What Was Once Just a Semi-Haunted Portland Pizza Spot Has Grown Into the Ambitious Brand That is Old Town Brewing

Through a fortuitous series of expansions and talent acquisitions, what was once just a semi-haunted pizza spot in Old Town has grown into an ambitious brand.

Old Town Brewing's taproom on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. (Hunter Murphy)

5201 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., 503-200-5988, otbrewing.com. 11:30 am-10 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 11:30 am-11 pm Thursday-Saturday.

Through a fortuitous series of expansions and talent acquisitions, what was once just a semi-haunted pizza spot in Old Town has grown into an ambitious brand that now includes a massive Valhalla-esque brewpub in the King neighborhood. After expanding across the river in 2011 and losing former brewmaster Bolt Minister to his own 54-40 brewing in 2014, owner Adam Milne found brewmaster Andrew Lamont on probrewer.com and leapt at the chance to bring the former Sam Adams R&D brewer into the fold. Old Town quickly won a Great American Beer Festival medal for Shanghai'd IPA, a dry yet citrus-forward IPA praised for its balance of a heavy hop character and a smooth finish. Since, it's steadily collected a handful of medals for brews like Paulie's Not Irish Red and Sun Dazed Kölsch, both of which pair well with Old Town's pillow-thick pies.

Nearby: A mile to the west you'll find the now-iconic Saraveza (1004 N Killingsworth St., 503-206-4252, saraveza.com), a top-tier beer bar with a Wisconsin accent in the form of housemade Chex mix, fried squeaky cheese and pasties.

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