Stumptown Magazine

I have to say, Migration Brewery, NE 28th and Glisan, is showing some promise. So many microbreweries open in Portland and in the surrounding areas, and of those, only a handful can produce beers with repeated local and/or national success. Of those, just to name a few, Bridgeport, Lucky Lab, Lompoc, Rogue, Ninkasi, HUB and Amnesia, all of which have put me in a drunken stupor. These local breweries boast some of the best suds in the Northwest, and a hop head would be hard pressed to find an IPA nationwide that can compare to the abundance of options that circulate Portland. Migration Brewery’s Master Brewer, the young Mike Branes, has been in close connection to multiple brewers all over the NW. With an impressive resume including years at Lucky Lab, Three Creek Brewery (outside of Bend) and close ties with Dave Fleming at Lompoc, he’s well on his way to crafting his own tasty malted treats. Your fine friends here at SM were there on opening day of this up and coming brewhouse to talk to the house manager and get our swerve on. More on the menu, release date and what to expect after the jump.

Swing the wooden door open into the renovated garage and step into Migration. The brewery’s staff is friendly, knowledgeable and were there during the building process, from the ground up. It’s the kinda place where blog nerds can sit and type, ladies can chat it up with friends, bug-eyed locals can stare awkwardly, all while getting tipsy. The great thing about Migration is that it’s right in my neighborhood, thirty feet away from Bus 20 and fifteen feet away from Bus 19. I checked out the taps only to find that the brewery wasn’t selling any of their own brews?? Instead they had some of the hardest to tap beers in Portland. Never fear Portland, SM found the release date of the flagship beer, called the MPA (you guessed it, Migration Pale Ale). Be ready to try their first tasty pint next Wednesday, March 3rd. I’ll be there.

I talked a while with front of the house manager Colin Rath about the space, the art, and the vibe that we can expect to see at Migration. Unlike most breweries I’ve been to, and brew pubs for that matter, this place smelled of sawdust, the art, yes real art, was all local, and the vibe was at best eclectic. I heard old school hip hop, a little country, reggae, and soul all within a 20 minute span. The space was small, not closet small, but about the size of Amnesia without the tall metal shed celling. The tables and bar top were all made by Mike’s high school friend, carved from recycled wood (Erick Haglund at Columbia Riverwood), and the small menu has options of hot or cold sandwiches (all I saw looked bomb), salad and quintessential bar snacks.

When you think about it, there are no breweries that we can walk to around here besides Coalition (closed) so when SM asked Colin why they chose 28th and Glisan, he responded, “Glisan chose us.” Yes we did Colin, yes we did. That been said, join me at three, Wed. March 3rd for their tasty “not over hopped” flagship MPA…bitches.