ForeLand Beer’s new Portland taproom ‘The Study’
Foreland Beer’s Portland taproom ‘The Study’ is now open on SE Belmont
The accomplished brewer behind The Commons Brewery and Von Ebert has teamed-up with the publican behind The Bitter Monk and Allegory Brewing to open ForeLand Beer’s first Portland location ‘The Study.’
As the New School first reported in July, the McMinnville, Oregon based IPA and Lager centric-brewery has found a 1913 Craftsman Bungalow on SE Belmont to become the cozy home base to snuggle up with their beers. ForeLand was founded in September 2020 when Von Ebert brewmaster Sean Burke announced plans to team-up with David Sanguinetti and turn the former Allegory Brewing into a new concept by Burke. Right out of the gate ForeLand partnered with Block 15’s Distribution team to get cans of flagship beers LandForm Pils, Shape Creation IPA and Form Follows IPA onto the Oregon market in 16oz cans. Those beers quickly found an audience which lead to them being named Best New Brewery by the New School at both the Oregon Beer Awards and our own Best of the Year 2020 awards.
Until now, the only place you could count on finding ForeLand Beer on tap was at the mostly outdoors tasting room at their McMinnville production facility. A Portland taproom was inevitable, and always part of the business plan. As Burke told us back in July, “I like the idea of having a place even in an urban setting where people can hang out and feel inspired to want to be more in touch with the natural world, whether that be through ambiance or simply the beers that we make and how we approach them.”
ForeLand Beer owner/brewmaster Sean Burke at the bar of new taproom ‘The Study’
ForeLand’s ‘The Study’ is a literal step up off of Belmont St. and next to a Serra dispensary and a stone’s throw from The Vern a longtime old Portland watering hole. The house, which was formerly a home before it was a bookstore and most recently the Rockin’ Frog acoustic cafe, has a small elevated front yard with a few picnic tables before a covered front porch with another table. In typically understated fashion, the building is marked by only a maroon sign above the door that would be easy to miss if you were not looking for it.
Walking into ‘The Study’ feels more like entering into someone’s family home than a brand new brewery’s taproom. Through all of it’s past tenants the bones of the rooms and it’s early 1900’s features have remained intact which is what Burke enjoyed about it in the first place. “It felt like a remnant of Portland that I remember and love so much,” says Burke. “I like the bridge to the past.”
It feels like someone still lives there, as if one of the brewers could come down the attic stairs in slippers and a robe and pull a pint of ESB from the cask. As such, it’s not really built for crowds as much as a few friends or family to share a drink with. Tables and small booths wedged into alcoves with quiet areas to read a book over a pint of cask ale or warm up by the fire over a game of scrabble. Over the 4 months it took to renovate the building they spent most of the time cleaning up the elements that were already there, like restoring an old house to new buyers with a fresh coat of paint and fixing the chipped corners, sanding the sharp edge on a bookshelf, and spot painting that scuff on the wall.
The “family room” is the center feature of ‘The Study’ with a bar along the back wall blocking the staff service area that once was a kitchen. A flickering fire place burns gently behind three booths salvaged no doubt from a much older pub. The mantle displays succulents and baubles, while the shelves are lined with books, vintage board games, globes, oil lanterns, old beer cans, and even a model ship. Acid washed standing rails open up between the main room and a westside facing dining room with an intimate family sized table for a small group. A back bedroom is converted into a quiet, and dim study lounge for gatherings and the entry/exit to the backyard patio. The beer garden area is semi-secluded between neighboring homes and businesses and tall bamboo trunks that create a sense of privacy. This area is partially tented, and in the summer has an elevated area for live music performances.
Behind the bar ForeLand Beer is featuring 10 of their own beer on tap, two of them from hand pumped cask engines. (A sign that cask beer is having a small and welcome resurgence.) Here you will find mainstream crowd pleasers like their northwest and new American IPA’s, European and modern lagers, but also the more old school classical stuff like a English-style Dark Mild and Smoked Porter on cask, and fans of Burke’s farmhouse ales from The Commons and Von Ebert days will happy to find a Saison or two, even more eccentric offerings like a farmhouse made with sourdough rye bread. For cider drinkers they feature Cascade Locks’ Son of Man Cider’s Beti Basque. And for non-alcoholic options there is Mexican Coke, Sprite, and Mineragua Sparkling water.
The Study is one of the few brewery taprooms that doesn’t treat wine like an unwanted guest. Burke is a connoisseur of vino as well, and plans to make and sell his own someday soon. At the taproom they keep temperature controlled wines by the bottle on gas pressure to keep them fresh for guests. The opening lineup features Convivial Wines 2020 Gamay/Pinot Noir blend, Richochet 2020 Oregon Table wine blend of Pinot/Tempranillo, Varnum Vintners 2019 Sparkling Muller Thurgau, and Patricia Green Cellars 2020 Early Muscat.
Foreland Beer’s ‘The Study’ is a welcome addition to the neighborhood, but you will have to bring your own food. But it’s only blocks from food trucks and restaurants, and makes a nice walk down the road or through the Lone Fir Cemetery just a block away. Bring a bite, a book, and some good company, and sit for a spell while enjoying a taste of what makes Oregon so special.
The Study by ForeLand Beer
2511 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97214
https://forelandbeer.com/
Opens officially on Wednesday December 15th
DAYS/HOURS GOING FORWARD:
Monday - Thursday 3-9 pm
Friday - Saturday 12-10 pm
Sunday 12-8 pm
Minors allowed until 9 pm
