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John's Market
3535 SW Multnomah Blvd., 503-244-2617, johnsmarketplace.com.
This mammoth Multnomah Village shop is the city's cellar. In addition to a deli counter and a brand-new taproom, John's has the widest selection of packaged beer in the city, starting local and ending around Australia. It's a great place to score last year's vintage of an imperial stout or find that lager you liked at the Ethiopian restaurant, but we tend to buy our hoppy beers elsewhere.
Growler Guys Southwest
3739 SW Bond Ave., 503-208-2523, thegrowlerguys.com. Other locations across the Northwest, including a second Portland spot at 816 SE 8th Ave.
Growler Guys has franchises all over the Northwest, from Ashland to Richland to Spokane. They all tend to focus on buzzy new releases, using their purchasing power to line up the hottest recent interlopers and new collabs. We love the one in South Waterfront, which is busy and cozy, with TVs showing playoff football and a full food menu if you want more than the $1 trail mix to eat. They allow minors until 9 pm, a rarity in the 'hood. There's also a well-stocked location on Southeast Belmont.
Big Legrowlski
812 NW Couch St., 503-206-6481, biglegrowlski.com.
Big Legrowlski is the rare growler shop where the growlers are actually what you want. Here in this Dude-happy shop with the room pulled together by a rug on the wall, you can pick up "Abide"-branded beerware adorned with the subtle white outlines of butterfly suits, Nagelbett album covers or marmots in a bathtub.
Imperial
3090 SE Division St., 971-302-6899, imperialbottleshop.com.
You know that doof who has his Untappd set up to post every Shnozzberry Olde Ale and Pickle Saison he drinks to your Facebook feed? Give him a room of hard surfaces and flat yellow light, and you have Imperial. This concrete-roofed bunker below a luxury apartment building on Southeast Division Street focuses on trendy names and ingredients. There's not the same baseline for quality you'll find at Apex or BeerMongers, but you can grab the new hotness to go.
Tin Bucket
3520 N Williams Ave., 503-477-7689, beercheesesouppdx.wix.com/tinbucketpdx.
At the bottom of the glass-walled canyons of North Williams Avenue you'll find this elite taproom and growler-fill station. Lately we haven't waited more than a few hours to pop selections from a roundly excellent taplist that's deep with Three Magnets, Block 15, Fremont and Alesong.
Chill N Fill
5215 N Lombard St., 503-841-6361, chillnfill.com.
In parts most north, this bare-bones, 2-year-old spot is easily your best option for fills. Aside from takeovers from Oregon breweries like Buoy or Coalition, the 22 beer taps (with eight more devoted to wine and cider) are often old stalwarts like Cucumber Crush or Phaedrus IPA. But check the beer coolers for small-batch De Gardes and other bottled treats.
Ben's Bottle Shop
8052 E Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, Wash., 390-314-6209, bensbottleshop.com.
The best-outfitted beer bar in Portland's increasingly impressive northern suburb has 24 taps, a wall of 10 refrigerators for bottles to go, and a garage-door-sized projection screen to watch the big game—it's a large, modern space with a giant U-shaped bar and fridges full of beer that offer Portlanders the chance to try some of the dozens of bottles that never make their way across the Columbia.
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