Eric Starr’s German-inspired pub in Battle Ground Village houses the Little Dipper Brewing Company, a two-barrel system that sits in the front corner of the beer hall. This nano-brewery offers seasonal beers like the Little Black Bear, a classic Pacific Northwest porter brewed with a blend of dark specialty malts that give it toffee and chocolate notes, as well as Kochab The Guardian, an old ale with vanilla, oak, and roasted malt flavors. Northwood offers a full menu of classic pub grub like wings and burgers as well as German classics like perogies and bratwurst.

Heathen Brewing’s Feral Public House opened in downtown Vancouver in 2012, part of a wave of craft breweries that breathed life back into this part of town. Beer drinkers are drawn to Heathen’s spacious outdoor patio, the distinctive take on pub grub, and a long tap list of stellar brews ranging from a crisp Kolsch to a cold brew porter made with Kafiex Coffee Roasters beans. Heathen excels at fruited beers like the mojito sour ale with mint and lime as well as the raspberry rhubarb sour. The production brewery in Salmon Creek recently released a small selection of hard ciders; Pineapple Dream with pineapple, lime zest, and vanilla tastes as juicy and tangy as a ripe piece of fruit.

It’s easy to miss Fortside’s tasting room, tucked into a small strip mall on Andresen Avenue, but locals flock here for reliably good brews like Orange Whip, a hazy IPA, and Couve A’licious, a dry-but-decadent brown ale. Innovative offerings include the Rose Gone Wild, a hybrid wine and beer drink that tastes like a rose spritzer with aromas of blackberry and Meyer lemon. Brewer Paul Thurston took four trips to Goschie Farms in Silverton, Oregon for his Fresh Cut, a fresh-hopped hazy IPA, to get the right layered flavors of juicy grapefruit, lime, orange blossom, melon, and heady dankness.

During the pandemic, Trap Door’s popular outdoor space at the uptown location turned into a year-round spot to sip Hazy IPAs like the juicy Glowed Up, popping with Citra, Simcoe, and Amarillo hops; the aptly named Tang is dry-hopped with a mountain of Mosaic hops and a bit of El Dorado. Nearby food carts, E-San Thai and Taco City, offer Thai food and tacos, respectively, to accompany these hoppy beers. Trap Door recently opened a brewery and kitchen in downtown Washougal offering pizza, salads, sandwiches, and starters as well as beer, wine, and cocktails.

New kid on the block Vice Beer serves beers with an abundance of hops and fruit along with ’80s and ’90s nostalgia. A VCR and television, along with a stack of VHS tapes like Jurassic Park, fill a small room in the back. The bar’s 10 taps of beer flow with Vice brews like Breakfast Club, a mimosa sour, and the Freshmaker, a fresh-hopped West Coast IPA, as well as a machine churning out beer slushes made from fruity brews like POG Drip — a smoothie sour with pineapple, orange, and guava. Edy Prado serves Jalisco-style seafood and tacos as well as less traditional fare like birria ramen from his food truck outside, El Viejon.

This Hazel Dell neighborhood spot draws a loyal local following seeking old standbys like the Peoples Pilsner and You Like ‘A Da Juicy hazy IPA, as well as seasonal drinks like Amarillo Slim fresh hop IPA and Festbier Oktoberfest-style lager. A cluster of food trucks serving Cajun cuisine, banh mi sandwiches, grain bowls, and wood fire pizzas sit outside near the popular patio.

Mt Tabor moved from downtown Vancouver to Felida in 2015, offering a full menu of wood-fired pizzas, small plates, and salads served with their crisp, food-friendly brews like Lamp Post lager and Kolsch-O-Rama. This new space allowed the brewery to spread out creating a cozy indoor area and an outdoor space with a fire pit.

Driving to 54°40’ Beer for the first time may feel a bit like getting lost, located in an industrial area in Washougal. Visitors are rewarded with Gorge views and stellar brews like the crisp Kascadia kolsch and smooth 1862 Mexican lager. 54°40’ recently opened a beer lodge in Stevenson, with an expanded food menu that includes salads, sandwiches, snacks, and pizza.

Ghost Runner’s sports themed pub in a large warehouse in Minnehaha offers a variety of award-winning beers. The 5K, a classic Northwest IPA, balances the requisite bitterness with pine and citrus. For something wilder, a raspberry gose called Chasing Fluffy Pink Unicorns gets a tart-yet-nuanced flavor from rosehips, coriander, pink peppercorns, and three pounds of hibiscus flowers thrown in at the end.