Royale’s New Railside Taproom Offers a World of Brews on Ten Taps

Royale cheekily decided to start its brewery without an IPA. But, as it turns out, evolution is a good thing.

(Royale, Emily Joan Greene)

Garrison taproom: 8773 N Lombard St., 503-780-6914. 4-10 pm daily. Brewery: 55 NE Farragut St. #6, 971-279-5587, royalebrewing.com. Hours 4-10 pm Monday-Sunday.

Despite being very able to distribute its beers to supermarkets—it was founded by Portland's a bottling company in 2015—Royale cheekily decided to start its brewery without an IPA. Well, as it turns out, evolution is a good thing: Their IPA this year isn't in its final form, but the 4.0 beta version is already a damn good beer. Mixing strong floral notes from simcoe, mosaic and amarillo, it's at once juicy, aromatic and very well balanced. It's one of the brewery's strongest beers, behind the beautifully rounded malts in their Inspektor Red. Among Royale's bottled flagships, the Pilsner remains a bit bitter and the porter a little undistinguished. But at the brewery's new railside taproom on Farragut Street, they're now experimenting with a world of brews on 10 taps, including a very pleasant pear-accented farmhouse. That taproom is only open Friday to Sunday, but five Royale beers are always on tap at the Garrison, a cocktail-forward bar the brewery opened two years ago in downtown St. Johns. There, you can take food delivery from any of four different local restaurants, including the Sudra vegan Indian spot and 87th and Meatballs. But in a dark-painted room with two screens tuned to sports, you may be more tempted by the $8 price tag on Garrison's Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, or mixology-forward house concoctions like a pomegranate-bourbon shandy and Negroni-esque beer float.

Nearby: Though the beer taps hadn't come in by press time, pizza bar 48 North (8801 N Lombard St., 503-477-4646,  48northtaphouse.com) may soon have the largest tap list in North Portland.

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