Baerlic Brewing Co. is pivoting back to indoor service by teaming with Ranch Pizza on a brand new 6,000 sq. ft. taproom next door to their old one in southeast Portland. After the COVID-19 shutdown of bars and restaurants, Baerlic reopened with a “Super Secret Beer Garden” in their back brewery parking lot that became a popular destination for socially distant beers this summer. With the weather turning, it was time to go back indoors but to do that safely they needed a larger space, luckily the recently closed Blitz / Ladd Taphouse sports bar next door had shut down for good during the pandemic and was available.

Baerlic has reorganized the cavernous taproom into an outdoor beer hall type of environment brought inside for the winter. The faux wall of foliage from the Super Secret Beer Garden has made it’s way indoors and with the strings of outdoor lights running the length of the taproom it truly gives the loose feel of being out in the breeze. Even without COVID, the new piehall will be a marked step up from the pre-pandemic taproom’s smaller footprint that was already becoming crowded with oak barrels. Ironically considering the airborne virus, the new Baerlic taproom has room to breathe.

Plexiglass shielded bartenders take your order from 15 different draft beers on opening day, with room for many more in-house brewed, guest taps, ciders and kombuchas as the operation lifts off over the coming days and weeks. A merchandise and packaged beer to-go corner is open for browsing and there are 11 x six-top picnic tables and 2 more outdoors that are sanitized between seatings. The layout is still a work-in-progress and general manager Nikki Muir says they are playing with different seating options like more two top tabels that would help alleviate the wait list that began forming around 4pm on soft opening day.

As anyone paying attention knows, airflow and ventilation is a key factor in preventing the spread of COVID-19. While going indoors is sometimes considered risky, Baerlic Brewing is going the mile to take these factors into consideration. The high ceilinged new hall has 2 rooftop heating units that pull outside air in while pulling inside air out. Each unit is fitted with 4" thick MERV 13 Filters and Baerlic is leaving the entrance and exit doors propped open and a large roll-up door partially up. CO2 detectors are monitoring and regulating airflow to keep the numbers down and finally there are 10 ceiling fans to keep the air moving.

The real star of the show outside of Baerlic’s terrific ales and lagers is the first in-house kitchen at any of their pubs past or present. Rather than go into the food business after 6 years operating successfully as a taproom and self-distribution brewery, Baerlic reached out to their friends at Ranch Pizza who once upon a time delivered their Detroit-style pies to the old taproom.

Ranch Pizza started as a weekend pop-up at Double Dragon a few blocks down the road from Baerlic Brewing, before they blew up and got their own space you could call in an order and they would deliver it to neighboring taprooms. Ranch Pizza’s gigantic deep dish pies are so heavenly and filling that you only need one quarter slice to be content. They don’t fuck around with a long list of popular and kitchy flavor combos or let you build-your-own, instead they stick to five pies and two salads all of them delicious if you thick cheesy slices. Pizza is ordered from a separate counter and served in takeout boxes which make it easy to pop in for a 4-pack of cans and a pizza to-go.

Baerlic Brewing Piehall is now open 7 days a week from 11am - 10pm at 2239 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209.