Leikam Brewing

Leikam Brewing is located on E Burnside in Portland, Oregon.

This is a kosher brewery in Portland. Unless the website said so, or unless the founders said so, I otherwise wouldn't have noticed. It basically started as a hobby for the owners, being homebrewers, and they turned it into a full-on business circa 2014.

It's a homey spot. Maybe five seats at the bar counter and another five tables inside. Front patio has 4-5 more tables.

Two food carts outside. As of early August, there was a poutine cart and a Jamaican cart present.

There's six rotating taps of beer here, all Leikam's brews. To maximize the experience, I got a flight of four 4 oz pours ($7).

• Pale McCartney is a 5.3% American Pale Ale. English yeast and high-color pale malts with American hops. Some lemon hop-like notes work well with the yeast and malt. Very refreshing. Golden appearance, almost straw-color.
• Janis Hoplin is a 6.5% American IPA. Made with NW hops resulted in a light grapefruit and complementing hop bitterness. Slight hazy golden in appearance. Excellent.
• Friends in Loganberry Places is a 7.3% red ale. This was more a summer 2019 one-off that hopefully returns. After fermentation, 30 pounds of loganberries were added. A fruit-forward experience that instantly made me think raspberries. Very refreshing and my favorite of the four. Loganberries are a blackberry-raspberry hybrid.
• Cardamamas & The Papas is a 6.4% porter. Classic porter base with coffee and chocolate presence. Adding cold brew coffee and cardamom to the mix after fermentation took it to another level. Excellent job here of balancing coffee and cardamom - two strong flavors. This actually was my second favorite - or could be tied for first, depending on the day you see me drinking this.

(L to R): Pale McCartney; Janis Hoplin; Friends in Loganberry Places;
Cardamamas & The Papas

All the beers I tried were delicious, very well made. As you can see from the menu, there's no very strong beers, just good spins on classic styles. Notably, each of the beers specifically benefits certain organizations or causes. And the names are simply awesome.

In summer and early fall especially, it's a great spot to kick back and relax. Head to Leikam Brewing for some good beer, and stop at a food cart on the premises, too! 8.5/10