The current issue of Imbibe magazine provides a list of the 100 Best Places to Drink Beer in America.
We searched far and wide to find 100 of the best beer bars in America. We chose not to include large chains or places that are strictly brewpubs concentrating on their own house-made beers. Instead, we opted for smaller venues with diverse and/or unique beer lists, and where owners are truly evangelistic about good beer.
The list is broken down into 10 categories, each of which contains 10 beer venues (in alphabetical order).
Here’s how Portland fared:
Best Locally Brewed Offerings: Green Dragon (928 SE 9th)
Best Beer Shops: Belmont Station (4500 SE Stark)
Best International Selection: Victory (3652 SE Division)
Best Draught Selection: Horse Brass Pub (4534 SE Belmont)
Best Irish-style Pub: Kells (112 SW 2nd)
I’ve upended many pints at Kells, the Horse Brass, and the Green Dragon; and pre-move I’ve procured quite a few beery gifts for friends (and a kickass Fin du Monde t-shirt for myself) at Belmont Station. But The Victory Bar? Never heard of it! Don’t worry though, I’m on it . . . on tap now they have Hennepin Farmhouse Saison, Cantillon Vigneronne Muscat Lambic, St. Bernardus Tripel (via Twitter). I’m on my way!
Portland-based Imbibe Magazine also blogs:
Imbibe Unfiltered
Welcome to Imbibe Magazine’s between-issues look at liquid culture with drink recipes, news and more. From wine, spirits and beer to coffee, tea and beyond, Imbibe celebrates the world in a glass.
So, the magazine is a Portland magazine?? Hmmm. Did they go to every beer serving venue in America or rely on other people to send in their favorites?
XUP – The story mentions “readers picks” and such, but I didn’t see any real explanation of the methodology. In any case, I think 5 out of 100 is probably fair for Portland. Portland’s one of the best beer towns in the USA, but it’s not very large.
I’m not sure about Green Dragon being the best local brewery selection. Horse Brass has everything they’ve got, and then some. But Henry’s has a larger draught selection than Horse Brass but it’s just no fun to drink at…so maybe I can see why they left that off…
I bet that is how they justified their choices.
eric – One of the categories was Best Bottle List, and I thought maybe Higgin’s would be mentioned, but it wasn’t. I’ve only been to the Green Dragon once, during the winter, and it was *cold* even with their recently installed heaters. I’ll have to try them again before the summer’s completely over!