Previously I mentioned how we did a day trip over to Eugene for beer. More specifically, it was a trip to (finally) visit The Bier Stein. The Bier Stein is a pre-eminent beer bar and bottle shop; in their words:

The Bier Stein is a connoisseur beer store located in Eugene, Oregon. We have been serving great beer since July of 2005, and have the largest beer selection south of Portland and north of San Francisco. Currently we are stocking over 1000+ different bottles of beer, and always have ten unique beers on tap.

My friend Paul has been recommending The Bier Stein for ages, and another friend Geoff recently encouraged a visit as well—Geoff just opened his own beer bar here in Bend, largely modeled on The Bier Stein.

We stopped in after lunch (they don’t open until 2pm on Sundays), and I ordered up a large pint of Cascade Brewing‘s Razberry Wheat (one that was also pouring at the Oregon Brewers Festival, a good summertime beer) and surveyed the place. (No, I didn’t get any pictures.)

If I could sum it up in a few words, it would be “mini beer hall.” It’s not particularly large, there would definitely be a “beer hall camaraderie” with large crowds, and the place just oozes old-world beer culture blended with Pacific Northwest sensibility. There is bottled beer for sale everywhere: in coolers down the hall, on shelves along the opposite wall, on more shelves behind tables. All organized by country, very neat.

They serve food, but we passed since we were full from lunch, so I can’t tell you anything about it. What was interesting though was the kitchen area was open to the rest of the place—separated by a half-wall, really, so you could watch the cook, er, cook and prepare the food.

I ended up buying a few bottles (naturally) to bring home:

• Full Sail Session Black
• Oakshire Brewing Overcast Espresso Stout
• Nogne-O Porter
• Nogne-O Underlig Jul
• Aecht Schlenkerla Speziale Rauchbier or something, I don’t have it in front of me
• Baladin Nora
• Saint-Sylvestre Gavroche

I’ll have some reviews to write up about these beers at some point. Well, the Nora will have an abbreviated review—I opened it up last weekend and split it with Paul and others, and didn’t write any notes. But I have some things to say about it anyway.

Of course, there are so many beers to buy at The Bier Stein that it’s almost crippling. It’s a great place; if I lived in Eugene I can see spending many an hour there. Go seek it out.

The Bier Stein
345 E. 11th Ave.
1591 Willamette Street
Eugene, OR 97401
(541) 485-2437 (BIER)