Fat Head’s Brewery Owner Reopened the Former Portland Outpost With a Simpler Look and a New Name: Von Ebert Brewing

Now manned by ex-Commons head brewer Sean Burke, the beer is every bit as good as it was in the rust belt era.

(Liz Allan)

By Parker Hall

131 NW 13th Ave., 503-820-7721, vonebertbrewing.com. 11:30 am-11 pm Monday-Thursday, 11:30 am-midnight Friday-Saturday, 11:30 am-10 pm Sunday. Happy hour 3-6 pm and 9 pm-close Sunday-Thursday: $1 off house beer, $6 wine, food specials.

Fat Head's brewery owner Tom Cook has reopened the former Portland outpost of the Ohio brewery with a simpler look and a new name: Von Ebert Brewing. Now manned by ex-Commons head brewer Sean Burke, the beer is every bit as good as it was in the rust belt era. A Battlestations! IPA offered the same tropical oomph that won Fat Head's the top two slots in WW's first-ever all-Portland IPA tasting—and uses the same hops as the winning beer, Semper FiPA. But Burke has also subbed in a few eye-poppingly good German recipes: Goodbye cloying blueberry ale, hello clovey German hefeweizen. Von Ebert is also pouring numerous special barrel projects like "Annabeth," a silky blond oatmeal stout that resided in a Burnside Bourbon barrel. The food hasn't dropped in calories, but it has a less laminated aesthetic on its new metal platters. Massive smoked wings (six for $15.50) and a giant pretzel ($10.50) remain rightfully unchanged, but homy new cuts like a Gouda-stuffed Adult Grilled Cheese ($12) make a good thing better.

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