Coin Toss

14214 Fir St., Suite H, Oregon City, 971-224-9487, cointossbrewing.com. 3 pm-8pm Thursday-Friday, noon-8-pm Saturday, noon-6pm Sunday

Coin Toss might be Oregon City's newest brewery, but it's got an eye toward the past. The name is a nod to the coin toss that gave Portland its name—a momentous event that actually took place in Oregon City. Founder Tim Hohl, a longtime homebrewer who co-hosts a morning show on KPAM radio, has further historical aspirations with the Heritage Series, inspired by recipes of yore. The first entry is George's Honest Ale, modeled on a beer brewed by Washington himself. Made with sweet molasses, it's mild and cider-esque—a good fit, West Linn resident Hohl notes, for "blue-collar, yellow beer-drinking Oregon City." Other offerings from the 10-barrel brewery include a roasty, malt-forward CDA and the well-balanced Nine Eyes IPA. The modest tasting room, tucked in an industrial park next to a U-Haul dealer and a vacuum seller, opened in early January, but you can also look for Coin Toss at Roscoe's, Belmont Station and Green Dragon.

Drink This: Historic novelty aside, George's Honest Ale is eminently drinkable.

Willamette Week

Rebecca Jacobson

Rebecca Jacobson is a writer from Portland (OK, she was born in Seattle but has been in Oregon since the day after she turned 10) who's also lived in Berlin, Malawi and Rhode Island. While on staff at Willamette Week, she covered theater, film, bikes, drug dealers-turned-barbers and little-known scraps of local history.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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