Ex Novo Brewing

Love the space and atmosphere. Solid tap list and very reasonably priced. Great happy hour specials to boot. Quiet neighborhood within walking distance of Mississippi and Williams.

Fantastic food and great beers all for a good cause how can you go wrong! I haven’t had a bad thing off the food menu. The beers are inventive and delicious. Definitely try the whiskey & beer special or the beer milkshake!

I visited Ex Novo several weeks ago on a Friday with two friends. This might go down in history as the worst service I’ve ever experienced at an eatery in Portland.
We found a table at about 8:30 hoping for a drink and light dinner. We sat for 20 minutes while servers walked by and no one made eye contact or gave us any indication someone would wait on us. I finally stopped a server and asked for him to send our server over. He took our drink order and we waited another 15 minutes for our drinks and we were sitting directly in front of the bar. We had to ask for menus and ordered food which took another 45 minutes. Our server was courteous but the lack of basic customer service was dismal. We will never go there again.

In a town like portland with so much competition between breweries, ex novo stands out among the best. Great beer and my favorite Mexican lager in the state. Don’t be too shy to pass up on their whiskey and beer combos too. Great place to hang before a blazer game or just to catch some sun. A must hit every time I’m in portland

This place is a definite mixed bag. The service is cheery and prompt, the beer slightly above average which creates, of course, an acceptable level of ecstasy. One of my favorite «near Canada» watering holes is Boundary Bay in Bellingham. When I was last there they had no burger on the menu, since remedied I think. Ex No has no burger as nearly as I can tell. I don’t generally have a burger, but, er, well, gee. No burger on the menu at a brew pub is like no balloons at a nine year old’s birthday party. I wasn’t exactly all het up about it since I didn’t want one that night. And I suppose it’s a good thing to know you can’t get one here. (Now if I can just remember that when considering Ex No. Lawsy, the memory do go!). It’s probably more of a 3.57 rating than a 3. The chars we did get were fine, but we didn’t exactly test the cook’s prowess with Spanish peanuts and Mexican street corner fritters (cute name, huh?). I’ll try it again. Yup.
USER ALERT: On Blazer game nights (700 pm start) if you’re not seated by 515 pm you will either miss the tip off, or go dry.

Great beer joint! What makes this place unique is that it’s the first non-​profit brewery in the world. They are committed to donating 100% of their net profits to organizations.
What a great place. Drink beer, so good!
Right now I’m having a Mexican Lager which is brewed with Vienna and Pilsner malts with a hint of corn. It also comes with a lime wedge! This makes a great spring-​summer drink.

go for the beer and the service. Not the food. Not a fan of their food, too much grease and not enough flavor.

One of my tight-​five go-​to breweries in Portland, for the time-​squeezed traveler or weekend warrior. Located just north of the beer-​dense inner southeast side, Ex Novo is certain to have a beer to suit your tastes, some food to soak up that beer, and view that makes you want to take your shoes off and run through the grass.
There’s some other stuff that makes this a great attraction — some minor, low-​key braggaducio about being the nation’s first non-​profit brewery, period. Nothing big about that, at all. What that means for the average beer drinker is, basically, that your dollars aren’t just making a brewery owner obscenely rich, they’re actually making a difference, an impact on a number of issues. It’s not entirely new, but they’ve committed to making beer that benefits the social good, and who isn’t down with that?
The unique building will only present itself once you’re right in front, so trust in the address and don’t worry about snagging the first parking spot you find nearby (just park — don’t be that car that circles the block 8 times). A much better suggestion is to ride — there’s an expansive bike rack out front. However you get there, if it’s a weekend day, be prepared for a wait if you need a table. Iprefer the bar, but there’s several seating options. Families are invited to bring the whole crew — kids are offered a selection of drinks and food options. It’s a family affair. Mom and dad can sip everything from session IPAs to barrel-​aged strong ales, local whiskeys, and a varying selection of ciders and guest taps. This is truly a full-​service destination no matter what your plans for the night.

A beautiful sunset looking west to the river and hills, the front wall rolled up. They were busy, & service required a little patience, but the folks working there very pleasant. Interesting looking place. They make very good beers, especially the Eliot IPA and Dynamic Duo IIPA, Also liked the whiskey & beer combo. Didn’t have food but its great to walk in place smelling strongly of bacon, with «bacon for the table» on the menu.

Stopped at this place before a concert because of its convenient location and honestly wasn’t expecting much but was blown away by the ambiance and the qualify of beers. Despite a very busy night, the staff was accommodating (they will text you when a table becomes available). If you aren’t sure you can choose a pint, they offer a $ 6 flight of 5 tastings, or a $ 10 flight of 5 tastings with 5 different cheeses! Knowing that this place donates 100% of proceeds to local nonprofits makes the whole experience even better.

Everything about the business model here is really, really cool. They’re serious presenting a kitchen that can stand on its own two feet creatively with the brewhouse, which they’ve built up to run very well. They’re clearly wanting to operate each side of the house as a business that would succeed on its own merits, neither being an afterthought.
Best of all, they are a non-​profit, donating all their net to various charities. That’s so rad.
They do get packed in here. Big bar, big upstairs, lots of tables off to the side, and we still waited a little while well into a Saturday evening. They’ve been discovered! We had spent several minutes earlier in the day going over their menu, and it’s just amazing to look at. Every dish is offbeat and interesting, with either a serious twist on the familiar, or a chance to try something new. Many of their beers show a similar creative flair, though they make plenty of accessible standards in their brew lineup as well.
Unfortunately, the results are just okay from both the kitchen and the brewhouse. The service is super nice, the prices are unbelievably affordable, the crowd is big and fun to be around… but what’s in the glass and on the plate are not really memorable, unfortunately. We tried a Schwarz, barleywine, gose, and something else that were all workmanlike, solid, but somewhat muddle in flavor. The Eliot IPA is a winner for sure, with clear flavors and a manageable ABV, but overall the beers here are in the middle of the Portland pack.
We tried the Cornish game hen, phở, and mac and cheese for dinner. The bird and the phở were both way, way too sweet. You want roasty, savory notes in both of those dishes, and each came out a little on the fruity sweet side, surprisingly. Three of us ordered the mac and cheese (so much for surveying the menu), and all three were underwhelmed. It sounded incredible, but it was just a dish of nearly-​dry elbow macaroni with some bacon crumbles. Virtually no texture and very little flavor from cheese. Are they super careful about food costs since their prices are so awesome? I dunno.
They DO offer «bacon for the table,» which is a riotously popular appetizer. It’s a pint glass full of baked bacon. It’s a solid smoky bacon like you’ve had many places, baked so it’s dry and firm enough to stand vertical in a pint glass. We had a million orders of that.
Bottom line, I’d love to come back here, even given the intense competition for your brewery dollar in Portland. If I hear anything promising about changes in the kitchen, I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

Yay! Stopped by this place over the holidays, particularly because we heard it was good for children. (We have a four month old).
And, it WAS! Which just makes it even better in my book now that we have a kid. The bathrooms were actually equipped with a changing station, which if you have a young child and have been to places that don’t, you truly appreciate this little detail even more.
Our group all tasted different beers but the winners were Kill the Sun and their beer and cheese pairings. And, can’t forget the bacon for the table. Yup, strips of bacon that come in a jar for you to enjoy with your beer. I’ve never thought of it before but now may have to have bacon every time I drink beer because it just went together that perfectly. Thanks Ex Novo!

So I have a warning. If you are coming here at night, it looks like you’re going to the wrong place, until you’re right out front! Then it looks correct! So don’t be startled when you’re driving/​biking down a dark road!
Alrighty sooo it is a brewery, so they have a large garage door up front which is super cool… except in the winter when it’s freezing! So it is a little cold inside.
Great beer. So many goodies! My favorite though? The Beer and Cheese flight… like what?! I am going to have to go back just for that! $ 10.
Great atmosphere and great employees. The place is very clean with fancy and thoughtful bathrooms. They have a baby changing table (an actual table) with extra wipes and diapers for you too!
They have an upstairs which you can reserve for parties. When we were there they were hosting a wedding reception.
I can’t wait to go back and actually have some food also!

This place is rad. When people tell you that Portland is known for its beers, places like Ex Novo are the reason why. In addition to the amazing beers and scrumptious provisions readily available at this brewery, it also donates 100% of its net profits to organizations changing the community and the world for the better. Yeah, I see you doing the math and it’s not too good to be true — your uncontrollable need to fill your greedy gullet with decadent food and drink now has a by product that isn’t shame, regret, or vomit.
But even without this added altruistic bonus, Ex Novo stands as an amazing brewery on its own. Do yourself a favor and just try the Albuqurque dog right off the bat. Yes, it’s a bacon wrapped hot dog with cream cheese. And yes, it’s as good/​gross as it sounds. For the vegetarians in the audience, the Yam Shawarma is an amazing original concoction that stands apart from the conventional catalog of meatless alternatives on a meat-​heavy menu.
And then, of course, there’s the alcohol. If they have the scotch ale on tap then give it a try or five. If not, then any of the other regular selections will have you coming back for more in no time.

DRINK, BE MERRY, AND SAVE THE WORLD.
I don’t know why it took me so long to get to Ex Novo, but it has quickly become my favorite place in Portland.
Outstanding beers. I’ve not had a bad one out of the dozen or so I’ve tried now. Their brewmaster seems to keep the IBUs pretty low, which is badass. I greatly appreciate being able to taste the components of beer OTHER than hops.
Food has all been very good, but I’m usually only there to drink so I haven’t sampled much. I can say the portions are large and I fully approve of the hot dog and «super» mac & cheese.
If you’re planning to go, be mindful of the Blazers/​Moda Center schedule. On a game night you will likely not get a table much after 5PM. Groups larger than two even less likely. They do have some standing room so if you just want to order a beer or two that far surpasses anything you could get in the game and at a lesser price, you could do that here. They do have a pretty solid reservation system — it texts you and there’s an app that can help you track your progress.
The best part is that they are a non-​profit. Your happiness goes solely to paying the bills and making the world a better place. How cool is that?

The place was packed on Sunday at 5:30pm. We were told it would be 30 min wait but we hawked a bar table and made that work. Service was very good. If I was rating just the beer it would have been 4 – 5 stars. That was from comments of my table. But the food was just goos. I got a pulled pork Bahn Mi. Too much bread and not enough pickeled veggies to be called a Bahn Mi. It was good but not very good or amazing. The salads were good to very good.
«Old Person Comment Alert»… it was too noisy. I had no idea what the people on the other side of the table were saying throughout dinner.
One thing I did REALLY like was a glass full of bacon.
Since I am not a beer drinker (medical issue), and that was the start offering at this place, I will probably not come back.

One of Portland’s best breweries. I mean, it kind of has to be, given you can order BACON FOR THE TABLE. We haven’t been able to resist getting it any time we’ve been here, especially because they seem to know exactly how crispy to make it.
The beer is also really good. I’m a fan of their IPA. Last time we went, I got the pulled pork sandwich, which was kind of a rendition of a banh mi, and in no way did it disappoint. Every experience here has been awesome.

Wasn’t expecting to be wowed. And I wasn’t. In a good way! Solid beer here folks. Also solid food.
I had two taster flights… which almost ran the gamut. Solid. Nothing off or funky. The nitro light was creamy and delicious. Lagers were kind of refreshing and the IPAs were — hoppy and diverse with multiple and different hops. That’s fantastic in my opinion.
Had the caprese salad with chicken expecting the «same olé» but hmmm they use some pretty tasty balsamic there!
Husband had the hot dog with bacon and I stole his avocado so there ya have it.
Bartenders seemed jovial and friendly. I’ll go back and support this place for two main kick ass reasons:
1) they have great beer and tasty food
2) they donate all net profits to charity (yes…they do)

One of my brewery stops in Portland and they offer a $ 6 flight of 5 tastings (you can choose from their entire selection of beers). It’s not on the menu so you have to ask for it and they’ll give you a card to fill in your selections.
There’s a $ 10 option where they pair 5 house-​selected beer tastings with 5 different cheeses! My group opted for the «table bacon» which is a pint glass filled with crispy thick cut bacon strips.
The space is very cool/​industrial and has two levels with outdoor seating as well.

A-​ok. This place has a lot going on for it. I really like that they are one of the first non-​profit breweries that I’ve seen. And that doesn’t mean they are skimping on the. Wet quality. I enjoyed a couple of their IPAs including the Eliot IPA and Terrific Trio. My favorite name Damon Stoutamire was quite good as well. They have a little bit of food as well which looked pretty good — maybe next time.