At Pints Brewing, Understatement is a Virtue

Pints knows understatement can be a virtue.

(Pints, Henry Cromett)

412 NW 5th Ave., 503-564-2739, pintsbrewing.com. 11:30 am-11 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-11 pm Saturday, 10 am-9 pm Sunday.

Pints knows understatement can be a virtue. From its name—the brewing equivalent of dubbing a basketball team the Nets—to its location in the nondescript dead zone between Old Town and the Pearl. The small-batch brewery's approach to selling itself seems to be, "Come down and grab a beer—or not, no big whoop." But in a crowded beer scene where the din of burly hop-fetishists clamoring for attention can get overwhelming, there's something endearing about an establishment willing to play it cool and let patrons come to them. We called the part-time coffeehouse "the last friendly pub" in the neighborhood back in 2014, and that it remains. Its menu, though, has shifted slightly. Brewmaster Alan Taylor is mostly focused on making his superlative German beers at Zoiglhaus in Lents, but Pints still has a solid selection of blondes, IPAs and the warmingly dark, chocolatey Steel Bridge Stout. 

(Pints, Henry Cromett)

Drink this:  Ella and the Boyz, a pleasingly tart, low-ABV boysenberry sour.

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