BY HENRY ALLEN
Attention craft beer enthusiasts or those just wanting to sip something new. A newly launched ale trail has been blazed in the Northwest landscape just west of Portland. It’s the Tualatin Valley Ale Trail with more craft breweries than you can visit in one trip: a whopping 22 participating breweries.
With the free Tualatin Valley Ale Trail Passport, visitors discovering the valley’s craft breweries, brewpubs and tap rooms can keep track of their visits with a stamp from each brewery. Passports are available at any of the participating establishments.
Most of the stops on the ale trail brew onsite, and the diverse styles from brewery to brewery make the trail full of delicious discoveries. A good place to start is Stickman Brewing Company’s Beer Hall in the city of Tualatin. Their variety of styles includes 28 taps of house-made beers ranging from ales, IPAs and sours to seasonal beers, barrel-aged brews and experimental beers. Your biggest problem here will be deciding what to sample, so a flight that represents the diversity is the way to go. Stickman’s pizza is worth a try, too.
Another worthy stop in the city of Tualatin is Ancestry Brewing with a beer menu that includes flagship IPAs, American, Irish, English and Belgian styles, as well as their limited seasonal and barrel-aged beer. Again a wide variety is at play at this family-run brewery. You’ll also find a food menu of appies, salads, burgers and sandwiches to accompany the craft beers.
Other musts along the trail include Vertigo Brewing in nearby Hillsboro, brewing a variety of styles and pouring in a cozy, friendly atmosphere; veteran-owned Three Mugs Brewing, also in Hillsboro, making everything from the not-so-basic to outrageously experimental and serving food by Fresh Thyme Soup Company; and Golden Valley Brewery and Restaurant in Beaverton, serving not only award-winning beers but also superb local farm-to-table fare.
The Tualatin Valley Ale Trail is difficult to experience in a day, so making a weekend outing of it is a perfect solution. The valley has a range of lodging options; The Orenco in Hillsboro offers luxury accommodations in a vibrant location within an easy drive of establishments on the ale trail.
For detailed information about the Tualatin Valley Ale Trail, go to tualatinvalley.org/ale-trail. To book a room at The Orenco, go to theorenco.com. To learn about everything Tualatin Valley has to offer, including dining, wineries, outdoor recreation, entertainment and more, go to tualatinvalley.org.
