Dave Knows Portland

Archives for February 2010

February 13: Zwickelmania 2010

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Update: Zwickelmania 2011!

Zwickelmania 2010President’s Day weekend means one thing in Oregon: Zwickelmania.

In the same spirit as Memorial Day Weekend winery open houses, breweries across the state open their doors for tours and samples on Saturday, February 13th from 11am to 4pm.

Organized by the Oregon Brewers Guild, Zwickelmania is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers..

Some suggested itineraries for the Portland area:

North Portland
From Lompoc Brewing-5th Quadrant to MacTarnahan’s Taproom
Lompoc Brewing Co. – 5th Quadrant, 3901-B N Williams
Amnesia Brewing Company, 832 N Beech
Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., 924 N. Russell St
Upright Brewing Co. 240 N Broadway
BridgePort Brewing Co., 1313 NW Marshall
Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby
Lompoc Brewing – New Old Lompoc Brewery, 1616 NW 23rd
Pyramid Breweries Mac Tarnahan’s Taproom, 2730 NW 31st Ave

SW Portland
Full Sail Brewing at Riverplace to MacTarnahan’s Taproom
Full Sail at Riverplace, 0307 SW Montgomery
Rock Bottom Brewery, 206 SW Morrison
McMenamins Crystal Brewery, 1332 W. Burnside St.
Deschutes Brewery-Portland Pub, 210 NW 11th Ave
Rogue Distillery+Public House, 1339 NW Flanders St
BridgePort Brewing Co., 1313 NW Marshall
Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby
Lompoc Brewing – New Old Lompoc Brewery, 1616 NW 23rd
Pyramid Breweries Mac Tarnahan’s Taproom, 2730 NW 31st Ave

SE Portland
Green Dragon, 928 SE 9th Ave
Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd
Philadelphia’s Steaks & Hoagies, 6410 SE Milwaukee Ave

Visit the Oregon Brewers Guild Zwickelmania webpage for more information, including guides to breweries in each region of the state and shuttlebus options.

Not sure what a zwickel is? Chad Kennedy from Laurelwood Brewing, beer in hand, explains:

Other Things To Do In Portland On Superbowl Sunday (2010)

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Update: Click here to go to the 2011 version of Other Things to Do in Portland on Superbowl Sunday!

I love American Football (mostly of the Canadian variety), but I just can’t get into the most American of celebrations that is Superbowl Sunday.  For one thing, it’s no longer an American secular holiday, which was one of its selling points for me.  I say let the Fundamentalist Christians have it – I’ve got better things to do on Sunday, February 7th.

Where ever there might normally be a crowd on Sunday, you’ll find wide open aisles, tables, and venues.

OMSISunday will be a good day to enjoy parks, museums, and pubs that don’t have TVs; they’ll all be almost empty.

Crowds will certainly be thinner at the Oregon Zoo.

Heather and I have been considering a trip to OMSI Sunday; she’s never been, and I haven’t been to the “new” location [which apparently it’s been at since 1992!?)

And perhaps, on what is virtually a national holiday, the national past time (i.e. shopping) has its place.

Take Ikea, for example [or maybe not; see Mary Sue’s comment below]. I *hate* Ikea. But I hate a crowded Ikea most of all. Sunday, during Superbowl, Ikea will be less irritating and mind-numbing (I know, I don’t know how it does both!) than on a usual Sunday.

Bargain Hunting 101Another place to consider visiting, if you’re in a shopping mood, is the Crystal Ballroom and Lola’s Room (1332 W Burnside) for Bargain Hunting 101‘s mother of all clearance sales:

Over 50 vendors!

Portland’s Mega Clearance Sale with merchandise from local boutiques, artists and designers

Bigger, meaner deals than ever before.

Full Bar*. Unbelievable discounts.

* Emphasis mine

And of course Powell’s Books (1005 W Burnside) is open.

Really, the world is your oyster if you’re free from the clutches of the NFL and CBS on Superbowl Sunday.

Watch Ending for The Sentinel

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The SentinelThe staff of The Sentinel, Neighborhood News Forum will be printing the last issue for March 2010, and daily updates to the website will cease at the end of March.

From the Publishers’s Page:

Last year was trying for most North Portland businesses. But for the past two years, The Sentinel has seen a steady decline in advertising revenue. This decline represents both the impact of the recession and the challenges of running an advertising-driven business in today’s media-saturated environment. At present The Sentinel is 100% print advertising-driven, and it is now clear that we can no longer provide services to our readers and advertisers at our current level of quality. I hope I speak for all Sentinel contributors when I say we have worked exhaustively to provide the community with accurate, high-quality, professional news in a multi-media, interactive format. We hope that this paper served as a useful provider of information, an engaging tool for public discussion and a source for amusement and insight.

This is sad news for the North Portland community especially, but really for the whole city and fans and supporters of local media. The Sentinel is one of my daily reads, and one of the best small local papers I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

One bright spot in the news, however, is that The Sentinel is considering a project to put all of the paper’s archives online and in a format that is easily accessible to the public. To make a tax-deductible contribution to the online archives fund, go to www.portlandmedialab.com, call the paper at 503.287.3880, or use the ChipIn widget on the website sidebar. And you can also advertise in the final, March, edition of the paper by calling 503.706.7190 or visiting the Advertise page.