Raise Your (tiny) Glass

I don't want you to think my trip was all business… Okay, who am I kidding - did any of that look like business? Between doing touristy things, hiking in national parks, camping out, and exploring new cities, there was one other thing that was a highlight - visiting breweries.

The first brewery Julie and I visited was in Seattle, recommended by friends whose roommate worked there. So we ventured out to Schooner EXACT to have a most enjoyable flight before meeting up with said friends for dinner. Good beer, incredible environment.

Once we got to Portland, our first brewery stop was the Green Dragon. I won't lie - we picked this place from our list because it had a parking lot. (We were kinda sick of street parking from Seattle.) The bar had board games, so Julie and I snagged one and started asking each other "Would You Rather" questions. Pretty soon the other patrons had joined in, which is how we got recommendations for other cool things to do in the city.

(bar pictures by Julie)


Hair of the Dog was a bit more upscale than the Green Dragon, and meant the other patrons in the bar weren't very chatty. On the plus side, the sample glasses were adorable. With each sip we pretended we were sophisticated ladies. (Pretty sure no one was fooled.)

Also in Portland was Deschutes, which was another upscale brewery with a full restaurant. We were a bit isolated from families eating dinner while we sipped beers outside. You got to pick the beers you wanted for your flight, though, and the paddles it was served on were cute.

Full Sail was visited on a day trip to the cute town of Hood River. I had high hopes because the brewery sounded really unique and is employee-owned, which I assumed meant we'd get great service because everyone is invested. Instead we waited a long time for our flights and the check, the waitress barely talked to us, and the beer was far from the best we'd had. Definitely a bummer, but the town itself was really beautiful to walk around.

The last brewery Julie and I visited when we wrapped up our trip in Seattle was Two Beers Brewery. It was in a warehouse space, so my lasting impression about this place is "warm". Unfortunately that refers to the temperature only - this was another bar where no one was very talkative.

On the second leg of my trip, Kelly and I visited three breweries: two in Montana and one in Utah. The only one worth mentioning is Flathead Lake Brewing in Bigfork, Montana.

The beer tasted just as good as the best in Portland, the bartender and other patrons were chatty, and the place closed at 8p, which means we made it back to our room before darkness fell.


A note to any teetotalers, potential employers, and parents who are reading this: these nine breweries were visited over a twenty-one day trip, and flights are samplers of small glasses to taste - the camera adds several ounces.