Back before St. Johns finally hit its long-anticipated growth spurt, Occidental Brewing Company set up shop near the bridge and quietly started brewing some of the best German-style ales and lagers in town. There is a large patio space with excellent views of Cathedral Park and the Willamette river. The patio is shared with the Urban German Wursthaus for those looking to pair their Maibock with a brat.

This Slabtown brewery from veteran Portland brewers Ben Dobler and Cameron Murphy debuted in 2020. Their mission to “keep it simple” is reflected in the brewery’s standard lineup of beers, simply named the lager, the IPA, the weizen, the pale, the porter, and the amber. Fans of dark or even light beer will be intrigued by the brewery’s porter, which omits roasted malt and is lighter than a typical beer of its style. A recent visit also found super crushable limited edition brews like a pomegranate sour and raspberry gose. The food menu includes things like habanero-cheddar wings and vegan patty melts.

Long a neighborhood haunt for Portlanders in the West Hills, in recent years Sasquatch Brewing has been making inroads in the larger Portland beer scene, popping up in bottle shops, taprooms, and winning a gold at the Oregon Beer Awards in the hoppy lager category. The brewery also dominated direct-to-consumer beer sales during the pandemic, creating an in-house delivery team that dropped beers on thirsty Portlanders’ doors through 2020 and 2021. Like most Pacific Northwest breweries, Sasquatch’s tap list is full of hoppy IPAs and lagers, but the brewery also brews cider under the name New West Cider, which is available at the flagship Hillsdale brewpub and the Northwest Portland taproom.

In the saturated and competitive Portland craft beer market, it can be helpful for breweries to find a niche to help separate them from the competition. For Ecliptic Brewing, that niche is “space.” But besides naming most of the beers after celestial bodies, the team at Ecliptic is wide open stylistically. Ecliptic won gold at the 2022 Oregon Beer Awards for the triple-dry-hopped Orange Giant barleywine, and receives frequent accolades for its IPAs and lagers.

Pioneers in Oregon farmhouse-style ales, Upright brews French- and Belgian-style beers with a hint of Northwest influence. Located down a few flights of stairs in the Leftbank Building, this basement taproom is the sort of hidden hole-in-the-wall that attracts locals and visitors. Limited releases often rely on cool, somewhat-uncommon brewing techniques, from a saison with a wisp of late-harvest gewürztraminer to a mixed-fermentation, old cask gose finished with lobster mushrooms. The taproom is open daily, with tasting space indoors and out.

Cascade Brewing is not only a mainstay in Portland; it’s a serious powerhouse in the larger American sour scene. Though purchased from founder (and now-retiree) Art Larrance by a team of brewery and taproom owners, Cascade’s been using local fruit and wine barrels to make world-class sour ales for years. This shouldn’t be understated: This beer is world-renowned. The taproom offers small plates and sandwiches to crush alongside the beers.

Owners of the nearby Toffee Club, Pete Hopkins and Niki Diamond, moved into the former Scout Beer spot, bringing in former Alameda brewer Marshall Kunz to brew a wide range of styles. This pub feels bright and spacious despite its size, thanks to the roll-up doors and bright, minimalist decor. Though the European influence is evident in beers such as Bus Stop Bitter and Milner’s English Mild Ale, Away Days also brews ever-popular IPAs. Most recently, Away Days debuted its Great British Pale Ale, brewed with Olicana hops.

Baerlic, meaning “of barley” in Old English, produces a lineup of traditional standards, but also pushes boundaries in both its style and process, as exemplified by the omnipresent Dad Beer Lager and the seasonal Dark Thoughts Black IPA, which is 6.66 percent ABV. It’s an iconoclast in terms of its space, as well, opting for a sleek café aesthetic combined with an open ceiling concept and barrel storage in the taproom along with a faux-hedge obscuring a section of booth seating. Baerlic shares a space with square pizza mecca Ranch PDX at the southeast taproom.

Culmination has been in the beer game for years now, celebrated for its hazy IPAs, but Culmination offers great beer in a wide range of styles, from big boozy breakfast stouts to sour cherry ales. Culmination’s transparency about hop sourcing is ideal for IPA aficionados, but the brewery’s range of fruited beers are particularly special. The Kerns brewery offers indoor seating as well as a covered and heated patio.

Perhaps the notion referenced in Great Notion Brewing’s name is the idea to focus a brewery almost entirely on hazy IPAs and culinary-inspired sours and stouts. It is a multifaceted niche that would strike many as an odd choice for Portland’s west coast IPA-heavy tastes, but Great Notion has found great success in its niche, expanding from one taproom on Alberta to three in Portland and two in Seattle; the brewery has received multiple accolades at the Great American Brew Fest and the Oregon Beer Awards. At the Alberta, Northwest, and Beaverton locations, customers can pick up oak-barrel-aged, fruited sours, bourbon barrel-aged stouts, and fruit-forward hazy IPAs alongside modern pub fare like fried chicken, kale salads, and grilled seafood.

A relative newcomer on the scene, Steeplejack debuted its pub-style brewery in a 111-year-old church in July 2021. Just one year into the game, the brewery has expanded vigorously, opening Steeplejack Pizza and Beer in Hillsdale and a third location in Hillsboro. With brewmaster Anna Buxton at the helm, the brewery won a gold for its Alewife mild-dark English style beer and best new brewery at the 2022 Oregon Beer Awards. The Broadway location hosts live music every Thursday and serves pastries and coffee every morning.

Located in the former Lompoc Hedge House spot on Division Street in Southeast Portland, Little Beast is the brainchild of husband-wife team Charles Porter and Brenda Crow. The brewery’s name is a nod to the yeast and bacteria that makes the magic happen, so to speak: Little Beast sells a lot of small-batch, barrel-aged sours and mixed-fermentation ales in cans as well as bottles, so customers should be prepared to pick a few up to-go. Little Beast currently hosts Lawless Barbecue in the kitchen space, dishing out Kansas City barbecue like brisket burnt ends. The back patio is covered, heated, and is dog friendly. Little Beast also operates a tasting room in Clackamas, on highway 212.

A trip to Leikam Brewing feels more like knocking a few back at a friend’s place rather than a big night out, and it’s no wonder, as the brewery takes up residence in a converted house. From the bar in the “living room” to the laidback front porch and the cozy side patio, drinkers are made to feel at home while sipping on pints with pop culture monikers like Haziana Grande and Janis Hoplin. A pupusa plate from onsite food cart Salvi makes for a good pairing with the brewery’s Tajín-rimmed michelada, made with 8 Days A Wheat, a za’atar and sumac-infused beer. Check the brewery’s Instagram for regular events like comedy nights, trivia, and sip ‘n’ sketch.

Located just off Stark Street in the heart of Montavilla, Threshold is a relatively new arrival already putting out impressive beers. Co-founders Jarek Szymanski and David Fuller first developed a following for their hazy IPAs, but now, Jarek and Sara Szymanski’s brewery has become the place to be for layered barrel-aged beers and nuanced farmhouse ales. The space is pretty simple, with picnic tables and a modest bar. Open daily, Threshold has spaced-out indoor seating as well as patio seating.

Zoiglhaus’s great German-style beer hall is a standby for the Lents neighborhood, with plenty of board games, a play area for kids, as well as billiards, shuffleboard, and foosball for adults. The blue-and-white streamers launching upward above the bar to the giant skylight give drinkers the Oktoberfest vibe, and all the German-style pub fare from schnitzel to sausage completes the theme. Those in need of a break from IPAs can check out the best Portland has to offer in cold-conditioned lagers and other obscure German styles. If patrons sit at one of several long communal tables in the middle of the pub, they can order a liter-sized stein of any beer for just $6.

What was once a farm and produce market now houses some great beer and a whole ton of 8-bit-style art. Though the most popular beers are hazy IPAs and pale ales — such as Stable Genius and Pixelate Pale, respectively — this brewery also offers a range of beers from stouts to pilsners and everything in between. A handful of food trucks outside Level Beer give customers plenty of options, ranging from shawarma to burritos. The large greenhouse has a kids’ play area as well, so visitors should be aware that popping in on a weekend afternoon could lead to a tricky game of dodging energetic toddlers underfoot.