Category: Eugene Taphouses

Craft Beer Date Guide: Eugene/Springfield

2/8/2017

The Bier Stein is best known for its impressive tap and bottle selection, however, it can be the perfect place for a winter date thanks to the fireplace. Photo courtesy of Aaron Brussat

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

The Bier Stein
It’s all about the fireplace. Get away from the crowd congregated at the front of one of Eugene’s most popular taprooms and instead head toward the back. Whether starting your evening with a beverage, dining there or nightcapping, warm up by the big fireplace and let that flickering light set the mood. This is also the time to take advantage of one of the largest tap and bottle selections on the West Coast. Get a bottle of something special from the cooler or look to the display board for the perfect small glass of wintry warming ale goodness. A round of pool or a board game can keep you occupied or simply let the time fireside lend itself to conversation and intimacy. Between the beer and the fireplace, this spot was made to help you strike a spark.

1591 Willamette St., Eugene
541-485-2437
thebierstein.com

Elk Horn Brewery
Valentine’s isn’t a quick flash. It’s a slow burn. And that’s how your night should be too. Located just off the University of Oregon campus, Elk Horn’s rustic classiness can both impress and relax your beloved. Founded by the owners of the popular Delacata Food Cart, Elk Horn has become renowned for its ciders and beers, as well as its Southern- and Northwest-inspired menu. Special for Valentine’s Day: Elk Horn is hosting a reservations-only dinner that includes an appetizer, entree and dessert, each paired with different Elk Horn beers and ciders. For details and reservations, email Hannah: .

686 E. Broadway St., Eugene
541-505-8356
elkhornbrewery.com

McMenamins North Bank has views of the Willamette River like no other business in town along with intimate booths. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Nyberg // McMenamins

McMenamins North Bank
With large picture windows that let you look out on the rolling Willamette River, there is no other view like it in town. The lights are just right. The booths offer some privacy and intimacy. Burgers and salads are on the menu, but so are more elaborate and delectable entrees such as Equinox Pappardelle and Black Rabbit Red Sirloin Steak. The beers are from one of Oregon’s oldest breweries, and McMenamins wines and spirits are also available from the full bar. Maybe the weather will even be on your side: take your beloved out to the riverside patio for a moment and snuggle close together for warmth. Then you’ll know that this is the perfect place to tell them what you’ve been dying to tell them: you'll love them longer than the river flows.

22 Club Road, Eugene
541-343-5622
mcmenamins.com/353-north-bank-home

Plank Town Brewing Company
Love is not always about what’s new. Love is about renewal, rejuvenation and appreciating the past while building the future. Located in the heart of downtown Springfield’s ongoing revitalization, Plank Town is the embodiment of that sort of love — and the perfect spot for your Valentine’s Day dinner and craft beer. Rich, deep woodwork gives a sense of intimacy and formality. A stage may offer some live music. Enjoy your pint and a small plate, entree or sandwich by the large street-side windows — or if you want more privacy, ask for a table in the back off to the side of the central bar.

346 Main St., Springfield
541-746-1890
planktownbrewing.com

The Tap & Growler
Even when you love someone, it can be hard to agree. Beer? Wine? Mead? Thankfully, you might be Marzen and they might be Viognier, yet The Tap & Growler can bring you together. Located near both The David Minor Theatre and Fifth Street Public Market, this taproom offers excellent sandwiches, salads and shareable plates, in addition to 81 rotating taps of beer, wine, cider, mead, kombucha, and even cold-pressed espresso and craft soda. As you can guess from the name, should getting together have you ready to put aside more than your differences, you can always take a growler back to their place.

207 E. Fifth Ave., #115, Eugene
541-505-9751
tapandgrowler.com

0 Comments

Game Day Eugene: Tailgating Guide

11/20/2016

0 Comments

Before tailgating outside of Autzen, there are a number of Eugene breweries and restaurants to fill up on a hearty breakfast or grab a snack to fuel your day of cheering on the home team. Photos by AJ McGarry

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

When it comes to college football, there is one place to be: Eugene.

ESPN's College GameDay program has broadcast from the city nine times, and earlier this year, GameDay’s Lee Corso declared that Eugene was “my favorite place, for me personally, to see a ballgame.” Average attendance in 2015 was 57,324 fans. The University of Oregon's Autzen Stadium is not only Oregon’s largest sports arena, it’s the loudest stadium in the country. It’s been called “intimidating” and “where great teams go to die.”

It’s also a hell of a lot of fun.

Tailgater Magazine agrees. In its 2016 list of Top 25 “tailgating meccas in college football,” the No. 1 spot went not to Alabama or Michigan State or Notre Dame. It went to Autzen Stadium.

It’s no surprise. Autzen is where, at the end of the third quarter, the crowd dances while the toga party scene from “National Lampoon's Animal House” (filmed in Eugene, by the way) plays — complete with the song “Shout” blasting. Autzen is where a foghorn sounds every time the Ducks score. (OK, granted, that foghorn’s been getting leaned on less this season than usual, but it’s not the destination, it’s the journey, right?)

Autzen is also set in one of Oregon’s meccas not only for tailgating and college football, but for craft beer. Eugene is where game day turns the city green and yellow, from the flags flying on vehicles driving in from all over the state to the face paint and clothing covering fans marching to Autzen en masse.

So wherever you are in the Eugene area, here are tips for enjoying the game and a good beer, whether it’s pregame, around town, tailgating outside Autzen, or finding the party inside at the Moshofsky Center (the "Mo") next to Autzen.

Transportation tip: Parking at Autzen is no picnic. The stadium is walkable from many parts of the campus area and downtown Eugene. Check your favorite mapping app for directions. Lane Transit District also offers a park-and-ride shuttle to and from the stadium.

ColdFire Brewing is a popular spot for Ducks fans. Located just across the Willamette River near Skinner Butte, hit the brewery for a pint before walking a little more than a mile to Autzen.

Around Town
Depending on kickoff time, you may need anything from a hearty breakfast to a little pregame snack. Maybe you aren’t going to the stadium and need to know where to be. Or, maybe you’re watching at home, but need to stock the beer fridge. Bring your growler! Eugene’s got you covered. All hours listed are for Saturdays.

The Bier Stein
1591 Willamette St., 541-485-BIER, thebierstein.com, 11 a.m. to midnight
With more than 30 taps and 1,000 bottled beers and ciders from all over the world (plus many staff are certified Cicerones), The Bier Stein is your spot to stock the beer fridge.

Brails Restaurant
1689 Willamette St., 541-343-1542, brailseugene.com, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Since The Bier Stein opens at 11 a.m., cruise a block down and have breakfast first. Brails is a perennial fan favorite, taking Eugene Weekly’s “Best hangover breakfast” top spot for years running. That’s good to know — you might need to go there tomorrow, too.

The Cooler
20 Centennial Loop, 541-484-4355, thecoolerbar.com, 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Oddly enough, few bars are near Autzen. The closest is The Cooler, a large sports bar that prides itself on big-screen TVs; a simple, yet tasty, pub fare menu; and booze aplenty.

ColdFire Brewing
263 Mill St., 541-636-3889, coldfirebrewing.com., noon to 11 p.m.
One of Eugene’s newest breweries, ColdFire, is catching fire with their European beers, Northwest flair, imagination and solid brewing chops. Located just across the Willamette River near Skinner Butte, hit ColdFire for a pint or growler fill. You’re also near the city’s riverside bike paths and can walk the 1.3 miles from ColdFire to Autzen in about 30 minutes.

Elk Horn Brewery
686 E. Broadway St., 541-505-8356, elkhornbrewery.com, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Bordering the UO campus, Elk Horn was founded by the folks behind Eugene’s popular Delacata food cart. Elk Horn bridges the gap between beer, cider and wine. Also check out their Southern–Northwest fusion food menu.

Falling Sky Pizzeria
UO Erb Memorial Union, 1395 University St., Room #46, 541-485-1275, fallingskybrewing.com, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
After opening this past summer, Falling Sky’s third location has quickly become a popular spot for UO students and faculty, as well as the greater community. Enjoy game day on campus with a pint and an innovative pizza.

McMenamins North Bank
22 Club Road, 541-343-5622, mcmenamins.com/northbank, 11 a.m. to midnight (opens 10 a.m. home game days)
You’ll be able to hear Autzen while sitting by the Willamette River. Just a hair over a mile from the stadium, McMenamins North Bank has a spacious restaurant and cozy bar. Weather permitting, don’t miss the riverside deck, and TVs inside will make sure you won’t miss the game.

Rye
444 E. Third Ave., 541-653-8509, ryeon3rd.com, 5–10 p.m. (bar opens 4 p.m.)
If you want something a bit more refined for your game day pleasure, or an evening spot, Rye offers French-style cuisine, craft cocktails and a selection of Oregon beers in a rustic-chic setting.

Steelhead Brewing Company
199 E. Fifth Ave. #1, 541-686-2739, steelheadbrewery.com, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Located in Eugene’s Fifth Street Market area, Steelhead has been serving tasty pub fare and pouring beers (racking up 24 medals) for 25 years. Head here before the game or hole up in a comfy chair and watch the action unfold.

Sidelines Grill & Sports Bar
77 W. Broadway, 541-654-4690, sidelineseugene.com, 11 a.m. to midnight
Keep it simple: food, drink, sports. In the heart of downtown Eugene, Sidelines focuses on the fundamentals with pub fare and beer and 10 HD TVs ensure you don’t miss a moment.

SweetWaters on the River
1000 Valley River Way, 541-341-3462, valleyriverinn.com, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Coming from out of town or just want a scenic riverside spot to enjoy a pregame meal and a nice beverage? Head to Valley River Inn and its SweetWaters restaurant (there’s also a lounge and bakery). One fan’s tip for early game days: head to SweetWaters for brunch (and a Bloody Mary), then walk it off on the riverside path to Autzen. Another plus? If you need to stock up on UO gear, The Duck Store is across the parking lot in Valley River Center shopping mall. You can also park there and take a shuttle to the stadium.

You never know what to expect outside Autzen on game day. During tailgating festivities in October, a group of zombies danced to Thriller in support of ShelterCare, a local nonprofit.

Tailgating Outside Autzen
Four hours before kickoff, Autzen Stadium’s parking lot opens — and is promptly taken over by thousands of tailgaters, many with RVs and tents that are ready to hold the party. Some people come just for the tailgating and aren’t even going to Autzen for the game. It’s easy to see why.

“Being outside of Autzen is a different experience on game day,” says John Procopio, a longtime Eugene resident and Duck fan. “The lead up to the game is like getting ready for a vacation or the night before Christmas. All this excitement and anticipation builds. It’s one of the best parties and people watching to celebrate not only Duck football, but being in Oregon.”

Procopio is one of many fans who come to the tailgating area with their own six-packs, growlers, bombers and plenty of cups — after all, game day is about the community and what says community more than sharing good beer with friends? “I want my ‘A’ beer — something special, something nice, like you’d want for your birthday,” says Procopio.

To get the best experience, bring something to share and just start talking with people. Offer a frosty beverage, strike up a conversation and you’ll be part of the tailgating team in no time.

Want your tailgating a bit more laid-back? In nearby Essig Field, a free, family-friendly outdoor area holds a food court, complete with a tent dining area, a beer garden highlighting local beers and televised game coverage. Some fans stay here the whole time.

In the Moshofsky Center
Once inside Autzen, you can’t have beer at your seats. No matter. That’s what the Moshofsky Center is for. The 117,000-square-foot Moshofsky, or “Mo” for short, opened in 1998 as a covered practice area for the Ducks. Today, UO uses the Mo as a massive area for food, drink and other entertainment. From sit-down meals to live music, beer taps for grownups and bouncy castles for kids, the Mo accommodates thousands of fans on game day. Your ticket to the game is also your ticket for the Mo, and fans can go back and forth throughout the game. You won’t miss the action either — there are TV monitors and even a scoreboard synced to Autzen’s scoring system.

The Mo opens three hours before kickoff and 90 minutes before the stadium itself is open to fans. Head there early to scope out a spot at one of hundreds of tables. You’ll find the beer garden in the back, with a range of craft and standard beers.

Whether around town, tailgating or in Autzen, for Procopio “it’s all about the sharing, the social experience and in our state we have such amazing access to get good beer. Game day is the perfect day to celebrate Oregon and Oregon beer.”

0 Comments

Beergarden Celebrates Entering Year Two of Business

7/9/2016

0 Comments

Eugene’s Beergarden is entering its second year of business with a number of local people’s choice awards honors. Beyond the diverse selection of brews, customers come for the four food carts and outdoor garden seating. Photo by AJ McGarry

By Anthony St. Clair
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Usually when a craft beer place draws in the public, they are attracting people who come primarily for the beer. But with Beergarden, the 1-year-old Eugene taphouse (and home to four food carts) gets just as many people who come first for their favorite grub — and then discover a pint of something special to go with it. Customers may start out more interested in the food than in the beer, but with 42 (soon to be 47) taps of craft beer, wine, cider, mead and more, they soon realize Beergarden is a unique blend of indoors and outdoors, craft beverages, and artisan food.

Founded in 2015 by Tap & Growler co-owners Colby Phillips and Patric Campbell, Beergarden is located in a renovated former service station at a nexus of major roads and neighborhoods. Decor was salvaged from a to-be-demolished local Marie Callender’s restaurant — look above the bar and you’ll find the old salad bar shield. Beergarden combines metal and wood in both a comfy indoor space and an airy, yet covered, outdoor space that’s filled with plants thanks to the garden center next door. Lunch and dinner crowds come for a variety of reasons, including live music, a food truck meal and the enclosed space where kids can play.

“It’s a beer garden with a true garden feel,” says Phillips. “People really seem to like it.” Local people’s choice awards would agree. During its first year, Beergarden garnered a number of honors: “Best Beers on Tap,” “Best New Restaurant” and “Best New Business.”

At the heart of Beergarden, of course, is the “beer” in the name. At the heart of the beer is beer steward Holly Emery-Walen, who has been with Beergarden since the beginning. The University of Oregon graduate has a resume that includes positions at a number of well-respected beer establishments, such as The Bier Stein, Hop Valley’s Tasting Room and Belmont Station. Managing the Portland beer cafe connected Emery-Walen with brewers, brewery owners and other figures in the industry. Around 2013, though, she was ready to return to Eugene, where she met Colby Phillips, who was conceptualizing the place that would become Beergarden.

“He approached me about something he and Patric were putting together,” explains Emery-Walen. “I wanted something full-time where I could have creative control with the tap list and bottle list. I get that autonomy.”

Now Emery-Walen is the general of the business’s taps and bottle selection. “I love drinking beer,” she says, “and I like to explore.” But developing the right beer selection wasn’t just a matter of pulling in every esoteric beer she could get her hands on. The onsite food carts pulled in lots of foodies and food cart fans. “They aren’t necessarily beer geeks or in the craft beer scene, which is different from a lot of beer places,” says Emery-Walen. “We’re at this confluence of North Eugene, South Eugene, Whiteaker. We’re near two highways, and that brings a big mix of demographics. People weren’t necessarily coming just for craft beer.”

With constantly rotating taps, however, Emery-Walen hit upon a simple solution for people whose taste in beer might be more on the stick-with-what-you-know end of the spectrum. She decided to keep Hop Valley’s Light Me Up Lager on Beergarden’s sole permanent tap, “for people who want something familiar in a place where all the beer is unfamiliar.”

That simple change puts people at ease, though, and more and more customers come in who “enjoy exploring.” That adventurous spirit, Emery-Walen observes, is a natural extension of food cart fans and foodies. “They’re already familiar with their palate, what they like. Usually foodies are pretty exploratory. You can have different tastes in food or beer, but still be able to find beer and food that suits whoever is coming with you.”

When curating Beergarden’s selection, Emery-Walen focuses on quality and freshness. As Beergarden celebrates entering its second year, she continues building relationships, expanding access to limited-release beers and keeping Beergarden’s selection a mix of the unique, the everyday, and overall, the well-crafted.

“I try to keep a diverse range of styles, and beers within styles. Diversity was our foundation at Belmont Station, and I brought that here too,” says Emery-Walen. “If you taste something and think it’s awesome, you want to share that with the world.”

Beergarden
(a) 777 W. Sixth Ave., Eugene
(p) 541-505-9432
(w) beergardenme.com
Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to Midnight

0 Comments

Craft Beer Date Guide: Eugene/Springfield

Game Day Eugene: Tailgating Guide

Beergarden Celebrates Entering Year Two of Business

OBG Blog

Archives

Categories