Neglected Portland Breweries: The Mash Tun

Portland has some 50 breweries and counting. Many are world-class, even out-of-this-world, but not all.

Sometimes I beat myself up for not having been to every single brewery in town I used to beat myself up for not having visited every single brewery in town. As of tonight: no more! But before we begin, if we're being honest, the ones that took me the longest to hit are the ones that generally have no Beer Geek Brownie Points. Here's Pt. VII in an ongoing series that included Tugboat, Philadelphia's Steaks & Hoagies, Max's Fanno Creek, Broadway Grill & Brewery, Widmer Bros (note the post date), and Columbia River Brewing Co.: Neglected Portland Breweries.

The reason for the visit wasn't actually so I could finally haul my butt into the solitary brewing company based in Portland--The Mash Tun--that I'd yet to visit, although naturally that did influence the decision. No, Half Pint and I went (along with our friends John and Anna who pronounces her name not like the latter half of banana but like the end of the Spanish word for tomorrow, and I confess we refer to them as Johnna in our house) because our son I.P.Yae turned 1 on Sunday and I pledged to escort him to 50 breweries by his first birthday. (Actually, I aimed for 52 and with wifey's help, we achieved our feat!)

So onto the experience. The Mash Tun, brewing since 2005 thus making it a veritable veteran of Beervana, gets zero lip service but it has something better than blog-love: patrons. The place with no sign above the entrance just around the corner on NE 22nd Ave from it's Alberta address (there's a beer garden that's certainly hopping in non near-freezing weather) was packed on a chilly Friday night. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive, but we could tell she wanted us to order when we kept saying we were waiting for a fourth (fifth; sorry IPYae). The interior is mostly wood (well, obviously the brew house visable through picture windows is stainless) including a pool table in the center and a dart board tucked behind the front door. Lots of hanging plants are a nice, lively touch.

Check in on Yelp and your first pint's FREE. Not that you'd walk out of here dropping a lot of coin; the prices are reasonable. Anna, John, and I all opted for the Keelhaul IPA, billed as "herbal and citrus" hop flavors with "sweet and nutty" maltiness, but I got lots of lemon notes and didn't mind the lack of ballyhooed malt backbone (though at 7.2% ABV it's there). Half Pint of course got the Penfold Porter, then got it again. Good malt-driven cocoa flavor.

Curiously, no one got a burger. I nearly went for the Dragon Burger, but even as a chiliphile I've had two jalapeno dishes this week and both set my mouth en fuego so I played it safe and got the cheesesteak that beckoned. It had Half Pint's and John's number, too. Decent. No mistaking it for actually hailing from the City of Brotherly Love, or even Cheesesteak Nirvana.


We all opted for another round. Johnna stuck with the IPA. Half Pint as I mentioned ordered another Porter, this time an actual half pint. I do something I rarely do: ordered a cream ale. Concordia Cream Ale entails flaked corn so I worried that while I wanted light, I'd also get sweet, but the beer is saved by sufficient local aroma hops to make it palatable to beer lovers and at 4.5%, perfect for lightweights like me.

All in all, the Mash Tun is like Cromagnon Man on the human evolutionary chart--a good snapshot of how far brewpubs had come since the early '80s to the mid-aughts and then gets frozen in time. Maybe it's the caveman in me, but I think this analog brewpub is a pretty good respite in this digital age. And the packed place proves we paleos travel in packs.

My 1st GABF

Our baby boy's no stranger to the beerfest circuit. I like to say Oregon has 53 beer fests because there's seemingly more than one a week. But this was his first time at the big dance. Great American Beer Festival. And in no small way, he has the GABF to thank for his existence. His mom, Half Pint, went for the first time in 2008 when my book came out and hustled outside the Beer Enthusiast Bookstore to help sell a ton of books. She drove out with me again the next year and by the time we got to Denver, she was my fiance. Next year, she was there as my wife. Since we love measuring our life events in terms of GABFs, it's only fitting that we returned this year as parents. And even more fitting that we've turned into chopped liver.

He was able to bob'n'weave through the crowds.

Obviously, he didn't do any beer sampling, but he did enjoy the sampler flight...of pancakes from Snooze. And he picked up an awesome li'l Yeti onesie from Great Divide Brewing on our walk back (photo T/K).

But that was hardly the only brewery he hit. I double checked to make sure we could bring him on the media bus tour. I heard the guide on the other bus was in disbelief someone brought a baby. He wasn't alone. But first... First stop of the tour, Mountain Sun's Vine Street Brewery. Brand new and tapping 21 -- TWENTY-ONE -- house beers. I definitely thought the IPA and Saison were right on. And it's a hippy-dippy hangout of a brewpub.

Next stop: the new River North Brewery, beers made w/ a Belgian yeast strain

And concluded the tour at Colorado's first brewpub, Wynkoop for the tail end of the Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting IV. (Saving the best photo for last if you want to scroll down.) Since Wynkoop released their very real "Rocky Mountain Oyster-Stout" in time for GABF, now's a good time for a short video break.

OK, where were we?

Not everyone who goes to Denver feels this way, but we feel the real highlight of GABF is the fest itself. Beyond the endless one-ounce samples, it's the one place you're likely to bump into old and new friends and members of the beer family at large. Look: IPYae's first fist-bump with Charlie Papazian.

While standing in the bookstore, Izzy met Jack McAuliffe, the man who opened the very first microbrewery post-Prohibition! That was 36 years ago. GABF is on its 31st year. While this naturally was Izzy's first, it was only Jack's second time attending, his New Albion Brewery having gone under before GABF was even a thing.

Author Maureen Ogle did much for revamping interest in those early days of microbrewing and clutching Jack back from obscurity. As Izzy's beery godmother, I think no one looked forward to meeting him more than her. Who else could get her to crawl around on the floor?!

No live recording this year, so this is the closest IPYae gets to being on The Brewing Network. Kate's a fan.

Portland boys: SNOB Ritch Marvin, "Samurai Artist" Ezra Johnson-Greenough, Breakside's Scott Lawrence. 

Finally, considering the small population of babies in attendance (the age requirement is 21+, obviously, but also -2), I think they were all widely photographed. Izzy's bib perhaps gave him added flair. Most people dug seeing a little baby and told us as much. But I got a kick out of walking a few paces behind Half Pint and hearing drunk kids remark, "Who the (hell) brings a baby to GABF?!?"

We do. And unlike their parents, we were very proud of how he handled himself.

Photo credit: Matthew Schniper, courtesy of the Colorado Springs Independent