [coaster]	Deschutes Brewery and Public House 1044 NW Bond St. Bend, OR 97702 (541) 382-9242 http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/ (6 of 6 of my favorites) - These guys make great beer! Brought back some of their Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout for an Ale Atlanta beer journey.
	Brewery [coaster]	Sierra Nevada Taproom 1075 E 20^th St. Chico, CA 95928 (530) 893-3520 http://www.sierranevada.com/ - It is obvious that this is not a publicly traded company, at least yet. The shareholders would screw themselves into the ceiling if they saw the amount of $$$$ spent on this place. It is absolutely gorgeous – beveled glass everywhere, mahogany woodwork, inlayed stone stairways, walls in the brewing areas with brewing process murals, hand made tile inserts of brew components in the wall, historic brewing equipment on display, even has copper sinks in the head. Have to see it if you get close. We got a special tour from the head tour guide since we were unable to stay until the regularly scheduled tour time. Nice folks. Good time.
	Brewpub	Hogshead Brewpub 114 J St. Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 443-2739 http://www.hogsheadbrewpub.com/
	Brewpub [coaster]	Seabright Brewery 519 Seabright Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (831) 426-2739 http://www.seabrightbrewery.com/ - This one was definitely in the surfer dude/dudette tattoo zone. Good beer.
	Brewpub	Boulder Creek Brewing 13040 Highway 9 Boulder Creek, CA 95006 (831) 338-7882 http://www.bouldercreekbrewery.com

In general, all these places were great, which gives the noted beer guide great credibility with me. This beer drinker’s continuing lament: Why can’t they all be here????

Oh, by the way, the scenery was gorgeous also. Beautiful coastline, mountains, forests, and Crater Lake produces an extended WOW! moment. I guess I will have to report those details to the folks visiting Pretty Scenery Journeys rather than here.

Thanks for reading this far. I hope that a trip like this will fall into your life someday. I am ready to go back for another round.

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