It turns out Portland, Oregon is a great place to go on business – especially if your business involves drinking. It’s no secret that the city is filled with notable watering holes but we thought we’d outline a couple of our favorites from a recent 3-day trip.

For beer we went to Saraveza, a small and welcoming place with a very warm atmosphere. It isn’t just a bar; it’s a bar, a bottle shop, and restaurant all rolled into one. An impressive selection makes for tough choices, and if you opt for bottled beer from one of their vintage coolers, they will open it for you – just like the signs warn.

The highlight for me was being able to drink Russian River’s Pliny The Elder on draft all night, a real treat for us East Coasters. If you don’t know anything about this amazing beer, check out its rating on BeerAdvocate or RateBeer. Perfect scores of 100!

Our new friend Kate took great care of us and even gave us a large bag of bottle caps for our "Kaps For KegWorks" wall mural.

We needed to fit in a cocktail stop as well, so we visited Via Tribunali’s Portland location (across the street from Voodoo Donuts). Mixologist Alex Blair was behind the bar and we were treated to his tasty version of a New York Sour. It contained Jim Beam, egg whites, Demerara sugar, red wine, and salt. It might sound strange but there was a great balance and it was a good looking drink as well.

With a three day stay and work to be done, we didn’t get to visit quite as many places as we would have liked – but that just means we’ll have to take another trip. If there’s anything you’ve deemed a "must-visit" feel free to let us know!