Beer Guide 2015: Five Dons

By Rebecca Jacobson

Five Dons

1158 11th Ave., Longview, Wash., 360-261-0956. 5:30-10 pm Friday, 3-8 pm Saturday.

[LONGVIEW LIGHT] The five dudes behind Five Dons—longtime friends from Longview, none named Don—don't take themselves too seriously. What's the story with the "hoof-washing sink" behind the bar? That's an inside joke about bovine growth hormone. Why is a rubber chicken wedged into the kangaroo pocket of a hoodie for sale? Because rubber chickens are funny, duh. And what's with that burly candy cane over there? Oh, that's leftover plumbing equipment—unused, don't worry—refashioned into a tap for the winter warmer, a rich ale redolent of nutmeg and cinnamon. Five Dons opened last spring in a brightly lit, no-frills tasting room out of a former office space on a side street in Longview. Expect five or so beers on tap, with an emphasis on easy drinkability—the word "light" appears in the description of the Dark Divide Porter ("light mouthfeel"), the Blonde Next Door ("light, smooth and refreshing") and the Golden Hugh Hefe ("light maltiness"). But they're not ignoring the demands of hopheads: As of late January, the first IPA was in test batches.

DRINK THIS: The Dark Divide Porter is rich and roasty without cloying heaviness.

WWeek 2015

Rebecca Jacobson

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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