Portland Beers by Style
Sip your way through city’s best lagers, saisons, stouts and IPAs.
Nathan Tucker
There is simply no better city for beer drinking than Portland. The Rose City’s 75+ breweries (more than any other city in the world!) offer everything from the most aggressive double IPAs to styles inspired by traditional ales of rural Europe. Use our expert’s guide to choose the choicest brews in your favorite style.
IPAs and Imperial IPAs
Breakside IPA – Breakside Brewery
While they’re known for innovative experiments like smoky ambers and basil-spiked blondes, this brewery in North Portland’s Woodlawn neighborhood stakes its reputation on this flagship IPA, which won a gold medal at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival for its precisely balanced tropical and evergreen flavors.
Megafauna Imperial IPA – Laurelwood Brewery
This Portland mainstay’s Workhorse IPA has long been a gold standard for the style. When available, Megafauna is a robust upgrade that beautifully harmonizes tropical fruit notes with resinous pine, floral aromas and no small amount of alcohol, at 9.5% alcohol by volume (ABV).
Gigantic IPA – Gigantic Brewing
Boasting a citrusy punch and a drinkability that masks its 7.3% ABV, this gorgeous orange concoction is the only beer this Southeast Portland brewery makes year-round.
Guava Lamp Hazy Fruited IIPA – Great Notion Brewing
This hazy double IPA was fermented with 168 lbs. of guava puree, then dry hopped with Motueka and Galaxy hops for a slightly sweet flavor and balanced hop bitterness.
Lagers and Pilsners
Engleberg Pilsner – Upright Brewing
A draft-only gem that the brewers at Upright originally made for themselves, this crisp, refreshing lager balanced with rare German Tettnang hops is almost impossible to get outside of Portland — which is good, because it’s best at peak freshness.
Lager – Hopworks Urban Brewery
Perhaps the best testament to the accessibility of Portland beer: At nearly every convenience store in town, you’ll find pounders of this clean, delicious, organic lager, balancing a light malt body with delicately herbal Perle hops. Eat your heart out, Bud.
Spica Pilsner – Ecliptic Brewing
An unfiltered lager with the fruity aromatics of a Hefeweizen, this idyllic summer beer gets a kick of herbaceous hop character from Sterling hops. The slightly spicy and pleasantly bitter finish rewards the drinker sip after sip.
Dark Beers
Adam from the Wood – Hair of the Dog
Months spent in bourbon barrels amplify the smoky cocoa and fig flavors of “Adam,” the brewery’s first creation, while smoothing out its earthy undertones and lending this highly sought-after beer a pleasantly boozy finish.
The Abyss – Deschutes Brewery
In this celebrated yearly release, which always sells out quickly, layers of flavor and aroma from aging in bourbon, oak and pinot noir barrels dance over a deep, rich base of molasses, vanilla and cherry bark.
Traditional German Beers
Hefewiezen – Occidental Brewing
Any of this St. Johns brewery’s continental-style brews could make this list, but their Hefewiezen might be the best this side of the Atlantic. One sip takes you right to summer in Bavaria, thanks to notes of banana, clove and citrus peel.
Total ReKolsh – Stormbreaker Brewing
Brewed with Noble hops and fermented at cooler temperatures, this crisp brew is lagered for a hint of pilsner on the nose and a subtle sweetness on the palate, creating a refreshing pint that’s perfect for hot summer days.
Kiss the Goat Black Doppelbock – Gigantic Brewing
Dark hued and topped with a creamy head that sends notes of toasted malt and cocoa wafting into the nose, this German lager toys with dark fruit flavors, mild chocolate and a sweet nuttiness.
Saisons
Instinctive Travels – Wolves & People Brewing
This straw-hued saison is fermented with an isolated strain of yeast from the Walloon region of Belgium, and dry hopped with both Northern and Southern hemisphere alpha hops, yielding mild citrus flavors and light, biscuity malt.
Saison Vert – Upright Brewing
This wheat-based brew derives its bright citrus flavor from the addition of sun-dried black limes to the traditional open fermentation process and saison yeast strains. The result is a nuanced flavor profile reminiscent of mild spices, walnuts and fruit.