Toward the end of my pregnancy a few years ago, I remember earnestly saying that I didn’t miss beer, and that I might not even pick up drinking again. Weeks later, of course, I was already timing early dinners at nearby breweries around my breastfeeding schedule. But who can blame me? I’ve got some of the best breweries in the world right at my doorstep, and I can’t go anywhere in this town without running into a hot new brewpub or an old favorite ready with the perfect pour. The search for self-improvement continues in other areas of my life, but good beer is something I don’t have to look for.

When I wrote about Portland’s best new breweries for Serious Eats in 2015, the city had more breweries than any other in the country. While that’s no longer the case (congrats, Chicago!), there's still a large and ever-growing number here, regularly winning national and international awards and attracting throngs of tourists and regulars, who happily line up to try coveted beers.

Sure, you could pick up a four-pack and sample some local favorites at home while watching Netflix, but true beer fans know that hitting the breweries in person is a must. It means access to beers you’ll never find on grocery store shelves, whether that’s a sour beer or nitro, a fresh-hop IPA (the all-too-brief season starts and ends in autumn), a small-batch one-off, or a special vintage bottle.

Portland has long been at the forefront of brewing trends, and there's plenty of interesting stuff happening beyond the expected wide range of IPAs offered at most breweries. Read on to find out what breweries should be at the top of your Portland agenda.