Since the entry on StormBreaker Brewing in my book was one of the few profiles written without getting to actually visit the pub or taste the beer, given that the whole development occurred while we were abroad and I’d already written the entry for its predecessor, Amnesia Brewing, it behooved me to pop in and kick the tires.

I didn’t visit alone. After a great bowl of chili for lunch at the revamped Widmer Bros Pub, including having IPYae charming said Widmer brothers into this awesome photo opp, he and I walked up to Mississippi to check out Amnesia’s reboot because it’s a terrible thing to say I’ve been to every brewery in the state of Oregon and then actually not have visited one that launched/relaunched while I was gone that’s right here in Portland.

First impression is that I, for one, like it better then it’s old incarnation. The beer is a bit cleaner. The menu is wider; instead of brats and cheeseburgers, there’s an array of, yes, burgers, but other meatiness and somehow I didn’t get the bbq broccolini since I love broccolini, plus the pumpkin cake is TDF. Overall it’s more inviting. And yes, in self-interest, I love that minors are now allowed even if they didn’t go so far as to have a few “little ones” items on the menu.

IPYae and I enjoyed a great afternoon “campfire.” This is what I mean by more inviting. The gruff ‘tude that drenched the former brewpub has been whisked away; it literally feels like what worked in 2004 when Amnesia occupied this less-than-ideal-at-the-time spot has been updated for what the 2014 edition of Mississippi in the Boise neighborhood looks and feels like. Some old timers who hate kids may not feel the same way, but I’ll bet if StormBreaker keeps making its Cloud Ripper IPA packed with classic ‘C’ hops as good as it is now, it’ll thrive long past 2024.