Dean Pottle @ Dean's Scene
At Dean's, beer takes on the grace of art. The man is a connoisseur; a craft brewer par excellence and collector of beer glasses and brewing paraphernalia. So dedicated is he to beer culture that he converted his basement into a speakeasy, a juice joint highlighted by Dean's personal recipes and rare crafts from around the world. No password is needed to enter into Dean's abode, just a personable demeanor, friendly attitude, and perhaps a few bucks for a donation. Warning! Dean's Scene is not for the faint of heart nor is it a place for frat boy machismo. Dean's microbrews are deceptively potent and will hit you like a freight train after one glass too many (Dean's Vaccine, I'm looking at you!). Dean's Scene is a taster's venue; a place for appreciating the art of brewing and the art of banter. The vibe is more Al Franken than Al Capone, but as the dark horse of Portland's bar scene, Dean's Scene puts them all to shame.
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ReplyDeleteDEAN'S SCENE: Is a fun place, where people brew and share beer. The FOOD NETWORK and TRAVEL CHANNEL came and shot it as part of pilot episodes for a new series on beer, food, and travel.
ReplyDeleteDean's is open to everyone, and people from different ages (over 21 of course), nationalities, walks of life, even tourists have all shown up to socialize, and talk at Dean's. The place is a private home brewery and anti-establishment home brewery, so it is not officially anything the terms speakeasy, or club, or pub do not apply. Everyone works to be compliant with all the OLCC and licensing / zoning / whatever laws, and there are no profit motives involved. So Dean's is not a shady or underground place (even though it's in a basement) in fact Dean has drank with and served his beer to Major Sam Adams at a community event. Donations are accepted to cover NOT the beer, but the costs related to rent, lights, etc. & whatnot. It is most often open on M-W-F-Sat closed with Tu, Th, and Sun being closed.
No invitation is ever needed just a friendly attitude. Just reading this review is your invitation. If you really want a super extra an extra warm welcome remember bringing micro beers and home brews to share is always appreciated. So yes please come by if you are reading this, and would like to.
BEST TIMES TO COME BY FOR NEWBIES: If you would like to meet Dean, and get a tour and sample beers, then early like 6-7-ish is often best. Sometimes it gets crowded later, and sometimes not. You never know who will be there. Also bringing a nice micro or 2 for sharing would be much appreciated. Don't worry about impressing Dean with your beer- just bring a style that you like.
UPDATE OLCC: Recently the OLCC came by for a midnight tour. As the story goes Dean was relaxing by piping his medicinal herbs (he is both licensed and has a prescription) when 3 OLCC inspectors walked in. [As Dean's is a private residence open to all friends (and strangers who are just friends that you haven't met yet) that's likely trespassing. Just like police are not allowed to walk into an open house party. Authorities have to ask permission. FYI Dean was glad that they came by because he always wanted to show the OLCC first hand that he ran a good place]
In any case everything was friendly and seemed to go very smoothly. Dean was able to demonstrate first hand that he just serves beer to friends, that his place is NOT a business, and that he does NOT sell beer EVER. Again Dean can NOT and will NEVER sell a bottle of beer. People simple serve themselves- (they have to ID if you look youngish.) Donations are much appreciated and accepted for maintaining the scene. Anyhow after working to be a nice above board place for so long, it turned out to be a good thing that the OLCC dropped by to check things out, and were satisfied. Dean's was never worried about doing anything wrong, BUT there was concern that there might be misunderstandings. It's nice that the OLCC now has a good idea of what Dean's is about, and will hopefully share any concerns
It's a very cool, fun place, and it's great that Dean likes to share his love of beer, and years of experience in brewing with all of Portland.