thebeerchaser logo (designed by Teresa Lovegren)

 One of my retirement goals is to have a beer at every neighborhood tavern in Portland— and to blog about the experience.  Since my retirement as Chief Operating Officer of the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm in May, I have been pretty busy and had not started this formidable project; however, the pressure got to me. 

The first inquiry I got from most people who I had not seen recently was not, “Don, how do you and Janet like retirement?  Instead, it was, “How’s your beer tour coming and am I invited to join you for one of your visits?”  I had some dental work and at the start of the procedure, the chair-side assistant’s first question was about the beer tour – even at 8:00 AM.  I tried to drool a rationalization for my lack of progress.

The underlying motivation for this project occurred several years ago when on a trip to the beach, I finally succumbed to my long-term urge to have a beer with the locals at Lumpy’s Landing in Dundee, Oregon.  It was a wonderful ninety minutes and made me think that many, if not most bars, have their own noteworthy character, patrons and ambiance.  This premise was reinforced by the following words of wisdom:

“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as a good tavern”  Samuel Johnson

I hope you will suggest your own favorite bar, pub or tavern for a future tour.  Because there are so many to tour (and so little time), I will start with one pub from each letter of the alphabet.  Other than that, the guidelines are very basic:

1. The establishment should be within the city limits of  Portland.
2.  It may have a grill or serve food, but the primary purpose should be sale of beer or whiskey and not operation as a restaurant.
3. The above guidelines may be waived for compelling reasons such as the availability of $1.50 Draft PBR, there are clouds in the sky or you walked by the bar at 5:00 on a Wednesday.