A Walk Through Hopworks Urban Brewery

A little over a year ago my friend Kelly & I made the 20 minute drive from work to Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) to pick up an Abominable Winter Ale tap handle. Click through to read more about our trek to HUB...

Parking was difficult, with both  the east and west lots completely full. I had to park in a nearby neighborhood two blocks away and walk. The east side of the building is fairly plain, where smokers can be found stoking their nicotine flames. The north front of the building, however, is beautiful, with a sign and retro "Beer Time" clock, and lots of glass that provides a view of cars and bicycles traveling up and down the heavily-driven Powell Boulevard. Powell is part of Highway 26, which travels from the coastal towns of Seaside and Canon Beach, crosses over the Willamette River while running through the middle of Portland, makes its way over the Cascade mountain range at the foot of Mount Hood, and continues on through the Eastern Oregon desert country on its way to Boise. Over 100 years ago it's how settlers use to roll into Portland on wagons that started their journey back east. The section of Powell Boulevard where the brewery is located lies in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, between the Willamette River/Ross Island area to the west, trendy Hawthorne to the north, Eastport to the east, and Reed College/Eastmoreland to the south. I once lived on 28th street near Reed College, a mere 5 minute drive from HUB, and I can imagine all the nightly visits I would have made had the brewery been open 23 years ago. I suspect Reed College students probably visit the brewery with regularity.

The interior is a big, open space, with lots of seating, vaulted ceilings, a mezzanine, and bar. A big blackboard sits behind the bar and lists the tap offerings. Of course I had to put a few quarters into the pinball machines sitting by the bar, an Elvira and the Party Monsters (EATPM) and a Tales of the Arabian Nights (TOTAN), since pinball is my favorite hobby and TOTAN is one of my favorite machines. We walked around to get a feel for the place, including up to the mezzanine, which we avoided sitting at due to the children's play area. Instead we found a booth on the lower level and stayed for dinner; I enjoyed the outstanding ESB pork chop and a barrel-aged Abominable Winter Ale, while Kelly had the Bomber BBQ bacon cheeseburger, which he thought was okay. The ale was a bit too astringent for me, although the barrel-aging may have been a factor; in the future I'm looking forward to trying their Totally Radler and also the Sour Cherry Cider.

The staff was courteous and friendly, and produced the tap handle fairly quickly. I spoke with an assistant manager, who give me some info on basement tours (where the brewery equipment is found) and let me know that they were trying to acquire the warehouse building next door (which eventually they did). I decided to pick up an Ace of Spades Imperial IPA for a friend at work (and I really dug the label), while Kelly decided to pick up the Abominable growler. The place is warm and inviting, and if you decide to make a trip to Portland to explore the breweries, HUB should be near the top of your list of those to visit.