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2315 Main St., Vancouver, 360-314-6966, trapdoorbrewing.com. 4-9 pm Tuesday-Wednesday, 4-11 pm Thursday, 11 am-11 pm Friday-Saturday, 1-8 pm Sunday.
Vancouver's beer scene keeps getting better and better. Last year, our big discovery was Loowit, which is now packed to the gills and enjoys a localized reputation for excellence roughly akin to Breakside in parts south.Trap Door is the hot new contender. This forward-thinking operation from Portland expats, which sits across the street from the Main Street Marijuana dispensary, shows that through its clean and sparse tasting room and a large patio that hosts the 'Couv's first downtown food carts. Beer made by a recent UC Davis grad is uniformly excellent. The standard IPA is crisp and juicy. If you can still land the Holidank Winter Ale, an 8.1 percent ABV, 90 IBU monster, grab a pint or two. It uses a bale of super-pricey hops—the owner, seated on a barstool on a weekday afternoon, shudders while detailing his brewer's recipe. Here's hoping the brewery doesn't lose that generosity. Its name makes me worry.
Drink This: Something hoppy—it'll also be clean and bright.
Willamette Week