Upright Brewing

This is by far the most unique brewery I have experienced in Portland. The anticipation started with the location...Upright Brewing is located in the basement of the newish Leftbank Building on North Broadway Street. Parking is an issue here; there are only a handful of spaces in front of the building, so plan to park on a side street or to ride your bike. You walk through Leftbank’s beautiful fir entry doors into their café/gallery area (which is an impressive, open concept, artfully-designed space I might add) and take the elevator to the basement to get to Upright (you will feel like you are part of a special club). One turn off the elevator and there you are...the brewery is all there for you to tour and admire as you enjoy your beers – talk about fresh and locally sourced!

Inside it is a small space of concrete walls, barrels of beer, and six tables (two picnic-style, two high-tops, and two regular two-seaters, all with random mis-matched chairs – we had lawn chairs, how fitting for this place!). It was a full-house on a Sunday afternoon, but we were able to snag a high-top, then eventually move to a two-seater. There was a man playing folk/jazz at the entrance, so that added to the ambiance as soon as we walked in. There was a small chalkboard listing all of the offerings for the day to the left of the place, and one guy tending to the orders. The majority of beers are labeled with a #, and they offer regular brews as well as Seasonals. They also offer a sandwich and meat plate option for food. Any artwork on the walls is from local artists. Upright also sells to-go growlers and kegs, so keep that in mind for your next party! Make sure you check the hours though: the Tasting Room is open from 4:30-9pm on Fridays, 1-6pm every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and also between 6pm and tipoff for all evening home Blazers games.

Upright has amazing prices and brews phenomenal beer. The best option to get you acclimated to their beers is the tasting tray. It comes with six ample-sized tasting glasses set inside a nice wooden holder, all for $7. We added a sample of the Seasonal for an additional $1. They bring the tray to your table and go through the numbers with you. You drink them all (I recommend sticking to correct order) and then try to remember what #’s you liked so you can order full beers of choice, so fun! Notable that full beers are 12oz, which is perfect. The beers are way too potent to be downing pints of, just wouldn’t be right. The guy serving the beers was friendly and helpful, and I actually had him write down the numbers for me so I would know what I was tasting! No exaggeration, I enjoyed every beer on the tray, less the Seasonal Auld Reekie (which was described as “experimental” and was just downright awful). My favorite of the day was the Saison (a sour-style beer); it was truly amazing. The Seasonal Turkey on Rye was also a standout.

Upright is indeed Craft beer at its finest. What a way to spend a rainy Sunday…or any day for that matter. I hate to even tell people about this place, but as a devoted Yelp Elite, duty calls. Don’t say I never did anything for you!

*Jayne