Tugboat Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Tugboat Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Tugboat Brewing Co. is a tiny brewpub located in the heart of downtown Portland, OR.

About the Brewery

Tugboat bills itself as Portland’s oldest downtown microbrewery and is operated by Terry Nelson, Megan McEnroe-Nelson and John McEnroe, a husband/wife/father team that fully own the small brewpub. They have been pouring beer at their little pub since 1993 and is probably Portland’s smallest brewery (they produced 138bbl in 2010).

Interior

Tucked away on SW Ankeny in downtown Portland, Tugboat is a cosy little dimly-lit pub with a frontage no bigger than a small shop. Inside are comfy seats, shelves lined with books and board games. There’s room for about 50 people and their frequent jazz nights are popular.

The bar staff are very knowledge about all of the beers they serve and are happy to chat about them and the give tips on travelling around the city.

The Beer

All their beer is brewed in the tiny nano-brewery visible at the rear of the bar. You can usually find around four of their beers on tap such as Hay Fork, Amber Lamps, ESB or their extra strong Chernobyl stout that is served by the half pint only. Most beers are served unpasteurised from keg although they usually have one on cask. They serve around half a dozen guest beers from breweries such as Anchor as well as a cider or two.

More Photos of the Tugboat Brewing Co.

Venue Location

Tugboat Brewing Co.

711 SW Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97205

Tel: (503) 226 2508

twb.im/tugboatbrew

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.