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30203 NE Benjamin Road, Newberg, 487-6873, wolvesandpeople.com. 4-10 pm Thursday-Friday, noon-8 pm Saturday.
We've been rooting hard for Wolves & People. Last year's guide featured a listing on the spot even though it wasn't yet open, complete with a photo essay on "the most hotly anticipated new brewery of the year." It hasn't quite delivered yet. We haven't had any bad beer from the old barn on Christian DeBenedetti's family farm, but we haven't had any wows, either, as the flavors in beers like a truffle stout and plum saison with Brettanomyces tend to be very subtle, while the Solstice saison has a salinity that begs for a bitter or herbal note to offset it. Wolves & People isn't an easy get, either. Though it occasionally pops up around town in bottles or on draft, if you want to try the full lineup, you'll need to drive down to Newberg. There are no taster trays or seating. (Minors are now allowed inside, thankfully.) Food was also unavailable on our visit—they hosted the people behind the notoriously flaky Viking Soul Food cart, which has been closing during posted hours for nearly a decade now. (The cart has since moved on, and the brewery will instead do food events.) It is a beautiful location and they make some very nice beers, but our elevated expectations haven't yet been met.
Drink this: The bottles are all super limited, but our favorite beer so far was a fig getit, a saison with a complex grain bill involving red wheat and flaked rye that's fermented with figs grown right there on the farm which was on draft during our visit.
Welcome to the 2017 Portland Beer Guide
This Year's Guide Is Dedicated to Dean Pottle
An Oral History of the Horse Brass
The Best Portland Bars for Hardcore Bar Geeks | Portland's Best Cider Bars | These Are the Bars in Portland Where We Get Our Beer to Go | Where to Get Crowlers in Portland | Big Beer Halls Where You Can Drink With Half of Portland | The Six Best Spots to Take Little Ones For a Little Nip | Warm & Cozy Beer Caves | Portland Spots Where Great Food and Beer Come Together | Tap a Belgian or German at These Portland Bars