Washington's Hottest New Beer Crawl Crosses The Columbia In This River City With Award-Winning Brews

Portland's reputation as a haven for craft beer drinkers precedes it. Oregon's trendiest city witnessed a brewpub boom in the 1980s, an IPA revolution in the '90s, and by 2014, CNN was declaring it "the world's best beer city." It remains a heavy hitter in the global beer scene today, being home to award-winning breweries like Von Ebert, Steeplejack, Ruse, and Wayfinder, as well as some stellar beer crawls in the walkable neighborhoods of Slabtown. But other American cities are beginning to vie for the title, like Asheville, North Carolina, "Beer City, USA," and San Diego, California's craft beer capital. 

As it happens, one of the best beer crawls in the region is a new kid on the block, located a 30-minute drive east of the city in Washougal, Washington. Across the Columbia River from Portland and just inside the Washington state border, Washougal is a cozy city surrounded by lush greenery and hiking trails that hug the epic Columbia River Gorge. Natural beauty might lure travelers to this corner of the Pacific Northwest, but it's the bars that will make them want to stay. 

Washougal is now firmly on the beer map, especially since Vinepair named local brewery Recluse Brew Works one of the best new breweries in America in 2024. The Washougal Brew Pass (think of it as a beer passport), which encourages imbibers to explore the city's pubs, features five local taprooms: Recluse Brew Works, Grains of Wrath Brewing, Doomsday Brewing, 50-40 Beer, and Trap Door Brewing. Visit them all with a Brew Pass, available to download at the Visit Washougal website, and you'll receive a prize of the final bar's choosing.

There is no prescribed route for Washougal's beer crawl, though it makes sense to start at Recluse and walk west along the banks of the river, or begin at Grains of Wrath and head east. Recluse focuses largely on lagers — which are experiencing a renaissance in the beer world — and the menu includes its signature RBW Lager and an Irish-style pilsner. 

Grains of Wrath, whose Punchface Champion won Best Imperial India Pale Ale at the 2025 World Beer Cup, is technically located in Camas, on the other side of the Washougal River tributary. Visitors can take in its classic brewpub atmosphere set in a revamped auto parts store, sample its wide selection of lagers, stouts, and IPAs, and snack on tasty brioche-bun burgers.

The other three taprooms on the crawl are equally strong contenders. The beers at Doomsday Brewing, founded by two homebrewing beer lovers in 2012, boast multilayered flavor profiles to go along with the establishment's stylish, end-of-days decor. Have your socks blown off by a Nuclear IPA, a Redemption Red, or a Black Out Chocolate Stout. Some of America's best breweries are German-inspired, and so too is 50-40 Beer, where you'll find Kölsch-style ale on the menu alongside Pacific Northwest classics like IPAs. You can also have pizzas delivered here from 50-40's nearby Kascadia Public House. And Trap Door, an award-winning brewery which started in Vancouver, Washington, positions itself on the bleeding edge of hazy beer creativity, with popular ales like Glowed Up and Porch Pale.