Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post # 1)

According to Dictinonary.com, the definition of Beer O’clock is “the time of day when it is acceptable or customary to start drinking alcohol.”  Thus, I would suggest that the title of this post is valid – Time zones are irrelevant with this concept.

My intent to have a beer in downtown Portland with two of my long-term friends – Doug Bean and Dan Swift – both of whom are still working and whose offices are in Portland’s Central Business District explains why this concept became relevant to me recently. 

Both also happen to be two of the best commercial realtors in Oregon and each has won  the Oregon/Washington Commercial Associate Broker of the Year award multiple times – an association with over 600 members. (#2)

Doug Bean

My connection with Doug Bean goes back to 1966, when both of us played our high school basketball team in the former TYV League – he for the McMinnville Grizzlies and me for the Oregon City Pioneers. Doug was a talented junior who started as small forward while I was a small, skinny guard who spent most games rooting for my teammates from the bench.

We now laugh because while later playing pick-up ball when we both resided at the SAE House at Oregon State (Doug for two years before he transferred to the University of Oregon where he graduated and got his MBA) and then when both of us worked in Portland early in our careers and played at the YMCA, Doug would comment:

“Nothing has changed, Dirt, (my college nickname), you are still looking at the heels of my tennis shoes when I drive by you.”

My response is evidenced by the two team photos below.  You will note Doug’s Grizzlies’ photo is from the TYV Jamboree (He’s in the back row just to the left of his coach.) The Jamboree was a pre-season mini-tournament.

My team photo, however, is from the 1966 Oregon High School State Basketball Tournament – OC with a 17-5 record finished first in the TYV and McMinnville finished third and did not go to the tournament. 

You will note from the right margin of the second photo that the two teams broke even in league play; however, in a thriller near the end of the season, the Pioneers staged an amazing comeback in the final three minutes to beat the Grizzlies 72 to 70 to capture the league title.

But I digress, although it’s worth pointing out that the above photos help me justify to my wife (born and raised in McMinnville) why I have kept the files she has urged me repeatedly to recycle. https://thebeerchaser.com/2022/12/18/de-files-de-files/  (#3)

Dan Swift

I originally met Dan Swift in about 1998, shortly after I became COO at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm and we had an RFP process to determine the real estate broker to represent us in lease transactions for our five Northwest offices.

A younger Dan outshone his more established competitors in that process, and he did an outstanding job for us over the next thirteen years until I retired. He still represents the firm (and not primarily because he always came to Board meetings with Krispy Kreme donuts when we made our recommendations.

In a bit of synchronicity, in one transaction for our biggest office – Portland with five floors in the PacWest Center – Dan negotiated with Doug Bean whose firm managed the building.(#4)

A lot of people were entertained when Doug’s firm was located in this high-rise, and we would see each other across the impressive lobby of the thirty-three-floor building. Doug would shout out across the expansive space, “Hey Dirt!”  I would then try to explain to people in the same elevator how I got that moniker.. https://thebeerchaser.com/2023/07/06/dirt-and-dust/

Beerchasing at Beer O’clock

The three of us had never Beerchased together and I figured that since they were both so successful and still working, they would buy the beer if I set it up.  I wanted to go to a downtown watering hole I hadn’t previously frequented and unfortunately, many which would have been past options, didn’t survive the pandemic.

With all the watering holes I had checked out in my fourteen years of Beerchasing, I’d never heard of the Beer O’clock bar and my research showed that it had made a recovery after it closed early in the pandemic. (#5)

Due to its limited indoor seating, it was not expected to reopen, but in June 2021, although only with outdoor seating, its reopening was a welcome surprise to a city hard-hit by both the epidemic of COVID and ugly demonstrations.

As stated in a 2021article in New School Beer and Cider – an outstanding Pacific Northwest based web-mag covering the craft beer and cider industry:

“It’s no secret that downtown Portland has had a rough go of it since the pandemic and protests began, but things are starting to get back to normal and Beer O’Clock is back. The downtown PDX taproom had a reputation for its expansive 31 draft tap list that put beer geek connoisseur selections at the forefront and its penchant for old school hip hop blasted from cassette tapes in the audible background. (#6)

The article was entitled, “Beer O’Clock taproom in downtown Portland has reopened with a huge patio.”  Well, unfortunately as Portland recovered, many of those patios in the front of establishments extending into the street, are now gone and the bar’s space can be an issue.

Beer O’clock now just has several picnic tables in front of the bar on the sidewalk. The bar originally opened in 2016 and was named “Beer Belly.” “Rick Gencarelli founded Beer O’ Clock, and…(it) shares the building with his other project of fast casual pasta joints called Grassa.  (New School Beer)

Gencarelli is a nationally recognized chef and restauranteur, who also owns the Lardo restaurants in Portland (one was originally right next to Beer O’clock), Grassa and Bluto’s – a Greek-inspired restaurant he opened in the fall of 2021.

All of his restaurants draw great reviews and have loyal patrons.  For example, a 2022 article in Oregon Live entitled, “Bluto’s isn’t very Greek. It is very good.”

You Don’t Have to go to Greece

All three of us liked the bar (especially the company…) and in researching, I noticed that there is also a Beer O’clock Pub in Thessaloniki, Greece, which appears – like the establishment in Portland – to have a great selection of beers on tap, although from the pictures on Facebook, seems a bit more raucous and spacious. (#7 – #9)

And the Greek option gets positive reviews. For example:

“πολύ καλό φαγητό, εξαιρετικο περιβάλλον, φανταστική μουσική και το βασικότερο,άψογοι επαγγελματίες.”   

If you don’t know Greek, that translates to, “Great food, great environment, fantastic music collection, and most of all, really friendly personnel.”

And in the interest of full disclosure, I just discovered another Beer O’clock Bar in Annecy, a town in southeastern France – only about twenty-two miles south of Geneva Switzerland.  And this one is unusual because of the delivery system.  Read the Trip Advisor review below:

” loved the concept! 👌🏻 Super smart and practical! A card to recharge, self-service beer taps, a direct breakdown of the amount paid and off you go, enjoy! It’s perfect ! 🍻 The place is warm, cozy, pub atmosphere, games are also available! 🃏 Honestly great!”

Now Back in Portland

Fortunately, one doesn’t need to travel 6,120 miles (or only 5,407 to the one in France) to hit a bar with a great name when we have one in Portland with twenty-six beer taps, four ciders and kombucha.  And while the reviews are not in Greek, our own Beer O’clock rakes in the compliments:

“Honestly the best beer bar around…Bar is clean and well-lit and the bar is unique because it is attached to Grassa so you can pick out food from a huge menu and bring it into the bar. Highly recommended ! Amazing selection of beer and cider and some canned cocktails! ”    Yelp 2/20/2023

At Beer O’clock, everything is timely, so even though this one is three years old, I liked it:

“Bill Haley and the Comets, 1954
One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock, rock
Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock, rock
Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock, rock
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight

Well, this old geezer can still rock the clock, let me sit and clock down a beer at happy hour “Beer O’clock” time time time for IPA!”  (#10)

Portland’s Beer O’clock, although the seating is limited to bar and a few booths, the narrow interior is well lit and attractively designed with plants, handsome natural wood walls and art with posters and a great-looking blanket plus three large-screen TVs.

Dan, Doug and I enjoyed the beer – both of them had a Ferment Brewing (Hood River) Everything in Bloom Hazy IPA and I – a Red Zeppelin Amber Ale from 54 40 Brewing in Washougal, Washington.

The beer was as good as the stories we told and went down significantly more smoothly.

As I suspected, Doug and Dan argued over who would pay for the beer which is another reason why I’m going to get this group together again this summer.  Dirt says “Thanks, guys!” (#11)

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Microsoft AI image generator (Microsoft Designer – Stunning designs in a flash).

#2. Doug Bean and Associates website (https://dougbean.com/people-2/doug-bean/).

#3.  CB Richard Ellis website (https://www.cbre.com/people/dan-swift).

#4.   Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons – PacWest Center (icensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.  Author: Cacophony 18 June 2006.

#5.  Beer O’clock Bar in Portland  Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=368184038860885&set=a.368184018860887).

# 6. New School Beer and Cider website (Beer O’Clock taproom in downtown Portland has reopened with a huge patio — New School Beer + Cider).

#7.  Beer O’clock Pub (Thessaloniki, Greece) Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/beeroclockskg/photos/t.100054261410083/899034206875586/?type=3).

 #8. Logo – (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=618910133261028&set=a.618910123261029),

#9. Server (https://www.facebook.com/beeroclockskg/photos/t.100054261410083/899035906875416/?type=3).

#10.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Bill Haley and the Comets1956.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Author: Decca Records. Photographer – James Kriegmann, New York. 4 August 1956

#11. Microsoft AI image generator (Microsoft Designer – Stunning designs in a flash