The Little Boat that Could

Hands down, the most unusual brewpub in Portland is Tugboat Brewing Company, hidden away on a downtown alleyway which is actually a disconnected stretch of Ankeny between Broadway and Park. It's a small 4-barrel operation that's been there since 1992, but it's a well-kept secret. When I ask people if they've ever been there, the few who have usually add, "Is it still there?".

It's a quiet existence: they don't advertise or participate in beer festivals, the website appears to be at least 5 years out of date, and their ales are only available at the pub. Their opening hours are pretty limited, basically 4 PM to midnight every day. In a state where all the brewers seem to know each other -- and many have reputations spanning multiple breweries -- Tugboat isn't even on the Oregon beer family tree. That's not at all to imply that the owners are arrogant or unfriendly -- in fact if the brewer or his wife isn't behind the bar, they're probably having a beer at one of the tables.

The obscurity is part of the charm of the Tugboat, and it's definitely worth a visit. It's a comfortable, cozy place. The walls are lined with used books, and you'll usually see the people at one or more of the tables enjoying a quiet game of cards or board game. Smoking is allowed, but the ventilation seems pretty good. I always smell the smoke when I'm there, but it's not thick enough to stick to my clothes.

Ales at the Tugboat all have a pleasantly yeasty character, there's usually a selection on cask, and none of the beer is served too cold. The price is right: $3.50 a pint, or $3 during the 4-7 PM happy hour -- cash only. Here are the house beers they were pouring last night:

• Lighthouse Pale Ale: light, floral hops, nice
• Amber Ale: yeasty and nicely bitter
• Crimson Red Ale (cask): cloudy, fresh, and tasty; very flat
  
• Coffee Brown Ale: toasty and good, chocolaty flavor
• Blond Ale: oops, forgot to try this one
  
• Chernobyl Russian Imperial Stout: flat and strong

"Coffee Brown" is just named for the dark-roasted color, there's no coffee in it. Chernobyl is definitely the most distinctive beer, the one I seek out every time I'm there. It's a big one -- over 10% ABV, only served in half-pints -- tasty and black, though last night it seemed a little too flat. None of the other ales seemed like they were terribly strong, you could comfortably have a few of them.

They also had eight guest taps last night, plus a cider. Three of the guest taps stood out as being pretty rarely sighted in these parts: Klamath Basin 8 Second Ale, Leavenworth Blind Pig Dunkel Weizen, and Off the Rail (no website?) Over the Mountain Stout. I like to award imaginary community service points to places that have obscure guest taps, like when I found Klamath Basin beers at SuperDog. Tugboat gets double points, for supporting Klamath Basin and Off the Rail, the brewery with the excellent Ozzy/Black Sabbath beer names. Guest pints are $4.50 ($4 happy hour).

Tugboat might get a little more exposure to beer fans now that Bailey's Taproom -- the westside's attempt at Green Dragon coolness -- has opened across the street. It chugged along before that for many years, and hopefully will for many more. If you're downtown of an evening, stop in for a pint or a nuclear stout.

Getting Back to Our Roots

It had been a few weeks since the Pub Night gang had hit Roots, so Lindsey and I trooped down there last night with new neighbors Bryan and Tanith, fresh off the boat from Cleveland. Lindsey was excited to have moved back to his mostly-remodeled house. OK, let's call it partially-remodeled, but at least he's back within walking distance of Roots.

The weather was perfect for the sidewalk picnic tables, but we were surprised at how quiet the place was, maybe because of the holiday weekend. Anyway, the $2.50 Tuesday night imperial pints beckoned, and we heeded the call.

Roots has a couple of excellent beers on right now. The Farmhouse Bruin has improved a lot since it was unveiled a couple months ago at the Cheers to Belgian Beers event. It seemed a little thin at the time, and I even went back the next week and had the same impression. But last night it tasted better -- it still has that wild-yeast/saison flowery tartness, but it's richer and rounder. Is it a different batch? Or is that what a couple months in the cellar will do for you? Whatever the case, stop in and grab one before it's gone.

Along the same lines, the strong Belgian Golden they're pouring right now is also a gem. This one has been good from the get-go, although it's sometimes difficult for me to spring for a delicious 10-ounce beer when I can reach out and grab a 20-ounce pint of something nearly as good. We shared one around last night, though, and it was mighty tasty. Darker in color than you'd expect a "Golden" to be, but dangerously smooth. Maybe those little glasses are a good idea after all.

Of course, the reliable standbys were on tap, too: Island Red, Woody IPA, Nevermined Pale Ale, Burghead Heather Ale, and the Imperial Stout. There's also an ESB out right now, but they were out of it last night. Burghead always seemed like a weird idea -- no hops? -- but now that everyone is losing their minds over the hop crisis we can see that it was really an idea that was ahead of its time. The one thing I miss at Roots these days is having a selection on cask -- it's been many months since I've seen the engine hooked up.

Seeing no signs of the promised pub remodel, I asked the bartender Jim about it. His impression is that it's on the back burner for now. It would be nice to have a better use of the space in there, but really the beer is the bottom line. If Roots keeps cranking out the good stuff, we'll put up with the bad feng shui.

Vincente's Pizza

Let me get one thing clear: I'm sick and tired of pizza. The brick-oven pizza at Hair of the Dog last Saturday was nice; but Friday and Sunday were pizza nights for us also. Friday because it's our traditional pizza-and-video night, and Sunday because we had to feed the kids quick after putting them through a day of waiting in line for the Portland Obama rally. The last straw was on Monday morning, when the only thing I could find for breakfast was the final slice of Friday's pizza.

It's tempting to swear that I'll never eat pizza again, but that pledge would soon be broken. The truth is, our household would fall apart if Vincente's Pizza wasn't right around the corner from us at 20th and Hawthorne. The Friday ritual is deeply ingrained: call Vincente's and order a large cheese and large Caesar salad to go. For the need-food-now situations -- like last Sunday -- sitting down and ordering slices ($3.25) is faster and easier.

There's another benefit to dining in: Vincente's keeps a decent selection of beer, about 20 taps and quite a few good bottles. Some of the standard taps from the menu:

• Hale's Cream Ale
• Terminal Gravity IPA
• Caldera IPA
• Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale
• Laurelwood Free Range Red
• Alameda Black Bear Stout
• Rogue Dead Guy Ale
• Amnesia Pale Ale

There are a few more mainstream taps -- PBR, Czechvar, Black Butte, Widmer Hef, Guinness -- but also interesting rotating taps. A few weeks ago they had the Hopworks Lager and the Copper Ale from Raccoon Lodge; today they had Lagunitas Kronik (a.k.a. Censored) and Walking Man Knuckledragger. "Today?" you ask. "I thought you were sick of pizza." That's where the Greek Salad comes in: order the medium size for $6.50, wash it down with a pint, and you've got a meal.

The bottled beer selection varies, but they usually keep pretty current seasonals from Lagunitas, Full Sail, and Rogue. Looking at the picture here, I can pick out some other good calls: Newcastle, Ayinger, Pelican IPA, something by Lazy Boy. The big bottles are mostly $4.75, so I tend to stick with the draft pints for $3.50. I think there's a $3.75 big-bottle special on Sundays. In a beer emergency, you can buy the big bottles to go, but they looked befuddled when I asked if they would fill a growler from the taps. It would be nice if they did: Hot Lips Pizza one block east fills growlers, though their beer selection -- and their pizza -- are no match for Vincente's. (Speaking of nearby beer choices, the 7-11 across Hawthorne from Vincente's now carries the Ninkasi 22-ouncers.)

At lunchtime, only the few tables on the original restaurant side are open, plus a few more tables outdoors. At night, a whole new section called the Winking Toad Bar is open, including a small loft upstairs with a pool table. A couple of years ago they had dartboards upstairs, but I guess it was too crowded up there, because they took them down. I also miss the foosball table that was in the tiny pinball room on the restaurant side. It was rickety, and disgustingly filthy, and would run so low on balls that one time we bought new ones for it, but the girls and I were sad to see it go.

Pizza: you can't live with it, you can't live without it. At least you can enjoy some good beer with it at Vincente's.