Beer Bars of Eugene

Eugene has long had a rich and vibrant brewing culture, but the past several years have brought explosive growth - the number of active breweries has doubled, at least, and many more are in various stages of planning.

One happy circumstance of this growth has been the flourishing of local beer bars. What is a beer bar? I define it as a bar where the focus is on the beer being served. It might serve food or other beverages, but the reason it exists is to present and promote craft beer. Specifically, it's a bar that:

• Serves only craft beer, with no adjunct lagers on tap.
• Properly maintains their keg space and tap lines.
• Serves beer in style-appropriate glassware.

By these measurement, there are three major beer bars in the Eugene area: Sixteen Tons, the Bier Stein, and the Tap and Growler. (One might also count among these ranks the variety of new growler-fill stations springing up across town, but I choose to exclude these because they're not really bars. Sure, at some of them you can get a pint and drink it on-site, but these places have a primarily retail-based atmosphere).

The Bier Stein is the oldest of these bars, dating to 2005. From their initial 12-tap location on E 11th, they've expanded into the comparatively massive edifice on Willamette. The Stein is the standard for beer bars in Eugene. It has 2 bars with a combined 28 taps, seating for more than 100, and a staggering bottle selection of 1000+ beers. There's also a menu of pretty-good sandwiches and a monthly pairing menu tuned to a particular beer style.

But as good as they are, the Bier Stein's not perfect. The line to order beer or food often stretches from the counter to the door, and the prices have noticeably been bumped up with the move (At the old location, they usually offered a daily beer special for $3.50 a pint. Now you're lucky to find anything pouring for under $5). The text-based ordering system they've implemented seems to work as often as not. And it's always quite busy and loud, especially during peak times! 

Then there's Sixteen Tons. Opened in 2010, this beer bar sports a completely different atmosphere. It's much smaller - any more than 20 or so people and things start to feel quite crowded. I started frequenting them back before they had any taps installed. They had bottle tastings several nights a week, which was a great way to be quickly introduced to many breweries and styles of beer. Now they've built in 18 taps, and tend to feature beers that are a bit more off the beaten path. A quick glance at their current taplist features a stout with curry spices, a Belgian-style IRA, and a gueuze, for instance. They also have several hundred bottles to choose from, should the taps prove inadequate. The staff here is generally quite knowledgeable and experienced. The atmosphere tends to lend itself to smaller, quieter social gatherings. It's a great place to meet with a friend or two and play cards. Sixteen Tons has a couple downsides, too. They tend to keep beers on tap too long at times, sometimes rotating them between locations for over a month. Also, there's no bar sink at the High Street location, so all the glasses are shipped over from Willamette, and they're dried stacked on top of each other - leading to a sometimes funky and off-putting aroma in the glass.

The newest member of this club is the Tap & Growler, which opened last year. Located on 5th Street next to Cornucopia, T&G is doing things a bit differently. They have more taps than anywhere else in town - usually around 40 beers. But they go a step further by also having a couple dozen assorted wines and ciders available on tap - tap wine in particular being a fairly new phenomenon in Eugene. There's a daily happy hour in the afternoons for a buck off their already quite reasonable pint prices. The decor is attractive dark wood, there's a long bar, and garage doors that open to the street when the weather is nice. T&G also has a fairly substantial food menu featuring mostly upscale sandwiches and small plates.
Some caveats to keep in mind if venturing to T&G: the service can be slow, especially when there's a lot of folks at the bar. The food is inconsistent, too. And the beer selection, though large, isn't particularly varied.

So there you have it - three excellent choices for craft beer in Eugene. Between them, there's something for every beer lover. Get out there and enjoy a pint!