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Above the Rest
7979 SE Foster Road, 882-8882; 11945 SW Pacific Highway, Suite 235, Tigard, 968-2736; atr-homebrewing.com. 10:30 am-6:30 pm Tuesday-Friday, 10:30 am-5 pm Saturday.
With two locations in the area, Above the Rest is a well-stocked shop for the average homebrewer. Offering virtual grain bags, which allow patrons to get a discount by purchasing 50-pound bags of base malt without having to actually bring the whole thing home, the business always has an eye on the consumer, even if there are fresher hops in town.
Bader Beer and Wine Supply
711 Grand Blvd., Vancouver, 360-750-1551, baderbrewing.com. 10 am-6 pm Monday and Wednesday-Friday, 10 am-8 pm Tuesday, 10 am-5 pm Saturday, 11 am-5 pm Sunday.
You might end up paying Vancouver's sales tax, but Bader is one of the better homebrew shops in the area. The store is logical and well laid out, even going so far as to offer color-coded malt bins, which make it easy to distinguish American Pilsner from its breadier continental brethren. It's also the best place to buy new hardware that doesn't exclusively sell online, with a wide range of gear for everyone from the amateur to the award-winning homebrewer.
F.H. Steinbart Co.
234 SE 12th Ave., 232-8793, fhsteinbart.com. 8:30 am-6 pm Monday-Wednesday, 8:30 am-7 pm Thursday-Friday, 9 am-4 pm Saturday, 10 am-4 pm Sunday.
The oldest homebrew shop in the nation is still one of the region's best, with a vast array of malt, hops and yeast, as well as all manner of know-how by way of a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Though it has a little bit of everything, Steinbart is perhaps most notable as home to the best variety of base malts in the metro area, with hard-to-find selections like English Mild malt and Kölsch malt from Cologne, Germany, both of which often require substitutions at other locales.
Homebrew Exchange
6550 N Interstate Ave., 286-0343, homebrewexchange.net. 10 am-7 pm Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-4 pm Saturday-Sunday.
A distinctly groovier-than-the-rest North Portland homebrew shop—it has a food cart that sells falafel out front—Homebrew Exchange offers enough ingredient selection to brew most American ales, but doesn't quite have the malts to be considered a one-stop shop for everything. That said, the hop and yeast selections are strong, and there is more than enough gear here to get the beginner started.
The Hoppy Brewer
328 N Main Ave., Gresham, 328-8474, oregonshoppyplace.com. 11 am-9 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-10 pm Friday, 9 am-10 pm Saturday, 11 am-6 pm Sunday.
This quaint and lightly stocked oops-I-forgot shop functions as part of the Hoppy Brewer's greater beer bar-bottle shop-brewery endeavors. The downtown Gresham storefront offers just enough malts, hops and yeast to be able to craft some decent American ales. Come for the yeast you forgot, stay for a pint of something in the attached bar, or pick up a bottle of inspiration to go.
Let's Brew
8235 SE Stark St., 256-0205, letsbrew.net. 10 am-6 pm Monday-Friday, 9:30 am-5 pm Saturday.
A medium-sized homebrew shop that also offers how-to-brew classes, Let's Brew has a decent and fresh selection of everything beginning and regular hobbyists need to whip up a batch. That said, people who aren't in need of a class, or who don't live in the neighborhood, will probably want to venture to a larger, better-stocked locale.
Mainbrew
23596 NW Clara Lane, Hillsboro, 648-4254, mainbrew.com. 10 am-6 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-5 pm Sunday.
A big industrial park space with a door to the adjacent ABV taproom, Hillsboro's Mainbrew offers the best selection of hops in the region. The shop is probably the only place you'll find bulk 1-pound bags of some of the newest varieties on the market, and it always offers rare seasonal yeasts from White Labs in California. A fantastic store for Southwest Portland suburbanites, Mainbrew is probably worth a trip for anyone into the hobby—especially when you can use it as an excuse to grab lunch next door.
Portland U-Brew & Pub
6237 SE Milwaukie Ave., 943-2727, portlandubrewandpub.com. 11 am-5 pm Tuesday, 11 am-7 pm Wednesday-Friday, 10 am-7 pm Saturday, 10 am-6 pm Sunday.
Sellwood's quaint corner homebrew store can also serve as a good gift: It offers in-house brewing classes for those looking to try their hand at the hobby without first purchasing any gear. U-Brew also offers a decent selection of ingredients for those who do it at home, with a fresh and wide selection of yeasts, malts and hops for to-go purchasers.
Uptown Market
6620 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton, 336-4783; 3970 SW Mercantile Drive, Lake Oswego, 479-8536; uptownmarketpdx.com. 11 am-10 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-11 pm Friday-Saturday, 11 am-9 pm Sunday.
A bottle shop and taproom that offers homebrew supplies as something of an afterthought, Uptown Market is better served as a stopgap than a place to concoct your next great recipe. That said, for those looking to grab a fresh vial of ale yeast, or an extra ounce of bittering hops for their latest brew, it's a nice place to swoop in, grab what you need and get back to the boil kettle before it's too late.
Willamette Week