Steeplejack brewing

 Beer + church , why not.

New brewery in northeast Portland set in an old church.

Food and beer orders all done through an app. A little quirky but service was speedy.

But on to the beer and food.

We had Kolsch, table beer, ,Pilsner, 2 stouts , hazy ipa, west coast ipa .

Food- pork tacos (street style), potato croquettes , fries, and a Brookie. 

All were delicious except the brookie (brownie cookie) which was a little underwhelming.

Repeat beer orders- Pilsner , west coast ipa

Other than the early closing (10pm on Friday) place was packed. But speedy service and friendly servers the crowds were not an issue

Backwoods brewing

 First entry for 2023. Had a quorum of 4 (John, Ben, Rob, Todd)

A nice brewpub in the pearl. They have a large selection on their tap lists , 3+ IPAs, 3+ Stouts , a pale, pilsner, sour, ... 

Diverse food - The groups opted for sandwiches- reuben, cheesesteak , patty melt. Food was fine/adequate didn't blow the socks off but solid. Menus had typical salads, burgers, nachos, sings, etc... selection

Now back to beer:

they had a golden stout- it was indeed golden . However in 3 taster trays they all tasted different so not really sure what it tastes like.

The sour -same issue as the golden stout- different tastes for everyone.

dreamsickle - orange and vanilla flavored, it definitely had those flavors not bad a little wierd

As to darks

Pecan porter- flavorful

King size stout - rumored to taste like snickers - different people got this to mixed levels. Overall on the sweeter side of stouts

Coca nut stout- porter with some coconut overtones, 

Smores golden stout- the mystery golden stout, base don different tasters hard to know

Johns tasting rating

Exploration IPA (1), Off grid IPA (2), King size stout (3), Party Acres IPA (4_ Dreamsickle (5) , Rough current sour (6) 

Robs favorite- pilsner. To him stouts/porters tasty but better in snifter size (10 or 12oz)

overall pleasant place for a trip

Rob