Jay Waldron – Rugger, Rafter, Rider and Lawyer – Beerchaser of the Quarter

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Jay Waldron – Beerchaser of the Quarter

The newest Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter is Jay Waldron,a senior attorney at the law firm of Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt. We will examine the reasons why Jay is considered to be an outstanding lawyer, but his recognition on this blog transcends his legal accomplishments.

Jay, as has been the tradition at the Schwabe firm, has made significant contributions to the civic and non-profit community, but also left his mark in athletic arenas and with impressive adventures ranging from motorcycle racing to rafting some of the world’s most challenging rivers. He has also hit some pretty good bars in his travels around the world.

John Schwabe – a USMC hero with his wife, Jean

Let’s briefly look at the law firm’s legacy partners. The late John Schwabe, a Silverton, Oregon native and one of the founding partners, is known for his heroism as a marine officer fighting at Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan in the South Pacific in WW II. He was awarded the Silver Star and five Bronze stars. His heroics and that of one of the men in his outfit, were portrayed in a 1960 Hollywood movie – “Hell to Eternity.”

Wayne Williamson also served as a Naval officer in World War II and was known for his outstanding skill as a trial lawyer. And Wendell Wyatt, who joined the firm as a name partner in 1974, was a reconnaissance pilot during the War and went on to serve ten years in Congress, where he ably represented Oregon in the House of Representatives.

Wyatt – the former Congressman

Jay follows his colleague, Jack Faust, an outstanding appellate lawyer and former host of the award-winning public affairs program, Town Hall, as Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (9/2/14 post). The photo below is also evidence that Faust did his part in both undergraduate and law school at the University of Oregon to promote the brewery industry in Oregon.

Faust – studying for finals at U of O Law School

Our “honoree” this quarter could be described as a “Renaissance Man.” Waldron fits the bill, based on his double major at Providence College in English and Philosophy, supplemented by his Master’s Degree from the University of Virginia. “The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.” He then enrolled in a UVA’s doctoral program and taught 7^th-grade English in Appalachia while also coaching basketball during work on his Ph.D.

Dickinson – did not play rugby, but excelled at poetry

Three years of law school and graduation from University of Virginia (known as one of the nation’s top five law schools) came when he was an “older” student at twenty-nine. Jay admits that part of his motivation to attend law school was to continue playing rugby – begun seven years earlier in 1968 – he was on several Representative teams.

Third-year law student, James T. Waldron

Law school trained his instincts in advocacy. For example, that was when he first asserted, “If you are watching television, you’re not drinking alone.”

In 1966, Jay met his now wife of forty-eight years, Karen, while he was serving as a bouncer at a bar at Horseback Beach in Westport, Mass on the Atlantic Ocean.

“It was a Sunday night and she was not 21, but with that blonde hair and tan, there was no way, I wasn’t going to let her in.”

Jay obviously married up…..here with Karen in San Diego after they both bicycled from Lincoln City in 1975

Waldron then weighed 220 pounds and had long hair, which drew some comments when he applied for clerkships in Oregon where he wanted to move with his new wife. He landed a prestigious position with the late Federal District Court Judge, Otto Skopil.

Although he had never been to Oregon, he had the good sense to spend his first hour in the Rose City in the bar at the Veritable Quandary.

Evidence of pushing the boundaries……

When he informed the judge about his goal to work at a private law firm after a one-year clerkship, Waldron was admonished by Judge Skopil, “Most of your competitors for these jobs won’t have long hair.” Jay’s interview with Wayne Williamson went well notwithstanding his curly locks and he has worked at SWW for the ensuing forty years.

But there are a lot of great lawyers in Portland and at Schwabe. What qualifies Waldron to join the list of esteemed Beerchasers-of-the-Quaretr such as Princeton Professor Emeritus and author, Dr. Harry Frankfurt, Viet Nam veterans who both have been awarded Bronze Stars – Jud Blakely and Steve Lawrence and even the crew of the USS Constitution on their fabled 1798 war cruise?

Waldron’s guiding principle

Perhaps the key is Jay’s favorite quote from the late Edward Land, scientist, inventor and co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation: “Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess.” So let’s review the evidence:

Athletics – Rugby, Boxing and Wild-horse Riding

After law school, Jay continued to play rugby for the legendary Portland Rugby Club, which was known for both its stellar play and after-match antics at their favorite bar – Jakes although the Horse Brass Pub also received its share of visits – see Thebeerchaser post on 5/23/13.

In fact, as set forth in this blog in a post dated 5/13/13, (see narrative below and at the end of this post) one incident in 1982 involved a California business man (Steven G. Hayford) who wore a tie into the bar at Jakes and commented about the inappropriate attire of the ruggers.

His subsequent letter to the manager of Jake’s requesting reimbursement for his silk tie (which Waldron cut in half) relates the incident and reads in part:

After-match drinking place

“…..we were assaulted by 5 to 8 of your largest patrons. My arms were pinned behind my back while a third cut my tie with a pair of scissors…..one mustached individual bounded over the bar to break up a possible ensuing riot. As each offending participant was twice as large as (we were) and a full four times as large as your bartender, a riot did not ensue, and my party bid a hasty (although loud) retreat.”

After coming across Thebeerchaser blog post many years later, Mr. Hayford, the “victim” posted the following good-natured comment about the incident:

“Hey! I’m Steve Hayford and I remember everything except disparaging what the gorillas were wearing. That tidbit must remain in dispute. Anyway, all is forgiven. Amazing what you find when you google your own name.”

Athletic, but absent minded when drinking

Another story involved the Club’s winter trip to New Zealand in 1980. While raising a mug(s) in a bar after the match, Waldron left an expensive coat in the bar that Karen had purchased for his trip. He sent what he thought would be a futile inquiry, but was surprised that six months later, when a sailor (and fellow rugby player) on one of the ships visiting the Portland Rose Festival called and said he had the garment.

They agreed to meet and have a beer at Jakes (obviously!) and Jay realized the next day that he had again left the coat that had traveled approximately 7,125 miles to Jakes. He never saw the coat again.

Rugby announcing

Our honoree also coached the Portland Pig Rugby Team for five years. He announced rugby matches aired on Fox and ESPN in a four-year stint and served on the board of the US Rugby Foundation.

You can see by the picture below that Jay invested some time as a boxer as well. This “career” started while in law school, when he became the sparring partner of Peter Schmidt, a former NFL player and Golden Gloves Champion who was in graduate school at UVA. Schmidt decided to enter as a heavy-weight in the heavily contested intramural boxing competition, usually the domain of undergrads.

The Dancing Bear on his way to the championship

He played rugby and drafted a reluctant but malleable Jay to not only spar with him, but also enter as a light heavy-weight. On weigh-in, Jay hit the scales at 178 so he could make weight – down from 217 and at the time of his matches he weighed 190 pounds.

Our Beerchaser honoree dressed in black for the matches and was booed by the crowd, but succeeded in winning the IM title as reported in the UVA newspaper:

“Jay Waldron captured (a) championship before a large, bloodthirsty crowd…..Waldron, the Dancing Bear of gridiron fame, continued his pursuit for recognition of Clark Hall’s (UVA Law School) Biggest Jock, with his unanimous decision……

Despite weakness from a beerless diet imposed by trainer, Jim ‘Bundini’ Abrams, Waldron dominated the first two rounds. The Dancing Bear got himself into trouble early in the third round, but Bundini’s exhortations and a solid shot to the chin rocked Waldron back to his senses and he rallied to win.”

Sparring with Ray Lampkin

Not content to walk away before he had long-term cerebral issues, he continued boxing, in a manner of speaking. In an attempt to be a Portland George Plimpton, he wrote a story for One Dollar Magazine, where he again became a training and sparring partner.

This time, however, it was with the #1 lightweight in the world – Portlander, Ray Lampkin. “I stayed with him when he ran, except he was in combat boots and I was in Nike’s,” Waldron recalled.

Lampkin finished his career with a total of 34 wins, six losses and one draw and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Probably his most well-known match was the 1975 World Boxing Association lightweight title fight that he lost to Roberto Duran in Panama. Waldron doesn’t remember any significant sparring injuries (which may not mean that there aren’t any…….)

Ray Lampkin

And finally, after what was probably a long and serious discussion with two rugby colleagues at Peters Inn and The Hobbit (Beerchaser post dated 1/23/13), Jay and his buddies decided to compete in the wild-horse ride competition at the Pendleton Roundup. (He grew up riding horses on his family’s property on Cape Cod.)

In this event which involved three guys who had to catch the horse, saddle it and ride it out of the arena. The result?? In the second year, they succeeded in at least saddling the horse……

Jay’s son, Shane, has followed in his dad’s coaching footsteps and is currently a coach with the Washington Redskins. This follows assistant coaching gigs at both Notre Dame, the New England Patriots and the University of Massachusetts. Karen is also a good athlete – both she and Jay have won Multnomah Athletic Club Decathlons in their age groups.

River Rafting

Wadron grew up sailing in the Atlantic, but perhaps after the wild-horse rides, decided he wanted a more adventurous water experience which resulted in his first raft trip on the Rouge River in 1980, led by his Schwabe colleague, Rocky Gill. And who knows whether it was that trip or just having a house on the Clackamas River for many years, but he began a remarkable saga of river exploration as follows:

Colorado River – three trips between 2006–2014 on a 16.5 foot cataraft down the entire length of the river.

A category-five rapid on the Colorado

Upper Yangtze in 1996 – these are some of the biggest rapids in the world. Jay said their party of fifteen started where explorer, Ken Warren quit and where the river was flowing an amazing 6-8 mph with 20 foot high rapids at some points during their eight-day trek. Jay became the first “Caucasian” to row a cataraft through all the rapids of the Great Bend of the Yangtze.

South America and Canada – he made additional raft trips down the Pacuare River in Costa Rica and the Bio-Bio and Futaleufu Rivers in Chile and the Chilko in British Columbia. He also rowed the Magpie River in Canada last year.

The Waldron house for many years

And speaking of the house on the Clackamas, the Waldron’s sold the venerable place in 2014 and moved to a condo in the high-rise Ladd – within a block of both the bars in Higgins and The Rookery in downtown Portland – and two blocks from the Schwabe Portland office.

While the Waldrons over the years had turned down multiple requests by studios to use the house in movies and television series, the new owners acquiesced. The first Twilight of the three-movie series used it as did Grimm in its Season-Three finale of a wedding scene.

Jay, Karen and Shane…and Seamus

Perhaps Jay and Karen’s decision was validated because there were multiple problems – freezing weather, a smoke alarm problem resulting in the police showing up. (http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2014/05/grimm_on_the_set_in_oregon_for.html)

Motorcyles

Adventures in South America

While his rugby (and actions at bars afterwards) or river rafting exploits raise the question as to whether Jay has a death wish, his motorcycle trips may confirm it (he was once clocked at 155 mph on his Ducati).

Twenty-one different road trips throughout the US have been supplemented by a journey around both South Africa and New Zealand and a trek from Chile to the southern tip of South America.

He started riding when he was seventeen and now at seventy, will ride from Portland to Key West, Florida in May.

Civic and Charitable Work

The Schwabe firm has a rich legacy of non-profit activities and contributions to the state and region. Jay is part of this tradition and currently serves as the Chair of the Oregon Health Sciences University Board – his ninth year on the Board, having been appointed by former Governor Ted Kulongoski.

This position followed his appointment by former Governor Kitzhaber to the Port of Portland Board, where he served for eight years, six of that as President. Concurrent service (eight years) on the Board of Lewis and Clark College are also on his resume as is past service on boards for the North Clackamas School District and the Oregon Law Foundation.

And I got to see Jay in action during his three years on the Schwabe Board of Directors, when some partners in the firm, felt that given the changes in the legal profession, a rugby mentality might add a good perspective.

At Jay’s request, his fellow board members grudgingly agreed to move up the starting time for semi-monthly board meetings from 7:30 to 7:00 AM because of his busy schedule. They badgered him mercilessly when he showed up at 7:25 for the first meeting after the change commenced.

I got to personally witness Jay’s oratorical skills – not in the courtroom, but when he was on a panel at a City Club of Portland Friday Forum on regional transportation – when Jay was Chair of Metro’s Transportation Committee. I wondered how he was going to both integrate and deliver the bar joke that I gave him and urged him to try – he nailed it!!

“A traffic engineer walks into a bar carrying a piece of asphalt under his arm. The bartender asks him what he wants to drink. The engineer states, ‘Two beers – One for me and one for the road….’”

Legal Career

He “lost” the long hair….

Notwithstanding all his other activities, Jay has managed to fit in a legal career also marked by accomplishment. As a young lawyer of 37, he argued at the US Supreme Court on an appeal from Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals. (He represented publicly owned utilities in their battle with aluminum companies and the Bonneville Power Administration over a power contract issue. He has also appeared before the Oregon Supreme Court on a number of arguments and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Perhaps it’s Jay’s ability to analyze and critique the English language, begun in his undergraduate days and refined in law school, where he learned to interpret terms very literally. This trait was most aptly demonstrated after Jay and some of his fellow classmates moved from an apartment into a small house off campus. Shortly after the move, a small kitchen fire broke out and Jay phoned 911 to report it which resulted in the following dialogue:

Jay: I need to report a kitchen fire in our house.

911 Operator: Sir, please give us your address.

Jay: We just moved here a few days ago. I don’t know it.

911 Operator: (somewhat exasperated..) Sir, can you at least give me your street name?

Jay: Well, when I’m playing rugby, they call me “Bubba.”

Asked about his most memorable legal achievement, Jay responds that it was winning a $108 million arbitration, which included $8 million in post judgment interest on a contested energy contract. (Powerex v Alcan).

Another tradition at Schwabe has been ongoing pro-bono legal services for low-income clients at the East County Legal Clinic. Jay was involved in the founding of the Clinic and also received the Oregon State Bar Public Service Award for his pro bono work. His legal expertise as a trial lawyer in environmental and energy law are recognized by his selection as both an Oregon Super Lawyer and inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America.

Creative client entertainment

Waldron showed creativity in his client relations recently, when he had a group of important clients who flew into Portland. Rather than take them to the customary “stuffy” restaurant, Waldron consulted Thebeerchaser and elected to take them to Club 21 in Northeast Portland.

No, it’s not a strip club notwithstanding the name, but a great dive bar in a former Greek Orthodox church. The clients loved the ambiance and the “Build-Your-Own Burger” option for dinner.

Having just turned seventy, who knows what future legal milestones and adventures are still on Jay’s (and Karen’s) plate, but the newest Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter has traveled life’s journey to this point with a full mug!

The Dancing Bear is a good drinking companion – just remind him to take his coat with him when he leaves the bar and be comforted by the fact that he no longer chews on glass while drinking his favorite beer – Double Mountain India Red Ale.

Or ask him to quote from his favorite poem by Emily Dickinson: “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” That might promote more of his stories that space constraints precluded this blog from covering. For instance, ask him about “hiding my beer money from a Mafia hit man while he held a gun to my head.”

Excerpt from Thebeerchaser Post of 5/13/2013

Scene of social upheaval

…….Yes, Thebeerchaser was skeptical, but these pictures attest to the fact that an alcove (in the Jake’s Bar) leading into the men’s room preserves some rugger nostalgia – thanks to John Underhill, Jake’s former manager and rugby player.

One of the best mementos is a letter to Jakes written by Steven G. Hayford on April 29, 1982. He took umbrage with his experience in the bar where:

As each offending participant was twice as large as (we were) and a full four times as large as your bartender, a riot did not ensue, and my party bid a hasty (although loud) retreat.

…..I believe the ‘gorillas’ that attacked us belonged someplace other than at a high-class place like Jake’s and should have been evicted……I would like to consider the incident closed…but my bruised ego is preventing me from making a clean break……

“Gorilla Tactics with a Swiss army knife

I would appreciate it, if you would reimburse me for the nominal amount of $20…… for my silk tie. If you decline, I’m afraid…..people who wear ties will start avoiding your restaurant. Please consider my flippant tone a measure of my sense of humor and not as a lack of seriousness of this matter.”

The Hayford letter still on display at Jakes

Since the statute of limitations has tolled, Waldron is pretty candid about the incident and provides this perspective:

“He made a loud remark about the inappropriateness of our attire. We reacted immediately—Two 250 lb. players lifted him off his feet and pinned his arms , a Swiss army knife appeared on car keys from one of the player’s pocket and I cut it cleanly.

We placed the cut portion of the tie on the bar with a double margarita as compensation —I cut it with the scissors from a Swiss army knife — A warm night in Jake’s after rugby practice, we in shorts and practice gear, he and others were in suits.”

In the Rugger’s alcove at Jake’s

Now, Thebeerchaser does not condone social upheaval in bars, there should be consensus that unless you’re a client, it’s more interesting to hear Waldron’s rugby stories than his legal theories on siting of mining facilities or the definition of major stationary sources under Title V of the Clean Air Act.

Life of Riley Tavern – Visit this Bar in the Pearl

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Those of you who have lived as many decades as Thebeerchaser probably remember watching William Bendix, the loveable wing-riveter at a California aircraft assembly plant, who was the star of the television show, Life of Riley, which ran for five seasons in the late 1950’s.

William Bendix and his son “Junior”

Only a few of the group who had a great lunch at this Portland bar recently were even born at that time. But the majority were tax lawyers from Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt and probably didn’t watch TV when they were kids anyway.

They were drawing images of the IRS logo with crayons, which served them well as five of the six lawyers present that day, in addition to having their law degrees and passing the Oregon State Bar went on to get an LLM – essentially a masters degree in tax law.

While Thebeerchaser’s only other experience with a dive bar in the Pearl District was less than memorable (the Low Brow Lounge), Life of Riley Tavern (hereafter LoR) was a very good venue – not only for the lunch we enjoyed, but when I returned for a beer several afternoons later. An apt description is this one from Yelp on 3/26/2015

The upstairs bar

“Amazing bar, exemplary staff. I don’t usually find myself in The Pearl but I do make it down here at least once a week because of the great service, free billiards, shuffleboard, and darts in the basement nightly.

The upstairs is nice as well, but the basement feels more homey. Both the upstairs and downstairs have great TVs for sports viewing…..the music in the basement is top-notch…..Oh yeah, they’re happy hour is ridiculously awesome.”

Good lunch-time specials

So let’s start with the upstairs portion of the bar – one reviewer compared it to a ‘50’s diner, which is not too far off. There’s only a small bar and some small, round bar tables with the rest of the seating as tables for the restaurant. In fact, I didn’t even realize that they had a great bar space downstairs until I read some of the reviews after my first visit.

Scrumptious mac & cheese

The food is a strength. I had a scrumptious and plentiful serving of Cajun Mac & Cheese (which required a long workout after lunch out of guilt….) and the remainder of our party of eight all were very positive about their lunches ranging from the Riley Burger to the Pulled Pork Sandwich.

Great sandwiches too

As Megan, our friendly server explained, “You should try our barbecue – its’ awesome,” and the traeger, right outside of the bar is well employed. She also was justifiably proud of the fresh sauces and dressings – their own recipes and made fresh each day. The prices are typical of Portland and a bit lower than you would expect in the Pearl.

But it’s the lower level that really defines LoR. Down the steps into an intriguing, dark basement space with just a few small windows – it reminded me of the fallout shelters the government promoted when I was a kid. (They also told us with sincerity during drills that we should assume a position under our desks in order to avoid the impact of a nuclear warhead…..)

“Get under your desk, cover your head and kiss your *#@ goodbye.”

Down to the “Fallout Shelter” bar

And I had a great conversation with Dave, the bartender, who has been there for ten years – a former carpenter who helped build the bar and with construction after the current owner purchased the building …….

Dave draws rave reviews from customers and he told me about the 22 beers on tap and let me sample a few – free, which was nice after our experience at Hair of the Dog Brewpub where you had to pay from $1.25 to $3.50 for a 2 ounce sample.

He stated that his clientele includes a bunch of regulars who work in the Pearl to neighbors who show up in hordes especially when there are Blazer or Timber games or when March Madness is running. Dave also stated that one thing that distinguishes the bar is that all the games including pool, darts and a great shuffleboard game are free.

Almost all of the comments about LoR on social media were positive although speaking of the Timbers, a rant is in order. It demonstrates the reason why a number of Portlanders who think soccer is boring and should be confined to Europe, also get upset at the pretentiousness of some Timber fans.

Free shuffleboard

While this comment goes back to August 2011, here’s the remarks by a guy who trashed what he admitted was a great bar simply because of one objection – and he signed the review “Anonymous.“

“What a shame. Great beer, lovely TV projection screen, decent food but totally cynical staff with the ‘no sound during a Timbers game’ attitude. Come-on owners! This is Portland, Home of the Timbers.

My friends and I were amongst the 15 people watching the game vs the 4 that were at the bar with no interest and the staff insisted that there was not enough people in the joint to put the sound of the game on. I am very disappointed with the patriotism of Life of Riley. You disappoint your patrons and you disappoint Portland. Shame on you!”

Dave, the friendly downstairs bartender and a guy with good judgment!

No, you misfit! Shame on you for not having the guts to even identify yourself and for your myopic perspective.

A little due diligence revealed that the Timbers played 34 games in 2011 in which they scored a total of 42 goals. Games are 90-minutes and assuming no overtime matches (which may not be totally factual, but this is a bar blog….) that means one goal scored by the Timbers every 72.86 minutes.

This begs the question, “What would the narration have added in a game that probably ended either in a scoreless tie or one with fewer than two goals scored?” (That’s a rhetorical question….) I think this rant is justified especially in light of one other comment on Yelp: “……… music in the basement is top-notch and suited for whatever crowd may be in at the time.”

Cheers to the 2009 Oregon Legislature.

One other very dated and interesting complaint from Portland Barfly dating clear back to 2008, again demonstrates the wisdom in the Oregon Legislature’s 2009 expansion of the Oregon “Smoke-free Workplace” Law which provided that bars and taverns could no longer permit smoking on or within ten feet of the premises.

“I visited Life of Riley for the first time this friday night, my friend and I hung out downstairs because I love smoky dens. It was a pretty cool place – the servers were quick and friendly and stayed on top of things even though it was packed. The drinks were good and strong. We managed to meet some cool people……

Now I hate it when people bitch about how smoky bars are and… I am a smoker and I love smoky dives, but holy shit!! This was by far the smokiest space I have ever been! Our eyes were burning! And this feeling lingered the next day. My advice to the owner: crack a few windows when it gets that busy….. You gotta have a little more circulation in there.”

Thebeerchaser appreciates this law because having reviewed about 175 bars since late 2011 – many of which I visited multiple times, my health and possibly my lifespan would have been adversely impacted by the second-hand smoke, especially given my preoccupation with dive bars. The tobacco lobby at the time, taking lessons from the NRA in opposing reasonable legislation, maintained:

“Cigarettes don’t kill people. It’s the tars, and toxins in the smoke.”

Upstairs bar area

Look back at the comments from a prior post in this blog (check the link below) to see what the pre-2009 bar environment was like:

The Horse Brass Pub: “We worried that (the new law) would spell the end of …(the) venerable Brit Pub…Not because the 33-year old bar…wouldn’t retain its loyal patrons, but because we assumed its billowing, milkshake-thick clouds of cigarette smoke were load bearing structural elements of the building without which the sprawling pub would collapse.” (“2009 Willamette Week Drink Guide”)

And finally, a couple of comments about my companions at LoR. Now one might think that tax lawyers, especially those who have over-achieved and gotten their LMM, might be boring company, but they are a great and interesting group.

Interesting companions…Woodhouse, Reuter, Van Zanten and Eller

Roy Lambert, now retired, is an active masters competitive swimmer with some regional records. In retirement, he audits courses in medieval and Renaissance history at Portland State.

Marc Sellers, besides majoring in chemistry as an undergrad, he was the first attorney in the U.S. to obtain an award of attorney fees against the Internal Revenue Service under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.

This courtroom mentality may have been derived from his dedication to martial arts for many years where he competed at regional and national championship levels. He was also an accomplished mountaineer and volunteer in mountain rescueand for years was a member of Mt. Hood Mountain Rescue.

Sellers – skilled litigator with a dry sense of humor

Besides that, Marc has a remarkable sense of humor which he regularly demonstrates on firm e-mails such as the following:

“This week’s Tax Department Employee of the Week is Peter Osborne. Peter was recently recognized by Firm Management as the ‘Lawyer Most Likely to Get the Correct Answer’ with respect to issues arising under Internal Revenue Code Sections starting with the number three.”

Haystack Rock by Pete Osborne.

Pete Osborne, who was accompanied by his spouse,Terri, is described by his colleagues as one of the smartest, if not the smartest, tax lawyer in Portland. On occasion, he has been known to return to Portland with both a big smile and winnings from the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas – Senior Division…. He’s also a talented artist. (See another of his works in the post about Brannons’ in Beaverton.)

Osborne’s etching of the Three Sisters

Jennifer Woodhouse, besides being fluent in Spanish, is a mentor at Lewis & Clark Law School where she graduated cum laude and leads Schwabe’s Women in Business group

Dan Eller received the prestigious Joyce Ann Harpole Scholarship and other law school honors at Lewis and Clark. He is an skilled outdoorsman and cyclist and frequently cycles around the base of Mt. Bachelor – active in numerous civic boards and a scout leader for his kids.

Even the Tax Group endorses Thebeerchaser logo

Katherine Van Zanten is an avid skier and a girl scout leader for her kids. Also active in the Oregon State Bar Tax Section.

And don’t forget one of Portland’s best legal secretaries, Gretchen Reuter, who has the technical expertise, interpersonal skills and patience to manage the workload of several of these people concurrently.

Having lunch with the Tax Group was enjoyable. And Life of Riley is a really good bar with good food, a friendly and knowledgeable staff (with enough common sense to mute the sound during a sporting event to play great music) and an awesome cellar that you won’t find too many places in Portland.

Life of Riley Tavern 300 NW 10th Ave

Barlow Artisanal Bar – where the cocktails are a craft!

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Barlow Artisanal Bar, an upscale cocktail bar opened in September 2014, is right across from the Arlington Club and the Schnitz on the corner of Salmon and Park Avenues in downtown Portland. Now admittedly, Thebeerchaser is generally more inclined to hit a good dive bar, but my first two encounters with this young bar – over a year apart were both positive. It is perfectly suited if one is trying to impress your date or your spouse after dinner and the theatre or a concert in the heart of Portland’s Central Business District.

And from the description in the Portland Tribune a few months after it opened, the assertion was validated:

“…….Barlow has been raking in the late-night, dressed-up, theater-going crowd.”

I enjoyed having a cocktail on the second visit with good friend, businesswoman and Portland civic all-star, Sharon Van Sickle-Robbins, with whom I served on the board for the City Club of Portland – a great organization.

Sharon VanSickle Robbins – civic all-star

She served as City Club President, in addition to her stints on the University of Portland Board of Regents, the Planned Parenthood Board and the American Electronics Association/Oregon board and she was also Public Relations Society of America/Portland Board President.

In addition, she chaired the Regional Arts & Culture Council Board and was President of the Public Relations Society of America/Portland – a list of service that could be for three people! Sharon has been an effective, savvy and conscientious board member and also has a great personality as I found out the first time that we Beerchased together – near the commencement of Thebeerchaser’s Tour of Bars, Taverns and Pubs in late 2011.

Great dive bar and hangout for UP Students

We hit the Twilight Room in North Portland, which brought back memories to Sharon because it was a favorite bar when she was an undergraduate student at University of Portland (obviously after she turned twenty-one!)

My first foray at Barlow was in late 2014 with lawyer, Jeff Jones, when he visited from the East coast on a trip after his stint at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm, where we both worked.

Jeff, after graduating with both an MBA and his JD or law degree from Willamette University worked for several years as an associate at the SWW firm. He was known as a gifted lawyer and for his sense of humor. The latter was only marginally appreciated by me as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, because management was usually the target of his jokes. Part of the issue may also have been the legal expense we incurred from outside counsel trying to extricate both Jones and the firm from the results of his quirky and irreverent humor.

Jeff Jones during his visit in 2014

It was a trait appreciated by most folks albeit primarily out of a sense of morbid curiosity. After several years at the firm, he abandoned a partnership-track position to pursue his dream as a stand-up comedian in Atlanta and write a book.

He succeeded in both goals. His success during four years as a stand-up comic at the Whole World Improv Theater was honed in Portland by the number of times the judge and jury both laughed hysterically at his closing argument during trials.

His book, A Crash Course in American Law, published in 2015, for a time was #1 on the Amazon e-book legal and legal humor categories. Having helped him with some of the editing, I knew the book was interesting and funny, but was amazed at the overwhelmingly positive reviews by those who read it (4.5 out of 5 stars) including:

“I was laughing–I mean snorting tea out through my nose and onto my Kindle screen laughing–before I even got to the first page.” SPR Reviews

“Using his unique brand of fact-driven and often humorous interpretation of law, Mr. Jones acts as our quirky and lovable, if not overly-peppy, tour guide on a behind-the-scenes look into the American justice system. 4/23/15

Clarence Darrow would be proud….

Of course, based on a sense of retribution, I first turned to the four (out of 69) critical reviews because potential buyers should be aware of this sentiment:

” ……I also got the feeling the author really doesn’t care for the American Judicial system or Americans for that matter. (emphasis supplied) 8/16/15

“…….or, in this case, it’s like listening to the incoherent and frankly stupid ramblings of someone who claims to have passed the Bar….this is an utter waste of time…don’t waste your time, or money.” 5/19/15

In the interest of fairness, it should be disclosed that the last review was submitted by a former client in one of Jeff’s trials in Multnomah Circuit Court – I think it was a case about a horse…..

He now has a big-boy job as a lawyer for IMERYS, a multi-national company headquartered in Paris, specializing in the production and processing of industrial minerals.

But we will return to Jones later — now back to Barlow.

Rather than me trying to describe the space at Barlow – a highlight of the bar, let’s look at a few good descriptions by various print media sources:

“Walk through a door….and you’ll be greeted by the larger-than-life bedroom eyes of silent film star Janet Gaynor, elaborate chandeliers, dark textured walls, swanky etched mirrors, and a Gatsby vibe that aims to distill the roaring 20s into a single night out.” Portland Monthly 9/4/14

“In a long room decorated with aviation chairs, shimmer screens, tucked away seating and a menu that hearkens back to an earlier time, Barlow Artisanal Bar plans to bring a slice of old Hollywood to downtown Portland….Barlow was designed to look and feel like being inside a black and white movie.” Samantha Bakall The Oregonian/OregonLive 8/ 8/14.

“The elegant, but not-too-stuffy, space — with seating at the bar, at the picture windows and in private curtained booths.” Portland Tribune 1/15/15

Curtained booths

“(Barlow) aims to feel like a black-and-white movie, which explains the gunmetal-gray upholstery, the dark, flocked wallpaper and the giant image of silent-film star Janet Gaynor on a back wall, presiding over the room like a doe-eyed goddess…….Willamette Week 2015 Bar Guide

More privacy

And it is fun at Barlow to sit by the large windows and watch people walk by as you partake.

Now while they have only three beers and Guiness on tap, it makes sense that one would order a cocktail at Barlow rather than a beer, just as it makes sense to down a PBR at a dive bar rather than a vodka martini (up with olives).

Meet Nathaniel – a craftsman…

Nathaniel, the bartender and Mariah, our waitress, were both very nice people and helpful in explaining the cocktail lineup described in the bar’s website:

“The cocktail program…..brings a modern twist to the classics of the early 20th century. The carefully-curated list celebrates classic Hollywood allure with an emphasis on modern craft cocktail methods, including liquid nitrogen-chilled glassware, clarified syrups and juices, and hand-engraved ice cubes.

Nathaniel explained that the Glasgow Smile, was the most popular drink which has a base of Scotch and the Draper Daiquari, which is the most potent. And let’s again rely on some media images which described their mixed drinks – there are ten on the menu ranging from $10 to $11.

The Glasgow Smile

“The chic yet playful Prohibition-era space offers a play on the classic Gibson, a martini with traditionally nothing more than gin, vermouth and a pickled olive. Barlow’s Gibson, however, is a punch in the face — a mouthful of red onion flavor that’s been clarified in a centrifuge so that the pulp separates from the juice. The red onion juice is shaken with Boodles Gin (a British brand) and Dolin Blanc Vermouth, from France.” Portland Tribune 1/1/15

Sharon had a glass of wine (six on tap ranging from $8 to $12) and then I tried the Glasgow Smile, which lived up to its billing by Mariah although as Thebeerchaser, I still ordered a Double Mountain Kolisch as my first drink. The beers are $6. Happy Hour prices are $5 for the beer $6 for the wine, well drinks $6 and cocktails $8.

If you want a full dinner, better head to the Picnic House next door, which shares a kitchen with Barlow, because the bar’s menu is pretty limited consisting primarily of appetizers-type offerings. The chef at Barlow might not agree with that assessment, but the eleven items on their “nosh” menu are confined to selections such as brussel sprouts, greens, onion dip and a burger, if you want to pay $10. And I would have a little problem paying $13 for a grilled-cheese sandwich even though it’s accompanied by tomato soup.

The owners of Barlow are social activists and entrepreneurs, Jessica and Aaron Grimmer, who also own the adjacent Picnic House Restaurant (which also has a more extensive menu), the just opened Chk Chk on NW 23rd which specializes in fried chicken and High Noon, which has a southwest menu and specializes in frybread on NW 2nd.

How did Barlow get its name? Some commenting on social media were miffed because the name was already claimed by the Barlow Tavern, a dive bar in North Portland and there is also the Barlow Trail Roadhouse in Welches (named for the Oregon Trail pioneer, Sam Barlow) and even the Barlow Room in Dayton for wine tasters.

Or you can travel to Boston; Tucker, Kentucky or Crowley, Texas (Barlow’s First and Last) where there are also Barlow Taverns. If that doesn’t satisfy you could try Barlow, Kentucky, except you might have to travel a few miles to the Silver Bullet in nearby Paducah, since Barlow has a population of only 675 and no notable dive bars.

But we digress. Both Nathaniel and Mariah echoed the sentiments of Portland Monthly Magazine which stated that the bar’s name is a slang term for “flapper” – the dancing girls way back in the Roaring “20’s, an era when the Arlington Club next door didn’t even admit women members —- Oh wait! The staid institution waited until the 1990’s when it finally deigned to allow females on the roster…..

Barlow is also referenced as an “Artisanal Bar” – a reference to the craftsmanship of the bartenders. This led one critic on Oregon Live to comment:

“What the hell is an “Artisanal” bar? Already this place is sounding very pretentious. Will the wait staff be required to undergo plastic surgery to make them resemble Hollywood stars of the bygone era?”

We’ll leave the trademark issues to the lawyers and speaking of lawyers, Jeff Jones deserves a few more comments. One review described Barlow as “elegant, but not-too-stuffy,” perhaps that is why I invited Jeff to join me at the then newly opened tavern when he was on a trip from the East coast. Because that may be an apt description of the Jones’ sense of humor when he was at the firm as evidenced by the examples below:

Jones – now having to wear a tie – again.

One day in June, 2004 at 10:40 AM, one of the firm’s secretaries (she worked for Jones and several other attorneys and as difficult as it is to understand, she also appreciated his humor) sent this frantic e-mail:

“I have lost my ring that my grandmother left me. It is white gold, band style with 6 diamonds in a row. Please, if anyone finds it, please return to me. It has great sentimental value….”

Two and one-half minutes later, this e-mail was sent by Jeff Jones.

“Ring for sale: Antique, white gold, band-style with 6 diamonds in a row. Must sell fast. $50 or best offer.”

Those who left their black-berrys unattended might also find an e-mail they purportedly sent (authored by Jones) with a question such as “Can someone tell me how to get to the Courthouse?” (From a sixth-year litigation associate) “Does anyone know where I can buy a Thanksgiving turkey and how to cook it?” or “Does anyone have some super-glue laying around?”

And finally (at least for this post), the firm urged legal secretaries to assist others if they were light on work. One very good secretary sent out this e-mail inquiry:

“Let me know if I can help you?”

One minute later, the Jones’ response was”

“Can you build a wine rack?”

Jeff and his wife, Winslow, married in 2015.

In a high stress environment, having outstanding lawyers who did not take themselves too seriously is one factor that made Schwabe Williamson a great place to work and why it repeatedly on the Oregon Business Magazine’s list of “The Top 50 Best Employers.”

————–

Nathaniels workbench!

To conclude, Barlow, while it may be a little expensive and limited on the culinary side, is a creative and welcome addition to the Portland bar scene. If you don’t want to just be satisfied with one of the downtown hotel lobby or restaurant bars, try Barlow Artisanal Bar.

It has a nice decor, personable and knowledgeable staff and some great cocktails. And take a friend along like Sharon Robbins or Jeff Jones so the experience is even better.

Barlow Artisenal Bar 737 SW Salmon Street

Hair of the Dog Brewery – “Ale Strong Enough to Make You Attack the Mailman” *

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

* Quote from an article in Maxim Online by Tim Clark

Followers of this blog will already know that Portland’s Eastside Industrial District is a thriving area as evidenced by the post on the resurrected Produce Row Café on 12/7/15. There are also a lot of good restaurants such as Clark Lewis, Olympic Provisions and bars such as Bunk Bar, Side Door and My Father’s Place.

P1040063 Essentially the same folks who enjoyed Produce Row, recently tried the Hair of the Dog Brewery and Tasting Room on a Thursday night and then we walked through the inaugural Portland Winter Light Festival after drinks and dinner.

This brewery, founded in 1993 and one of Portland’s earlier micro-brew enterprises has differentiated itself from others as described on its website:

“Hair of the Dog Brewing Co is dedicated to providing the beer lover with new and unusual beer styles. Several of our beers are bottle-conditioned or re-fermented in the bottle resulting in beers which improve with age. Beers that are bottle-conditioned have a built-in shelf life.

They can be stored at room temperature (50–74 degrees F) and will continue to mature in the bottle for several years like a fine wine. We make only a small amount of beer and each bottle has a unique bottling number. This number changes every 5000 bottles, or 200 cases.”

Aging behind the scenes

Now there is some debate about whether the aging process or re-fermentation does, in fact, improve the beer, but the comments on their beer are generally good and there is no debate that it is strong. For example, one article stated the average micro-brew ABV (alcohol-by-volume) is slightly less than 6%. HoD beer is generally much stronger as you will see below.

Perhaps the high ABV is the rationale for the name of the brewery, since the Urban Dictionary defines “hair-of-the-dog” as an “alcoholic beverage consumed to ease a hangover.”

One of HoD’s beers, “Dave,” which is no longer produced, had an ABV of 29% and was rated by “Beer Tutor” as the twelfth strongest beer in the world in an undated post. According to Wikipedia, “The high alcohol level was achieved by repeated freezing and removal of the frozen water, a process called freeze distillation.”

They had nine of their twenty beers on tap that night and the beers we tried were as follows:

Bourbon Fred from the Wood – 10% ABV

Blue Dot – 7% ABV Ruth – 5% ABV

Fred – 10% ABV

That compares with one of Thebeerchaser’s standard favorites – PBR with an ABV of 4.74%.

Oregon beer legend, Fred Eckhart, namesake of a few Hod’s beers

Some Comments on Beer Ratings!

Although this blog is primarily about bars and not the intricacies of the beer itself, let’s talk a little about Beer Ratings from the view of a non-connoisseur. According to Wikipedia (okay, its not the Oxford Encyclopedia but remember this is a blog post not a Harvard Business Review article) BeerAdvocate (has a “database contain(ing) about 3,783,570 ratings of about 100,976 beers,” on 11/13/15.

RateBeer, founded in 2000, which at an unspecified time in the last ten years, “….had 4.5 million ratings of almost 200,000 beers, from nearly 16,000 breweries.”

Perhaps a more valid opinion than Beer Advocate or RateBeer!

BeerAdvocate is a great resource on beer terminology, home brewing, the history of beer and does explain rating criteria – appearance (6%), taste (40%), smell (24%) and mouthfeel (10%).

But I tend to agree with their staff member who wrote, “Many see reviewing as an unnecessary process best left to geeks…..” So rather than get caught up with what the experts think – see some of that below – let’s look a bit at what the common person thinks about HoD beer. These are a few comments on Yelp from different time periods and seem to be consistent:

“The beer was complex and delicious. 3/26/13

“Well balanced beer.” 3//13

“Beers were expensive, but excellent. You won’t get these beers anywhere else and it’s well worth the $ spent.” 2/22/14

“Not your typical beer.”

“Beer was very much for the adventurous, ABVs all pretty punchy. Delicious beer though.” 9/8/15

And a comparison by our “Walking/Drinking Group” (WGD!), who in the last eight months has visited Ecliptic Brewing, Produce Row in addition to HoD (see the links for Thebeerchaser’s review). Produce Row does not brew its own beer but has twenty-three beers on tap.

Keeping in mind that there were two tax lawyers in our groups of six at HoD and eight people at the other two venues, you can understand why there was no consensus except with the tax lawyers in their animated discussion on the benefits derived under sum-of-the-digit depreciation (SOD) pursuant to Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code.

IRS Logo

As evidence:

“‘SOD,’ as accelerated depreciation, better matches costs to revenues because it takes more depreciation in the early years of an assets’ useful life,”

and
“‘SOD’ reflects more accurately the difference in usage of different assets from one period to the other.”

A majority in our group liked the beer at Ecliptic best and thought the beers on tap at HoD okay but pretty hoppy. “I had the Bourbon Fred from the Wood, and would recommend it. Heavy, full of flavor. (My wife) had the Blue Dot, and it was ok. We shared a Fred, and it was tasty. And my wife and I each had the Ruth, which was fine, but not exceptional. Another had the Fred and stated, “I was not impressed by any of the beers available.”

One annoyance at HoD, and not one found at most of Thebeerchaser’s prior stops, was the inability to taste any of the beers before having to make a purchase.

The brewery would respond that they had three-ounce samplers available, but they cost between $1.25 to $3.25 and a patron should not have to shell out that sum or any amount just for a small “sip” of beer. I hope this is not a trend. Come on guys…that’s the cost of doing business and especially when you pride yourself on “new and creative beer styles.”

More on Beer Ratings……

RateBeer brags that it has “the world record holder for complete beer reviews, RateBeer’s Jan Bolvig of VestJylland, Denmark has over 36,000 beer reviews to his credit.” Now not to be cynical, but I’m not sure that I would put a lot of credence in a guy’s palate (or liver…) once he had sampled that many beers.

And, for example, a guy named Joe who has a blog called “Epic Curiousity,” mapped out the locations of BeerAdvocate’s “World’s Best 250 Beers” as of June 2014. At least ten or 11% pf the 89 from the Western US and Alaska were from Oregon. (214 of the 250 were from the US.) Oregon’s highest was “The Abyss” from Deschutes Brewery at #33 with a rating of 4.5. Following it was Hair of the Dog’s “Adam of the Wood” at #55 with a rating of 4.45.

Others in the top 250 were Cascade Brewing’s “Sang Noir” at #65 (4.41), Pelican Brewing’s “Mother of All Storms” at #69 (4.41), HoD’s “Matt” at #87 (4.39), Hood River’s Logsdon Farmhouse Ale’s “Peche ‘n Brett” at #116 (4.35) and Bend’s Boneyard Brewing “Hop Venom Double IPA” at #117 (4.35), Boneyard’s “Notorious Triple IPA” at 142 (4.32), Cascade Barrel House’s “Cascade Apricot Ale” at #171 (4.3), Cascade’s “Cascade Sang Royal” at #182 (4.3) and Cascade’s “Cascade Noyaux” #210 (4.28).

So many good choices…..

A quick review of BeerAdvocate’s most current ratings shows eight Oregon beers in the top 250 with Deschute’s “Abyss” again the highest (#45) and no new Oregon beers or breweries appeared to make it.

And Trillium Brewery of Boston has an astounding fourteen of their beers in the list, which begs the question about the impact of marketing and politics on the ratings, especially because “Trillium opened in March 2013 with the support of family, volunteers, two babies, and three employees.”

Now how they distinguished between a rating of 4.39 and 4.35, I don’t know, but perhaps it’s because BeerAdvocatate promotes its sophisticated formula: “We use the same true Bayesian estimate formula used by the Internet Movie Database for calculating average ratings.” To further the rationale, perhaps they use Robert Redford, Emily Blount and Robert De Niro as raters although I think Redford flunked statistics in college.

p(\tilde{x}|\mathbf{X},\alpha) = \int_{\theta} p(\tilde{x}|\theta) \, p(\theta|\mathbf{X},\alpha) \operatorname{d}\!\theta

Posterior Distribution

So in concluding this rant, rather than use elements of Bayesian statistics such as posterior predictive and the principle of maximum entropy, etc., I would recommend just going to one of Portland’s 750+ watering holes or Oregon’s “234 brewing facilities operated by 194 breweries” (Oregon Craft Beer website) and tasting the beers yourself. Or consider using the close-to-home 2016 Oregon Beer Awards sponsored by Willamette Week as a reference. (They primarily use local experts such as Beerchaser of the Quarter, Lisa Morrison, and Rob Widmer as their blind tasters.)

However, Beer Advocate concludes its top 250 beer list with the admonition, “But enough nerd talk. Let’s drink a beer!” Thebeerchaser thinks that’s good advice unless you are reading this post at 3:00 AM.

Now Back to Hair of the Dog!

Hair of the Dog has a pleasant atmosphere – very clean and light and nice décor. I would suggest that it had a charm that was totally absent at Ecliptic and an ambiance comparable to Produce Row.

The servers and staff were also courteous and responsive. (For example, our waitress opined, “Switching from ‘SOD’ depreciation to the straight-line method during the life of the asset has some advantages that should be considered.”

How about the food? Two of us had the grilled cheese sandwich and rated it outstanding although there was some disappointment that only chips rather than fries were available as a supplement. One comment about the Reuben and the special sandwich was “the food was ok, but not particularly memorable,” and another stated, “the brisket was okay but not great.”

The food was okay, but not memorable.

And another annoyance, but worth commenting on, albeit not confined to HoD and asked rhetorically, “Why can’t I get horse radish dressing for my Rueben? This is a reoccurring issue I have in Portland when I order a Rueben?”

I suggested that he try the Goose Hollow Inn that proudly (and I might add with possible justification, advertises “The Best Reuben on the Planet!”

Try the Goose Hollow for Horseradish!

To summarize on the menu, I think all of us thought the food was okay and reasonably priced, but of the three aforementioned venues, the food at Produce Row was superior.

We finished with a very nice stroll down the Eastside Esplanade observing the Winter Light Festival, which had some technical glitches and being the inaugural event, can show improvement in the future. But it was “enlightening” and a credit to the City and its sponsors – something to anticipate next year.

The Portland Spirit

Hair of the Dog Brewery and Tasting Room

61 SE Yamhill Street Portland

Thebeerchaser Does Montana and Wyoming – Part 1

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Hiking in Grand Teton National Park

In a blog post dated January 14, 2016, I included a list of the ninety-six bars, taverns and pubs outside the city of Portland that Thebeerchaser (and in many cases, my wife Janet) has visited during the last five years. Included in that list were a number in Montana and Wyoming we hit during our road trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks last August.

Due to other priorities (and procrastination) those were not timely reviewed and the next two posts will attempt to remedy that because Missoula, Helena and Jackson, Wyoming all had wonderful establishments with colorful people and there was majestic scenery to be described.

Looking down on Missoula and the University of Montana campus from Mt. Sentinel

We drove from Portland to Missoula in one long day and arrived in time to have a great burger (okay, Janet had a Cobb Salad) and brew at the Tamarack Brewery.

Missoula is a picturesque and fascinating city of about 70,000 with a rich history, a very nice campus (the University of Montana) and more interesting bars and brewpubs than we could visit in one and one-half days.

After dinner, we walked through downtown stopping at the Stockman’s Bar (“Liquor up front – poker in the rear..”) and subsequently hit the Oxford Saloon, an historic bar and one in which the bartender, Beth, reacted enthusiastically when I explained my hobby of visiting and blogging about bars.

Beth, bartender and expert on “The Ox.”

“Well, you need to buy the book, Montana Watering Holes, because I’m quoted and Joan Meltzer, the author, does a great job describing the “Ox” – Missoula’s oldest bar.” (either 1883 or 1888) Since I had already had success using excerpts from the book “Colorado – A Liquid History and Tavern Guide to the Highest State,” after I contacted the author, the University of Colorado’s Dr. Tom Noel, I stopped in the next book store and purchased Joan’s book as Beth had insisted.

The Ox – the oldest bar in Montana

And Joan was also gracious in responding to my e-mail request and in a subsequent phone call with her permission to quote some examples of her “(celebration of) more than fifty of the most iconic, eccentric, and entertaining saloons scattered across Montana……”

She wrote the book in the early 1980’s, when she was in her twenties, and updated it by visiting all the bars in the original volume and adding a few others in 2009.

Her quest (one which I think is inspired and admirable) was to find “the perfect Montana bar.” Joan’s book is fascinating and this quote at the end of her introduction will demonstrate that those who enjoy Beerchasing will savor it:

“Today, many years removed from Prohibition, the Montana bar has retained its function as the social sanctuary of the West: a place to buy supplies, fill up the gas tank, eat dinner or end a long night of good-timing.

A place where lifelong plans and promises are made, and just as quickly broken. A place to cry in your beer over life’s inherent injustice—before you laugh in abandonment in the glow of one too many beers. A place to dance when the jukebox’s western tawny becomes too melancholy or too exuberant for a body’s rhythm to ignore. More than anything a place to gather. “ (Introduction – page XXVI)

The Oxford is like being in an Old-West museum – look at the rifles above the bar

And her description of the Oxford, which includes the fact that after the bar was moved from its original to its present location in 1955, “It’s never been closed. Open twenty-four hours. There are no locks for its doors.” (Page 134). And the Ox oozes history with its dark wood floors, amazing back-bar, black and white historic photos and collection of old rifles above the bar – a museum in itself.

Not much has changed over the years in the bar aside from addition of a vast array of video poker machines in one room of the bar — oh, and the discontinuation of the once popular “brains and eggs breakfast,”. The menu item was purportedly discontinued during the scare over mad-cow disease which swept the West about fifteen years ago although the Ox’s menu is still extensive.

And according to their website, “We have served over 200,000 orders of chicken fried steak with JJ’s special gravy since we introduced it on our menu in 1986.” (Assuming the website has current figures, this is about 20 per day – every day for the last 29 years, according to Thebeerchaser’s calculation!) The clientele includes, ranchers, Missoula business people, tourists and college students and the legacy of live poker games continues every night of the week.

Charlie B’s – no sign – but amazing interior

The number of great bars in Missoula requires a longer visit, but there were a few others, most notably Charlie B’s, the idiosyncratic favorite of noted Montana crime novelist, James Crumley (he was also Beerchaser of the Month on this blog in September, 2011 – see link). Crumley was a curmudgeon who started his crime novel, The Last Good Kiss, with what many reviewers have described as the best opening line of the genre’:

A long table at Charlie B’s and the light in the back is the order window for the Dino Cafe

“When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.”

The bar is to some extent beyond description except to say that notwithstanding its fabled lack of any external identification and not being listed in the phone book, it’s jammed every night of the week and known for its cheap beer, stiff drinks, young female bartenders, portraits of old (and now mostly dead) regulars and the small Dinosaur Café in the back of the bar renowned for its great Cajun food – you order it yourself.

An article from the Missoula Independent on March 6, 2008, quotes Crumley on Charlie B’s:

“’This is my home bar,’ Crumley says. ‘Home bars can change. They can move around. But when you find a home bar, you stick with it. Charlie knows what he’s doing…I like it in the afternoons. I usually try and get out before the kids come in. The kids today, I don’t know. They bump into you and don’t know, like I do, that you’re supposed to say ‘excuse me.’ I leave before they come in.’”

Plonk Wine Bar – refined and urbane

And talk about a contrast….after a beer at Charlie B’s, we walked a short distance down the street and had a great dinner and martini at Plonk – a wine bar and “an environment designed to engage the senses in an uncompromised celebration of the beauty of life.”

While Thebeerchaser is more comfortable in a dive-bar environment, Plonk was classy, the food was good and the gin martini (up with olives) was superb.

Plonk – a sleek bar

Plonk – Classy toilets….

One reason that we always sit at the bar in restaurants and bars while traveling is to meet people and our experience at the KettleHouse Brewery on the second day in Missoula was no exception.

Beer and conversation at the KettleHouse Brewery

We stopped in for a late afternoon beer and sat next to two women (Cynthia and Lisa) – one a retired teacher at an elite private school in Nashville,Tennessee (tuition is $18,000 per year!) and the other still working there as a PE instructor and coordinating the outdoor school.

The Airstream Ladies..

A cross-country road trip

Our conversation revealed that they were “camping” in their Airstream Trailer – pulled by a pick-up truck and fly-fishing their way across the US.

After we talked for about 30 minutes, they insisted that we come out and tour the Airstream. Great people and typical of those you meet in a new bar on the road.

A highlight was cycling a few miles up the Clark Fork River, riding back along the river through the middle of town (on great bike paths) and then having a noon brewski at the Draught Works Brewery.

It’s a captivating little brewery opened in 2011 on the outskirts of the city. The liquor laws in Montana are very idiosyncratic as our bartender explained. Microbreweries cannot brew more than 10,000 gallons annually if they sell beer on site and Draught Works sells all of its beer on premises.

Why should this brew-pub be limited to hours of 10 to 8 in a college town?

If beer is sold on site, the hours of operation can only be from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM and the amount is limited to 48 ounces per person daily in “sample rooms” – a reason that we were given a ticket when we purchased our pints (and also something that I’m sure that University of Montana students are clever enough to get around). And I thought the Oregon Liquor Control Commission rules are onerous at times.

James Crumley had a reserved seat in this bar

Now there were quite a few bars in Missoula that really looked interesting, but our time there precluded visiting until next trip. These included the Depot Bar – another favorite of James Crumley, the Silver Dollar (an eighty-year old institution), James Bar, Flathead Lake Brewpub and others.

The University of Montana dominates Missoula – a scenic and historical university town and the UM Grizzly Football Team is legendary.

The stadium is impressive and the city supports its team with passion. John Krakauer’s 2015 book Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town provides a viewpoint (disputed by many Missoulans) on how that devotion can go to far.

A recommended read on a topic which is a national issue

He chronicles some of the court trials and legal issues based on sexual assaults by members of the football team and the division in the community over the prosecution which ultimately resulted in a Department of Justice investigation. The book is controversial but a recommended read.

On to Helena, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

Yellowstone Falls

The Grand Tetons

Sloan’s (Tavern) – It’s a Lot Like Home

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Sloans – Like walking into a living room…….

Having visited seventy watering holes in Portland during the last fifty-four months, Thebeerchaser can assert that there are really no bad establishments in this group of bars, taverns and pubs. While some may be a little bit drab, the service may be less than stellar or the atmosphere has little charm or ambiance, all can be equated to a bull market – “When it is good, it is fantastic and even when it is bad, it is still pretty good!”

It can also be stated, however, that a few of the saloons I’ve visited have a charisma or charm that registers as soon as one enters. Those gems which I’ve reviewed and come to mind are Crackerjacks Pub in NW Portland, the Old Oregon Saloon in Lincoln City, Darwin’s Theory in Anchorage, Alaska and The Sink in Boulder, Colorado.

Thebeerchaser outside Sloan’s

Well, I am adding another Portland bar to that group – Sloan’s Tavern in NE Portland – right near Legacy Emmanuel Hospital. In an era where many new bars have sleek corporate-type environments with more taps than you could sample in a lifetime, it is refreshing to discover a family-run operation that epitomizes a charming old-fashioned gathering place.

The bar was opened by Bob Sloan and his wife, Shirley in 1979. The Sloans owned and operated a custom auto body and paint shop next door – started in 1954 and still operating – they specialized in Freightliner trucks. As evidenced by the amazing pictures in the bar, Bob Sloan also did skilled body and restorative work on classic autos. When a café next door to the body shop run by an elderly lady closed, they bought the property and opened the bar. (The entire property was originally a creamery that opened in 1926.)

Evidence of the Freightliner legacy on the west wall of Sloans

A charming aspect of Sloans is the décor, and Shirley, a beautiful and personable lady of 80, who graciously answered all my questions, pointed out that none of the furnishings were purchased new.

The bar stools – described affectionately by one reviewer as “adult high-chairs” – acquired from a diner, are classic as is the supplemental horseshoe bar near the west end of the establishment. Bob Sloan died in 2013, and Shirley still is owner, manager and does the cooking – and she is an excellent cook.

I might add, that one of the factors in making the evening one to remember was being accompanied by two friends:

Beerchaser Regular, West Coast Dave Hicks, a San Francisco-based legal consultant who has been on more Beerchasing expeditions than anyone except yours truly.

First-time Beerchaser, John Horvick, with West Coast Dave Hicks and Thebeerchaser logo

Portlander, John Horvick, Vice President and Political Director at DHM Research – Oregon’s premier survey research and polling firm, also joined us. Unless you have been living in a cave or alternatively blocked all broadcast and print media to escape the 2016 political races, you have undoubtedly heard John speak or seen one of his quotes in the papers or media.

Young Portland leader, Horvick. Still throws a mean strike…

He is a young leader in Portland as evidenced by his recent term as President of the City Club of Portland. John was born in Nebraska and graduated from the University of Minnesota after first spending most of his college years at University of Nebraska on a bowling scholarship…..!

In fact, his dad was a professional bowler and even though John wore loafers rather than bowling shoes while we drank, he was animated when discussing bowling hall-of-famers such as Don Carter, Dick Weber and Earl Anthony (1938 – 2001) who he reminded us was from Cornelius, Oregon.

Hall of Fame Bowler, Earl Anthony – he would love Sloans!

When asked about his time in the fast lane(s) – so to speak – John replied, “My bowling days were at Nebraska. I bowled for three years, and also taught the University bowling class. My students included NFL players and a first round pick pick in the WNBA. I had a great run bowling in college, but ……as my coach would remind us, no one ever retired on their bowling winnings.”

John hung up his bowling shoes in his senior year and graduated at Minnesota where he got in-state tuition and funding for a research project.

Distinguishing Characteristics of Sloan’s

The Food – Consistent with the family-owned orientation, the bar closes at 10:00 PM each night and is not open on weekends. When Shirley stops cooking in the afternoon, there is only a minimal menu of nachos, burgers, etc. available. But this former North Dakota girl stated, “Lunch is our prize!” She makes all the sauces and soups and puts together a great sandwich and lunch specials such as fish and chips with slaw ($6.25) In fact, try the Emanuel Special (ham, turkey and jack and cheddar cheese on a French roll – $6.25) named for the regular lunch customers from nearby Legacy-Emanuel Hospital.

Reg, the night bartender talking to some patrons

And the prices are very reasonable, for example, a great Reuben and fries for $8.25 or a 1/3 pound burger with fries for $7.25. Although they only have seven beers on tap and a slew of bottled beers, the environment to consume it is certainly far superior to some of the “beer shops” with 50 to 100 taps and the ambiance of a dental reception area. Besides, you can get a $1.50 draft PBR – all the time!

The Décor – The individual lamps and bar lighting, wall hangings, carpet, booths and bar stools, the mirror on the ceiling by the bar along with an old time rotating Schlitz beer globe all give a very comfortable neighborhood bar vibe as do the photos of classic cars on the wall.

Shirley describes it as “My living room,” and based on the amount of time she spends at the bar, the description is apt. While the Freightliner truck cab jutting out the side of the building is notable, the truck grill built into the bar itself, is also pretty cool.

A grill in the bar separate from that in the kitchen…..

And in what was described in 2012 by Willamette Week as “the best juke box in Portland”, you can watch a Chicago Coin’s Animatronic Big Band Box go into action while one of your favorite oldies is played. It’s one of about ten still working in the US and was manufactured in the 1950’s. As described in the “WW 2008 Bar Guide”:

“The true gem of the place is the jukebox—an ancient machine, it’s capped with a glass dome containing a miniature (eight-piece) plastic band (and singer) that moves in time to the music (mostly oldies).”

A classic and outstanding juke box

———–

There were some comments on social media that referenced Sloans as a dive bar. From one who has great affection for such establishments (see Thebeerchaser post “Analyzing Dive Bars Head First” – September, 2011), these reviewers don’t have a clue as to what constitutes this category and the mislabel is the equivalent in this wacked-out 2016 political scene of describing Donald Trump as an intellectual….

I’ll close by quoting excerpts from two authoritative sources – Portland Barfly and Willamette Weeks Annual Bar Guide for an apt picture of what you will encounter at Sloan’s Tavern and why you should visit it:

Portland Barfly: The absolute cutest bar in North Portland, by far! A retro-lover’s paradise – everything is vintage, down to the 50s diner coffee-maker. A former greasy spoon, this spot cleaned up into a perfect date destination with its deep booths, and fantastic mirrored ceiling. Command the bar in the really fun swiveling captain’s chairs! Beautiful wall hangings, combined with kitschy relics of bars past – it’s like the ultimate estate sale you hope desperately to stumble upon (though, sadly, everything is NFS).

Willamette Week 2013 Bar Guide: Throughout a vibrant but never cluttered ’70s interior, the high art of low culture has been lovingly assembled to breathtaking effect utterly shorn of irony or, strange as this may sound, excess….The blend of fashion-forward cocktails with time-swept food (our visit, the food special was beef stroganoff; the drink special, house-infused cucumber gin) reflects a clientele with both neighborhood holdovers and gay and lesbian transplants.

It’s the sort of hard-earned integration of clientele easily spoiled by nightlife tourists, but Sloan’s schedule and locale just far enough from several beaten paths have thus far prevented the wholesale invasion. There’s no better way to avoid weekenders than to avoid weekends.

Sloan’s Tavern 36 North Russell Street

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You’ll Want a Fork at the Hop N Cork – also a Mug!

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

Lake Oswego’s Newest Brew Pub

One lesson learned in the fifty-three months of Thebeerchaser’s Tour of Bars, Taverns and Pubs is “Don’t judge a bar by its external appearance. ‘Tap’ what’s inside.” (My high school literature teacher would have been pleased if I had alternatively used novelist George Elliot’s purported hypothesis “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”; however, she probably would not approve of the mission of this blog).

Support from the neighbors

So it is with a new establishment in Lake Grove right off SW Boones Ferry Road on the east side of I-5 near Bridgeport Village.

Established in September of 2015 in what used to be the Franz Bakery’s store in which bread slightly over the freshness guidelines was sold to many people including my wife and me, the Hop N Cork (hereafter the “HNC”) looks a bit stark on the outside.

Cozy niches for good conversation

That was also true of the Ecliptic Brewery in North Portland reviewed on this blog in May 2015. Unlike the Ecliptic, however, the character and warmth emanating when you enter the HNC is totally contrary to the former.

Ecliptic may have good beer and a cool name, but lacks any atmosphere (inside and outside) that would motivate Thebeerchaser to return as evidenced by the picture below.

The Ecliptic – good beer but no ambiance….

The warmth of the HNC is a direct extension of co-owner, Michelle Faubion, based on my three visits to this cool neighborhood gathering place. Michelle, has a charisma and enthusiasm that once you hear her story, makes you want this endeavor to succeed and gives confidence that it will do just that.

Hop N Cork co-owner and manager, Michelle Faubion

Partnerships can often be on delicate footing, but it appears that the partnership between Sunil Kumar and Michelle in the HNC is very complementary. They met when Michelle worked at the Growlerie in Portland and started talking about a joint venture in 2014.

After a lot of planning and some real land-use issues with the City of Lake Oswego which took perseverance to resolve, the HNC became a reality in September, 2015 with the two as co-owners and leasing the building that Kumar owns adjacent to his Prestige Cleaners.

Sunil and Michelle

Prestige goes back to 1979 when it was founded by Sunil’s parents and he bought the business from them in 2002. He is a U of O graduate who used the time after college graduation in retail management to hone his business skills.

Sunil stated that the capital investment in HNC is not intended to be a “one time deal” and don’t be surprised if you see similar brewpubs in the future based on the early success of HNC. Michelle handles the day-to-day operations of the bar while Sunil takes care of the business end – accounting and logistics. The pair works well together as evidenced by the picture below.

The HNC has an impressive rotating tap list of 27 beers – their consumption is about 10 to 12 kegs per week. One of the beer taps is their own brew and one is a gluten-free option, a dark nitro tap. They also have four Kombuca (fermented tea) options, two ciders an adult root beer and a non-alcoholic root beer. They do a lively growler business.

The impressive tap list is displayed digitally

And the tap list is displayed digitally behind the bar similar to bigger and more established bars such as Bailey’s Tap House and Apex. You can also review and order on one of the i-Pads in the bar or on your i-Phone.

Adding to the draft beer choices are eighteen wine taps and even prosecco on tap – “It’s a big seller.”

I was accompanied by Beerchaser regulars, Dan Swift and Mike Jones. We were each pleased with the micro-brews we downed: a Pelican Brewery’s McPelican Scottish Ale, Santiam Brewing’s Bramble On (honey wheat ale) and I liked Hop N Cork’s own White Belgian Ale.

But I have to tell you about the alcoholic root beer (Not Your Father’s Root Beer with an alcohol content of 5.9%). After downing a sample, I am enthusiastically waiting for the time I can add ice cream as does the individual on this 8/2015 Beer Advocate review: “It is hard to review this as a beer, since it smells, tastes, and feels just like root beer. I enjoyed it. Pours like a dark root beer, and has the carmel smell. Tastes like root beer. I might try to make a float out of it. Skol.”

Beerchaser regulars, Dan Swift and Mike Jones with Michelle and Thebeerchaser logo

Locally sourced and this guy is good at his craft!

The food is a strength of the pub and a reflection of Michelle’s standards and future goals. The menu is slightly limited, but they have a nice selection of appetizers and nine choices of sandwiches.

We had two good appetizers (the spinach dip and the charcutrie platter – locally sourced meats and cheeses) and on my return visit, I sampled the smoked steel head which will be the first item I order on my next trip to the HNC.

Michelle talks with passion about their menu notwithstanding a very small kitchen which is planned to expand in March as will be the case with their patio. In fact, 50% of the pub’s sales are from food – higher than the average for similar venues.

“Our food is all ‘farm to table’ and it comes in fresh every day.” The traeger, as evidenced in the photo, is used extensively and the food is also infused with their beers for added taste.

Specials for the day…….

The HNC reviews on social media to this point are virtually all positive – there were two that mildly complained about confusion on how to order food.

You can see from the sign in the photo, however, that it is pretty clear – you go to the bar to order, although in my three visits, a waiter took my order twice.

Not too difficult to understand.

Michelle said that as she grows, she will hire additional people so bar ordering isn’t necessary, but when things are not hopping, waiters circulate among the tables – a plan typical of most new pubs or bars.

The Hop N Cork is a family-type venue – striving for a living room environment and children are welcome. Michelle appreciated the support of the community when she went through the ponderous zoning process with the City of Lake Oswego and a big part of her clientele is neighborhood people.

So they had a pig roast last summer and several times a month hosts a “Tap Takeover” with several breweries, with specific food pairings and swag brought in by the breweries.

In January there was a pinewood derby contest with the proceeds donated to Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon, and the Ovarian Cancer Fund. You’ll see cornhole tournaments this summer and there is also music on many weekends by local groups.

And the environment is warm and friendly – keyed by this entrepreneurial woman’s charisma. The vendors don’t leave before receiving a hug and she responds to people with “Certainly, honey..” without pretense. She’s an Oregon girl, having graduated from St. Mary’s Academy and then attending University of Washington in nursing. After graduation, she followed family tradition getting involved in the hospitality industry.

Another amazing St. Marys Academy grad – besides Thebeerchaser’s daughter….!

She worked for two years at Portland Brewing until “they let everyone go.” She used her severance to travel to Mexico and worked as a diving instructor before returning to the Northwest and pharmaceutical sales (“a tough business”).

Nifty chandelier…

The Hop N Cork is one establishment which will see future visits by Thebeerchaser and I expect to see Michelle Faubion’s dream continue to grow and prosper. The following excerpt from the November, 2015 Newschoolbeer.com entitled, “The Eleven Best New Oregon Tap Rooms and Beer Bars” is typical and why you should check it out. And be sure to say “hello” to Michelle:

“Recently opened in a tiny unassuming business park, Hop n’ Cork is a little bit of downtown Portland’s Pearl District in quiet Lake O. One of Hop n’ Cork’s founders spent time at Portland Brewing and The Growlerie in Progress Ridge, and brings business knowledge and a craft beer acumen to the tap list and extensive bottle selection……With 75 seats and a full farm-to-table menu that keeps it simple with soups and sandwiches, live music on Saturday’s, Hop n’ Cork has already become a very popular destination. Pop in and check it out for yourself.”

The Hop N Cork

17450 Lower Boones Ferry Rd. Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

503-305-5903

Thebeerchasers List of Bars, Taverns and Pubs – the US and Europe

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Thebeerchaser

(For a list of all Portland bars reviewed, see the blog post dated 12/26/2015 immediately below this post.)

Those who follow this blog know that Thebeerchaser’s journey, begun in August 2011, was intended to be a tour of Portland bars, taverns and pubs with observations posted on the blog. Since we had just retired and started traveling with much greater intensity than during working years, the hobby expanded to include watering holes throughout the United State and Europe. You can probably understand how that might happen!!

Beerchasers-of-the Quarter, John Terry and Jim Westwood in our 2012 visit to the historic Goose Hollow Inn

Beerchasers-of-the Quarter, John Terry and Jim Westwood with former Portland Mayor Bud Clark in our 2012 visit to the historic Goose Hollow Inn

The “dedication” to Portland watering holes has not been compromised during the ensuing four and one-half years as evidenced by the list of 69 Portland establishments listed by sector of the City on Thebeerchaser post dated 12/26/15. The list of the bars outside Portland through August 2016 – five years since the “journey” commenced – is at the bottom of this post.

Dave, Steve and animals at the Central Pastime in Burns

A 2013 trip to Central and Eastern Oregon with my brother-in-law, Dave Booher and his good friend, Steve Larson from Pendleton was so enjoyable that it “compelled” me to expand the geography on the bars visited. For example, stories from the Central Pastime Tavern in Burns and the Long Branch Saloon in LaGrande just had to be told.

When my wife and I visited Europe for the first time in 2013 on a Rick Steves’ Best of Europe tour – six countries in twenty-one hectic but glorious days – our experience at the Devil’s Forest Pub in Venice, the Publican Bar in Beaune France, having a brewski at 9,700 near the summit of Mt. Schilthorn, as well as being chased out of the Beer Station in Paris (the only establishment in 53 months that objected to me taking pictures in their bar) also deserved relating.

Bier at the top of Mt. Schilthorn in Switzerland

Bier near the top of Mt. Schilthorn in Switzerland

Well, you understand the story….the next year, Dave, Steve and I repeated our prior three-day journey to Oregon’s desert country in 2013 with a similar sojourn along the Central Oregon Coast.

Aided by studying the wonderful blog of author and journalist, Matt Love, entitled “Let it Pour – An unconventional drinking guide to the north and central oregon coast” – a worthy predecessor to my blog – we hit thirteen taverns in three days in Lincoln City, Newport, Depoe Bay and Pacific City.

The legendary "Death Tank" at the Tide Pool Inn in Depoe Bay

The legendary “Tank of Death” at the Tide Pool Pub in Depoe Bay

We tasted the wonderful pizza and marveled at the Tank of Death at Depoe Bay’s Tide Pool Pub “a salt-water glass coffin….. packed with all manner of marine creatures caught by local fishermen who bucket in their curious finds and dump them in. Eels, crabs, sea bass, perch, Dick Cheney, octipi and urchins all end up in the mix.

According to the bartender, aquatic creatures regularly stage a battle royal to the death and the tank serves as a Roman arena of savagery and merciless predation – with bets slapped down and accelerated drinking when the water turns a creamy, cloudy red.” (Matt Love – “Let it Pour” blog)

We heard stories about Paul Newman’s inebriated exploits during the filming of “Sometimes a Great Notion” in Newport, by Steve the friendly bartender in the historic Bay Haven Inn and we reveled in the great bars along the coast.

Tales of Paul Newman while filming Ken Kesey’s classic

Oh yeah, I forgot the “splendor” of one of the West’s great dive bars – the Sportsman Pub and Grub in Pacific City.

Dave and Steve at the Sportsman Pub and Grub in Pacific City

As I have stated before, I owe much of the “success” of this blog – 17,906 views by 14,179 visitors in 2015, to my wife, Janet’s, (Beerchaser-of-the Year in 2014) willingness to switch from her preferred beverage of wine to beer when we visited breweries.

New Belgium was our favorite in Fort Collins, Colorado. We raised mugs and talked to wonderful people in bars in Alaska (2014), Colorado (2015) and the Southeast U.S. (2015 – Atlanta, Asheville, Charleston and Savannah).

The New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins

And the summer of 2015 also included outstanding visits to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks after visiting some great bars and brewpubs in Missoula and Helena, Montana. The narrative was posted in 2016.

Listening to live music in the bar at Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons

Some great Montana beer!

A bar with Southern charm in Charleston, South Carolina

Janet has one inviolate rule – “No dive bars for her!” I might add that this is notwithstanding my explanation on the ambiance and hospitable nature of dive bars as asserted by the author of this quote:

“Dive bars can be a wonderful thing — I’m not talking about the type of place where you’re afraid of getting a shiv in the bathroom, but a comfortable, neighborhood establishment where locals go to enjoy each other’s company and a drink or five….It’s like sitting in your own living room – only with a bunch of surly strangers who are on the verge of inebriation.”

The Ship in Multnomah – one of my favorite dive bars

Well, the end result appears below in a chronologic listing of bars visited outside Portland – broken down by state or country – a total of ninety-six during the 53 months of Thebeerchaser’s tour.

—————-

Stay tuned for the posting on this Poulsbo, WA. brewery

How to Use This List of Bars Outside Portland

The month of the posting (not the date we visited it) for each bar or pub on the list below is in the far right column, so if you want to glean some details or see pictures of a particular bar, just click on the link of the applicable month and year shown in columnar form on the right side of your computer screen and you will see each of the bars reviewed in that particular month.

You may also want to do a search in the box at the top right of the blog header although a number of the bars are mentioned in multiple posts and you might not get the most comprehensive review unless you scroll down a bit. And if you want to receive an e-mail with a link each time I do a new Beerchaser post, sign up in the small box labeled “Follow” at the lower right hand side of your screen.

Cheers!

1	2012	Port Townsend, Washington	Pour House	August
2	2012	Astoria	Desdemona	September
3	2012	Astoria	Wet Monkey Cafe	September
4	2012	Joseph	Embers Brew Pub	October

1	2013	Prineville	Solstice Brew Pub	November
2	2013	Prineville	Horseshoe Tavern	November
3	2013	LaGrande	Long Branch Saloon	November
4	2013	LaGrande	Hideout Saloon	November
5	2013	LaGrande	10 Depot Bar	November
6	2013	Baker City	Bull Ridge Brewery	Closed in 2014
7	2013	Baker City	Mt. Emily Ale House	November
8	2013	Burns	Central Pastime Tavern	November
9	2013	Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland	Horner Pub and Tavern	September
10	2013	Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland	Mt. Schilthorn Tavern	September
11	2013	Arnheim, Austria	Bier Brewery	July
12	2013	Rothenburg, Germany	Hell’s Tavern	July
13	2013	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Café Karperschoek	June
14	2013	Vernazza, Italy	Blue Marlin Café	September
15	2013	Beaune, France	Publican Bar	September
16	2013	Rome, Italy	Miscellana Café	September
17	2013	Venice, Italy	Devil’s Forrest Café	July
18	2013	Venice, Italy	Bacaro Jazz Café	July
19	2013	Paris, France	Beer Station	September
20	2013	Paris, France	La Vin Cover Café	September

1	2014	Anchorage	Darwin’s Theory	July
2	2014	Anchorage	Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House	July
3	2014	Anchorage	Pioneer Bar	July
4	2014	Anchorage	Glacier Brewery	July
5	2014	Anchorage	Snow Goose Brewery	July
6	2014	Haines	Haines Brewery	July
7	2014	Juneau	Red Dog Saloon	July
8	2014	Lincoln City	Old Oregon Saloon	September
9	2014	Lincoln City	Rusty Truck Brewery – Road House 101	October
10	2014	Pacific City	Sportsman Pub and Grub	October
11	2014	Pacific City	Oar House	October
12	2014	Pacific City	Pelican Pub and Brewery	October
13	2014	Lincoln City	Snug Harbor Bar and Grill	November
14	2014	Lincoln City	Nauti Mermaid	November
15	2014	Lincoln City	Cruise Inn	November
16	2014	Depoe Bay	Tide Pool Inn	November
17	2014	Newport	Hoovers	November
18	2014	Newport	Bay Haven Bar	November
19	2014	Newport	Mad Dog Country Tavern	November
20	2014	Dundee	Lumpy’s Landing	November

1	2015	Boulder	Crystal Springs Brewing	February
2	2015	Boulder	The Sink	February
3	2015	Boulder	Avery Brewing	February
4	2015	Boulder	Gravity Brewing	February
5	2015	Boulder	Post Brewing	February
6	2015	Fort Collins	New Belgium Brewery	May
7	2015	Breckenridge	Gold Pan Saloon	May
8	2015	Fort Collins	Town Pump	May
9	2015	Fort Collins	Mayor of Old Town	May
10	2015	Colorado Springs	Ritz Bar and Grill	May
11	2015	Colorado Springs	Phantom Canyon Brewing	May
12	2015	Breckenridge	Angel Hollow Bar	May
13	2015	Breckenridge	Apres’ Handcrafted Libations	May
14	2015	Breckenridge	Ollie’s Pub and Grub	May
15	2015	Dillon	Dillon Dam Brewery	May
16	2015	Breckenridge	Breckenridge Brewery	May
17	2015	Breckenridge	Broken Compass Brewery	May
18	2015	Atlanta, Georgia	Max’s Wine Dive	July
19	2015	Atlanta, Georgia	Eleventh Street Pub and Bistro	July
20	2015	Atlanta, Georgia	The Nook on Piedmont Park	July
21	2015	Asheville, North Carolina	Wicked Weed Brewery	July
22	2015	Asheville, North Carolina	Lexington Avenue Brewery	July
23	2015	Asheville, North Carolina	Jack of the Woods Public House	July
24	2015	Charleston, South Carolina	Blind Tiger Pub	September
25	2015	Charleston, South Carolina	Charleston Beer Exchange	September
26	2015	Charleston, South Carolina	The Gin Joint	September
27	2015	Charleston, South Carolina	South End Brewery and Smokehouse	September
28	2015	Savannah, Georgia	Pinky’s Master Lounge	September
29	2015	Savannah, Georgia	The Boar’s Head Grill and Tavern	September
30	2015	Savannah, Georgia	JJ Bonerz Sports Bar	September
31	2015	Savannah,Georgia	Moon River Brew Pub	September
1	2016	Missoula, Montana	Tamarack Brewery	February
2	2016	Missoula, Montana	Stockman Bar	February
3	2016	Missoula, Montana	Big Sky Brewing	February
4	2016	Missoula, Montana	Flathead Lake Brewery	February
5	2016	Missoula, Montana	Draught Works Brewery	February
6	2016	Missoula, Montana	Kettle House Brewing	February
7	2016	Missoula, Montana	Charlie B’s Bar	February
8	2016	Missoula, Montana	Oxford Bar	February
9	2016	Missoula, Montana	Plonk Wine Bar	February
10	2016	Helena, Montana	Blackfoot River Brewing	July
11	2016	Helena, Montana	Lewis and Clark Brewery	July
12	2016	Grand Teton Natl. Park	Jackson Lake Lodge Bar	July
13	2016	Jackson, Wyoming	Local Restaurant and Bar	July
14	2016	Jackson, Wyoming	Gather Food and Drink	July
15	2016	Jackson, Wyoming	Million Dollar Cowboy Bar	July
16	2016	Jackson, Wyoming	Melvin Brewing	July
17	2016	West Yellowstone, Wyoming	Wild West Pizzeria and Saloon	July
19	2016	Lihue, Kauai	Kauai Beer Company	May
20	2016	Lihue, Kauai	Dukes Bar and Grill	May
21	2016	Port Allen, Kauai	Kauai Island Brewing Company	May
22	2016	Lihue, Kauai	Nawiliwili Tavern	May

Cheers!

Outside the Horner Pub in Lauderbrauden, Switzerland

Outside the Horner Pub in Lauterbrunnen , Switzerland

53 Months of Thebeerchaser’s Tour – Where we’ve been and you should go!

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Thebeerchaser

Thebeerchaser outside Crackerjacks Pub - probably his favorite bar on the Tour to this point!

Thebeerchaser outside NW Portland’s Crackerjacks Pub – probably his favorite bar on the Tour to this point!

Denny Ferguson at the historic Cheerful Tortoise downtown

Since the inception of Thebeerchaser’s Tour of Bars, Taverns and Pubs in August 2011 I have had the pleasure of visiting and writing-up sixty-nine Portland establishments. And what was originally intended to be posts about the history, regulars and distinguishing characteristics of watering holes strictly within the Rose City, transformed into an expanded mission based on our retirement travel.

These trips resulted in visits to 97 additional saloons in Europe, Alaska, the Southeastern US, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and central and eastern Oregon and the Oregon coast described in Thebeerchaser posts.

Laura Williams, Ryan Keene and Kenzie Larson outside Stammtisch – a great NE Portland bar

Besides being able to list the alehouses visited, as a tool for Thebeerchaser followers and visitors I have now categorized those Portland watering holes by sector of the city for those who are looking for a place to raise a mug in a certain geographical area.

Former Portland Mayor, Sam Adams, Beerchasing at the Beer Monger in SE

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They are broken down into Northeast (10 bars), Southeast (23 bars which includes the fabled Barmuda Triangle) North (11 bars in the vicinity of Mississippi, Killingsworth and Interstate Avenues and St. John’s), Northwest (13 bars) and Southwest (10 bars which includes downtown or the Central Business District and Multnomah).

There was one bar in the suburbs (Brannons in Beaverton which unfortunately is now closed) and the Pedalounge – a traveling chariot which visits several bars on its amazing tour of Southeast Portland. Towards the end of this post, the bars and brewpubs outside the Portland area are listed.

University of Portland’s Dr. Sam Holloway and Brian Doyle at the St. John’s Pub

The 2016 Addendum is enumerated at the bottom of this post.

How to Use this Chart

If you are interested in finding more about one of the taverns on the list below, there’s two ways to do this:

In the second column on the listing below, you will see the year and the month of the post for the bar. On the right side of your computer screen, you will see an enumeration of the years and months of all the Beerchaser posts. Click on the month to get to the write-up. There may be several posts that month so you might have to screen down.

Just go to the upper right corner of your screen and enter the name of the bar in the search field and those posts were it is mentioned should show up.

#	*Year/Month*	Area	Name	Type
1	2012 – 2	NE	Migration Brewery	Brewery
2	2012 – 2	NE	Laurelthirst Pub	Neighborhood
3	2012 – 6	NE	County Cork	Neighborhood
4	2012 – 7	NE	Bottles	Bottle Shop
5	2012 – 12	NE	1856	Bottle Shop
6	2013 – 12	NE	Church	Neighborhood
7	2014 – 2	NE	Sandy Hut	Dive
8	2014 – 7	NE	Stammtisch	Neighborhood
9	2014 – 9	NE	Club 21	Dive
10	2015 – 3	NE	Oregon Public House	Neighborhood

1	2011 – 11	SE	Coalition Brewery	Brewery
2	2011 – 8	SE	Brooklyn Park Pub	Neighborhood
3	2011 – 8	SE	Yukon Tavern	Dive
4	2011 – 9	SE	Gladstone Street Tavern	Neighborhood
5	2012 – 3	SE	Hawthorne Hideaway	Neighborhood
6	2012 – 4	SE	Muddy Rudder Public House	Neighborhood
7	2012 – 8	SE	Lutz Tavern	Historic
8	2012 – 10	SE	Gold Dust Meridian	Neighborhood
9	2012 – 10	SE	Bar of the Gods	Dive
10	2012 – 11	SE	Claudia’s	Historic
11	2013 -1	SE	Grand Café *1	Historic
12	2013 – 3	SE	Belmont Inn	Neighborhood
13	2013 – 4	SE	Belmont Station	Neighborhood
14	2013 – 4	SE	Tanker Bar	Dive
15	2013 – 4	SE	Beer	Neighborhood
16	2013 – 5	SE	Horse Brass Pub	Historic
17	2013 – 8	SE	Slammer	Dive
18	2014 – 1	SE	Nest	Neighborhood
19	2014 – 4	SE	Bazi Bier Brassiere	Neighborhood
20	2014 – 6	SE	Beer Monger	Bottle
21	2014 – 11	SE	Richmond Bar	Neighborhood
22	2015 – 4	SE	Double Barrel	Neighborhood
23	2015 – 12	SE	Produce Row	Historic

1	2011 – 9	N	Twilight Room	Historic
2	2011 -11	N	Amnesia Brewery	Brewery
3	2011 – 11	N	Prost	Neighborhood
4	2012 -5	N	Mock Crest Tavern	Historic
5	2012 – 5	N	Interurban	Neighborhood
6	2012 – 11	N	White Eagle Saloon	Historic
7	2013 – 6	N	Sidecar 11	Neighborhood
8	2014 – 3	N	Saraveza	Neighborhood
9	2014 – 6	N	Lost and Found	Neighborhood
10	2015 – 5	N	Ecliptic Brewery	Brewery
11	2015 – 11	N	St. John’s Pub	Historic


1	2011 – 9	NW	Joe’s Cellar	Dive
2	2012 – 2	NW	Dixie Tavern	Dive
3	2013 – 2	NW	Davis Street Tavern	Misc.
4	2013 – 10	NW	Slabtown *2	Historic
5	2014 – 1	NW	Skyline Tavern	Historic
6	2014 – 4	NW	Bailey’s Tap Room / Upper Lip	Misc.
7	2014 -4	NW	Crackerjacks	Neighborhood
8	2014 – 4	NW	Quimby’s	Neighborhood
9	2014 – 4	NW	Sniff Café	Misc.
10	2014 – 12	NW	Marathon Taverna	Sports
11	2015 – 6	NW	Low Brow Lounge	Dive
12	2015 – 6	NW	Pope House Bourbon Lounge	Misc.
13	2015 – 11	NW	Lompoc Tavern	Historic

1	2011 – 11	SW	Buffalo Gap Tavern	Historic
2	2012 – 2	SW	Ash Street Saloon	Misc.
3	2012 – 6	SW	Cheerful Tortoise	Historic
4	2012 – 7	SW	Goose Hollow Inn	Historic
5	2012 – 12	SW	Ship Tavern	Dive
6	2013 – 3	SW	Tugboat Brewery	Brewery
7	2013 – 7	SW	Sasquatch Brewery	Brewery
8	2014 – 2	SW	Cheerful Bullpen	Sports
9	2015 – 5	SW	Yamhill Pub	Dive
10	2015 – 8	SW	Kelly’s Olympian	Historic

1	2015 – 3	Burbs	Brannons in Beaverton *3	Brewery

1	2014 – 8	—	Peda Lounge	Misc.

*1 Franks Peters’ Grand Café closed in 2014 and Pour Sports has now opened in the historic building.

*2 The historic and iconic Slabtown closed in 2015 and unfortunately has not reopened.

*3 Kevin Brannon’s brewery and pub – Brannons’ in Beaverton closed in 2015.

The Dicksons, Lamberts and McAdams at Produce Row

And in closing this post and 2015, it needs to be stated that besides the adventure of exploring so many new and interesting saloons, it has been wonderful meeting the bartenders, the regulars and sharing stories with those who have Beerchased with me.

The Faust clan, Jim Westwood and Jennifer Johnson at Kelly’s Olympian

Swift, Eller and Jones with waitress, Jennifer, at Pope Bourbon House

Swift, Eller and Jones with waitress, Danielle, at Pope Bourbon House

Proost! Salud! Skal!

And finally – a special thanks to the 2014 Beerchaser-of-the-Year, Janet Williams, my spouse of 35 years who has good naturedly switched from wine to beer when we have visited watering holes in Oregon and all over the U.S. and Europe.

2016 Addendum

1	2016-7	SW	MoMo Bar Maximo	Dive
2	2016-6	SE	The Ranger Station	Neighborhood
3	2016-5	N	The Rambler	Neighborhood
4	2016-4	SW	The Yardhouse	Misc.
5	2016-3	NW	Life of Riley	Dive
6	2016-3	SW	Barlow Artisenal Bar	Misc.
7	2016-2	SE	Hair of the Dog Brewery	Brewpub
8	2016-2	SE	Sloan’s Tavern	Neighborhood
9	2016-1	Lake Oswego	The Hop’N Cork	Neighborhood

Produce Row Café – Take a Hike and have a Brewski!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Thebeerchaser

Originally opened in 1974 and now resurrected (again) in 2014

Originally opened in 1974 and now resurrected in 2014

“There are so few of these elusive establishments, the everyday-worthy ones that time and time again just hit the spot with reliable food and atmosphere. I suppose you could find that at a super $$$ place with staff wearing coattails if you’re the 1%, but this is real life, and I don’t know how to use silverware properly.

Produce Row is one of my special oases of goodness in a world full of soggy fries and loud bars with sports on TV. I had only been to the Row about 3 times in the year before it was shut down so abruptly, to my dismay.” (Yelp 8/21/15)

While Portland has many new and interesting bars and pubs, Thebeerchaser’s favorites are generally the old, and many times, historic, watering holes that have been around for decades.

The Mock Crest Tavern, the White Eagle Saloon, Kelly’s Olympian and the Lutz, to name a few, are joined by the original Produce Row Café down in the Industrial District on Portland’s East Side. (See the links above for prior Beerchaser reviews on these bars.)

Kelly’s Olympian – another historic bar

It opened in 1974 and according to a 9/2/14 Oregon Live article “One of the first owned by Mike McMenamin (yes, that McMenamin) – one of Portland’s first bars devoted to ‘good’ beer — i.e. quality imports and craft beer.” Produce Row was sold by the McMenamins to the bar’s employees in 1978 because the McMenamins could not brew beer at that location.

Alan Davis, who now owns the Multnomah Whiskey Bar, purchased and remodeled the café in 2008. He closed it suddenly in the fall of 2014 only for the bar to be resurrected in 2015 by Josh Johnston and James Hall, the owner of Paddy’s Bar and Grill and several other Portland bars. Produce Row Café is now thriving and a bar worth visiting.

Historic industrial surroundings in the 1940’s – Portland Archives – Vintage Portland

While we were dating in the late 1970’s, my wife and I used to hit the original establishment for a good draft beer and buy a few of the many bottled beers they sold, followed by a stop at Corno’s Market to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Produce Row District served farmers and industry well because it was accessible both by truck and the Willamette River besides having economical real estate.

Now, a resurrected Produce Row Café (see details below) joins other popular eateries such as Olympic Provisions, Bunk Bar and Clark Lewis, to name just a few, in an Urban Renewal District formed in 2012.

The area is now:

“….home to a vibrant mix of more than 1,100 creative and industrial businesses, spanning such industries as athletic and outdoor, software, clean tech, advanced manufacturing, design, professional services, and food and beverage…….

‘More than any other neighborhood in Portland, Produce Row embodies a mindset of resourcefulness, creativity, and, above all, visionary innovation that inspires business growth,’ said (former) Portland Mayor Sam Adams. ” (Portland Development Commission newsletter 3/2/12)

Great views from Tilikum Crossing

What has become a walking group of Beerchaser Regulars (David and Kate Dickson, Roy Lambert and his spouse, Mary Maxwell and Dave and Nita McAdams) had drinks and dinner at Produce Row after a stimulating several mile walk.

Starting at the east side of the Tilikum Crossing Bridge, we walked through Tom McCall Waterfront Park and across the Steel Bridge. Then south along the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade before our final destination – Produce Row Café. The scenery reaffirmed how scenic Portland can be.

We ordered off a reasonably priced menu and all of us were pleased with our selections of appetizers (a plus for the fried Cauliflower, salads (the Chicken and Apple got an A+), sandwiches (the Row Burger) and entrees which included outstanding Beer Cheese Mac and Meat Loaf.

Orders Up – the Beer Cheese Mac was the most popular!

This Nikasa Dawn of the Red IRA was great

This Silver MoonVoodoo Dog ISR was great

The draft beer selection was robust with 23 beers and 2 ciders on tap.

Nita and Dave McAdams and Manager, Marcus Chase

A bonus was a conversation with Produce Row’s Manager, Marcus Chase, a product of Pleasant Hill High School, whose parents farmed hazel nuts in the same area in Washington County as Dave and Nita, both of whom have other careers (Dave, a tax attorney and Nita, an educator).

Dinner and beers after a good walk

The patio in the rear part of the bar has not changed much. It is spacious and was filled with patrons: “The back patio, a snug oasis of sunshine and wood tables hidden amidst neighborhood warehouses and train tracks, was among the city’s best.” Oregon Live 9/2/14

One of the most enjoyable parts of Thebeerchaser Tour, initiated in 2011, is the stimulating people I have met in every bar ranging from the regulars, the bartenders and the managers. This was reaffirmed when I returned to the bar and had an extended conversation with Marcus, who was joined by Nick Guest, the Bar Manager, who came to Produce Row in April, 2015.

Marcus and Nick with Thebeerchaser logo

Both were very knowledgeable about beer. Marcus started his journey while being “hungry for knowledge” and living in Australia.

When asked about those who made social media comments about yearning for the original Produce Row, he responded that they want to hold on to the nostalgia but add energy through good food, creativity in their beer selection and an atmosphere that makes people want to return. Nick stated, “Our goal is to stay relevant in Portland’s burgeoning beer culture.”

The Beer and Whiskey Pairings are a good example. A concept initiated by Alan Davis that Marcus expanded and refined when he came to the bar. “The beer and whiskey are chosen to complement each other.”

The eight pairings are interesting and diverse ranging from $8 (“The Departed” – Guinness Stout and Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey) to $19 (“Werewolves and Vampires” – Silver Moon Voodoo Dog ISR and Blood Oath Whiskey – a blend of three (6 yr old wheat whiskey, 7yr old rye and 12 yr old rye).

It appears that Marcus and Nick are succeeding based on my two visits which generated the same reaction as this review Yelp review on 6/18/15:

“Traveled from the east coast and met a local couple here for dinner recently. Very eclectic atmosphere. Great staff, very helpful and friendly. Each of us had something different, and no one was disappointed. Great stop in a really nice town.”

And if you visit Produce Row or one of the other good eateries or bars in the Produce Row Industrial District, consider exploring the Esplanade and learning more about this vibrant area of the Portland landscape:

“More recently, that combination of access and affordability has attracted the city’s savviest entrepreneurs and forward-thinking creative professionals. These businesses have benefited from Produce Row’s adaptable urban landscape, potential for repurposing buildings, and proximity to the scenic views of the Willamette River from the Eastbank Esplanade.”

And as an aside, having two tax lawyers (Dave and Roy – now retired) added to the conversation on the hike. I am now well-versed in the nuances of the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act as well as the IRS repair regulations project for the widely discussed and closely related Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System. Both made me thirsty!

Produce Row 204 SE Oak Street