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Growlers are an overrated component of beer-geek culture. It's a lot of the same beer, and the longer it sits, the warmer and flatter it gets. So Tin Bucket (3520 N Williams Ave., 477-7689) is something of a revelation. The new bottle shop/taproom/growler-filling station is a gleaming monument to Oregon brewing. A bank of coolers holds a respectable range of bottles, and while the taproom suffers most from its limited seating, the inviting space has already attracted regulars in the neighborhood. The taps are the stars, though. The row of proprietary pressurizing nozzles, which fill both pints and growlers, are spread across a long counter, each looking more like a spaceship's stasis chamber than a standard row of tap handles. Tin Bucket's pourers spend most of their time hovered over the clear chambers, which seem to run slowly. It's hypnotic to watch, so have a pint while you wait. The payoff? Once pressurized, these growlers will stay as fresh as a bottle or can. The 40-tap selection featured a wide array of styles—a steal at $5 to $7 for 32-ounce pours, considering bombers 10 ounces lighter cost at least that much. The best aspect of Tin Bucket's system isn't realized until you're back home: My growler of Solera Brewery's the Fez was tap-fresh the next evening, with the growler emitting a gasp as I cracked it, just like factory-packaged beer. I sipped at the lemony sour contentedly, finally free of the creeping dread that my beer was dying because I couldn't drink it fast enough.
WWeek 2015