Michael W.
Yelp
Two short days in Portland on a short trip from Hawaii means that there's only so much beer to be imbibed. While hitting up all the awesome breweries and taprooms in Portland (Rogue, Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, Cascade, etc) would be ideal, it wasn't to be. When our group decided on Pok Pok for dinner on our last night, I needed to find a spot selling craft beers by the bottle to bring home to share new beers, make friends jealous, yadda yadda. Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom to the rescue.
Imperial Bottle Shop is a neat spot fronting SE Division, sporting a solid 20 beer tap list just beyond the seating area behind the register on the left. Unfortunately, with dinner awaiting, I focused on the right side of the establishment - the wall of craft beer. Taking a quick glance over the selection, I was getting excited - Dogfish Head? Hair of the Dog? Cascade Brewing, with just about all their flavors? Holy hell, I was in heaven. (We don't get a lot shipped over to Hawaii.) Started my shopping spree, then noticed the refrigerated area on the opposite wall. NICE! Picked out a couple IPAs to bring home from the fridge and sidled up to the register to pay for my new-found bounty.
Next to the register was something that looked like a mini-toilet - far too tall to do anything toilet-like into, but round and full of water, nonetheless.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/imperial-bottle-shop-and-taproom-portland?select=p1FJ3iKsVRB55AnM86B_DA#nrp7OqDSto5msEzoY8a_Rg
And then you read the sign. "Bottle chiller - 25x faster than a fridge."
WHAT. Seriously, this is beer heaven. Couldn't try out the beer chiller, but loved the idea and loved the spot. Would've loved to sit, chill and enjoy a couple ... but I had to settle for my haul of goods to bring home.
http://photos-f.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xpa1/925072_271233536416661_1519789889_n.jpg
Til the next time!