First look at Ecliptic Brewing’s Moon Room opening this weekend
Ecliptic Brewing founder and brewmaster John Harris at the new Moon Room
Just over 8 years since Ecliptic Brewing first opened in N. Portland’s Mississippi neighborhood they are launching their first satellite taproom into orbit this Saturday, November 6th. The Ecliptic Moon Room is a new central southeast base camp in the home of the former Base Camp Brewing which closed in August 2020. The Moon Room will orbit the service of the original Ecliptic while offering up something new to the galaxy of flavors with a purely 21+ experience at 930 SE Oak St.
Ecliptic Brewing Moon Room
Those that were familiar with Base Camp Brewing will recognize the shell of the new Moon Room, but the interior has been overhauled by Terry Amundson of local architect firm Koble Creative. The process involved terraforming the space which was previously an ode to mountain climbing and outdoorsmanship into a love letter to astronomy and space. A large white powder coated bar top stands out from the otherwise dimly lit and dark and rocky interior painted to resemble a desolate planet or meteor shower. Behind it the back wall has been upgraded to 30 draft lines of libations as compared to the 16 taps at Ecliptic’s mothership on N. Mississippi. That upgrade has yet to be filled, but with the new pilot brewhouse and larger production at the new location you can expect Moon Room exclusive beers, barrel-aged projects and more beer options from Ecliptic’s Cosmic Collaboration partners.
The Moon Room will serve up a full bar program with custom cocktails and a selection of spirits that stand apart from the former taproom. Ecliptic Brewing has always featured a full bar, but the cocktail program has often been overlooked. They hope to elevate that experience at the Moon Room with more expressions of spirits and juicing fresh fruits and vegetables for a variety of drinks. It also works towards the overall rotation to an adults only 21+ taproom which is rare in the realm of Oregon brewpubs and sure to come as a surprise to many and welcome progress to others.
Owner and brewmaster John Harris found a new area of interest in gin an gin-focused cocktails during the pandemic, paying special attention to how different gins expressed themselves in classic and new variations of a Negroni, and his favorite; Gin & Tonic. “Gin is a botanical paradise,” says Harris. “Look for a nice list of gins and how different these classics can be interpreted, as well as modern gin cocktails.” And this winter for their 5,000 batch of beer look for a Gin barrel-aged blonde barleywine to enter the atmosphere.
Food service at the Moon Room will come from Ecliptic’s own custom food truck on the lower patio beer garden which was arguably the central attraction for former tenant Base Camp Brewing. The patio area is streetside and partially walled off to the neighborhood with bamboo that keeps the beer garden feeling more private in accommodating up to 86 people.
Guests order from the Moon Room food truck and receive a buzzer to let them know when their order is up. The menu is completely different than the one at Ecliptic’s mothership and limited to a tasty set of sandwiches, soups and salads that they plan to rotate every 6 weeks to match the season. The opening menu features a spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich with housemade pickled and grilled toppings, a Turkey Sandwich with mama lil’s, a Pulled Pork Sandwich with pickled slaw and a spicy BBQ sauce, and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with sharp white cheddar, tomato and a parmesan crust. There are options to switch out the meat proteins with fried maitake mushroom or tofu and soy curls.
View the full food and drink menu here.
The Ecliptic Moon Room is also a functioning brewery that will focus on lager production and fun new canned beers like the new recent year round release Pyxis Pilsner. A Moon Room developed Helles Lager is on tap for the opening this Saturday, but the public will quietly be allowed in after 7pm this Friday.
Ecliptic Moon Room
930 SE Oak St. Portland OR 97214
No minors allowed. 21+
Well behaved pets allowed on the patio
Days/Hours:
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday & Thursday: 4-10PM
Friday & Saturday: 12-10PM
Sunday: 12-8PM
For more information, visit: eclipticbrewing.com.