1856

I love this place. It fits many different bills, quiet place to work, good place to meet and hang out, great place to get good beers and wines. Great all around.

ATMOSPHERE:
Classy. Are you tired of beer bars with neon signs and beer promotional signs on the wall, like a dorm room? 1856 is for grown ups. But don’t worry, it’s not uptight and stuffy.
Intimate. Bar seats maybe 6, a long bar-​high bench seats maybe 3, there was a two-​top, a bench, and that’s about it.
Concrete bar. Interesting. Looks like maybe it was poured in place. I wish it was ground/​polished. It’s nicer than sidewalk concrete, but barely.
Pricing on bottles is just a single hand-​written number on the shelf. Much warmer and friendlier than a barcode shelf label. I don’t want to feel like I’m at Safeway, ya know?
Coathook on the wall just inside the door. Cool.
Art for sale on the wall by door.
Nice selection of books and periodicals.
On my most recent visit, the music was sublime. If I wasn’t already familiar with the artist, discovering them at 1856 would have been the highlight of my day. Volume was distressingly low though.
Negatives: I bet if I went to an industrial supplier, like Grainger, and asked for the cheapest stools they offer, I’d find something similar to what 1856 provides. Ick. I saw something in the cooler that looked like mold. Ick. Dogs allowed inside. Ick. A wee bit of clutter. They need to tidy up just a bit.
SERVICE:
Friendly, helpful. Not fantastic, but competent.
FOOD:
None, just casual snacks (e.g. bagged chips). Don’t know if they allow outside food.
BEVERAGES:
It’s cool that they make beer drinkers and wine drinkers sit right next to each other. And I’ve yet to see a fight break out! Beer is a bit pedestrian. That struck me as odd. A little place like this can’t compete with big grocery stores, and you’d think the typical 1856 beer drinker would want something fancier. I was quite disappointed. There are some gems here though, so it’s a good place to go if you and your buddies have wildly different beer tastes (if you’re a beer snob, and they think Guinness is exotic). I don’t know much about wine, but I did see a couple I’m interested in trying. Problem is, knowing how mediocre their beer selection is, I don’t know that I can trust them on wine. I’m qualified to make judgements on beer and know what’s worth trying, but with wine I have to trust them, and I don’t know that I do.
PRESENTATION:
A shaker glass?! Oh no, tell me you didn’t just serve me a shaker pint! Especially considering I wanted a 12oz glass.
PRICE/​VALUE:
About average I guess. I think most beer pints were $ 5. I like the fact that they offer 12oz pours of beer, which makes it slightly more sensible to have 2 or 3.
OVERALL:
A few days ago I reviewed a place that I said had an overall theme of squandered potential. I kinda feel that way about 1856. You can tell they’re trying, but they’re just not nailing it. You know those dives where it’s obvious they don’t even care anymore? 1856 is not that place, and I commend them for that, but they’re not quite where they want to be.

An entirely fine bottle shop and stop-​over for a pint. Good bottle selection and some interesting and delicious tap items. I especially like that I can bring my dog INSIDE with me to hang out — we have been lacking in good dog-​friendly places during wintertime.
To round it out, the last time I was there I ended up playing an impromptu game of Cards Against Humanity with half a dozen other folks at the bar — good fun all around. It’s worth the few-​block detour from my usual bike commute route to swing by 1856 now and again.

one of the best bottle shops in town. adam the owner is the best, very knowledgeable and friendly. He also has nice sneakers on most of the time. they usually have about six beers on tab and a cider and four or five wines by the glass. Great place for an afternoon pint. Lots if stuff to take home too.

This place is great! Adam is very knowledgeable. I tell him what I am going to eat and he tells me what is going to be an awesome accompaniment! He hasn’t let me down yet. Check this place out, you won’t be disappointed.

Great bottle shop that serves beer (8 taps), wine and hard cider by the glass as well as a nice selection of bottled/​canned beer and wine «to go». Both owners are knowledgable, plus all the music is classic vinyl. It’s our go to place for a glass of beer or bottle of wine to take home for dinner. It’s worth checking out.

Best bottle shop in PDX. Hands down. Perhaps the selection is a bit smaller than say Belmont Station but whose isn’t. There is always a fresh rotation of stuff that is interesting to try, and lots of cool events that have feel like I’m being adventurous. It’s not all Oregon IPA and thank goodness for that. Also, the price you see in the fridge is the price you pay to drink it there. Wha? Yeah. It’s awesome.
The space is warm and welcoming despite the amount of concrete and I think that’s a testament to the fantastic gents that own the place, Adam and Matt, who are the nicest guys to boot with lots of wine and beer knowledge, respectively, in the most accessible way.
2 things to note, dogs are always welcomed as there isn’t a kitchen, but it’s conveniently located next to two of PDX’s top noshes — Pok Pok Noi and Grain & Gristle. Order for pick up, bring your food and your dog in, have a bottle of vino or some yummy beer. You can even buy a record and ask the gents to play it.
It’s the perfect mid-​week and end of week oasis. (I’m a little biased since I’ve likely only been there about 50. 70… 100 times? yes this review is way long past due)

I did find a few rarities here on the beer side, but not that vast of a selection. I am NOT a wine guy by any stretch, so their offering may be more impressive there — for beer I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit.

You guys are great! You make my 2-​mile Bill Clinton fake jog/​walk really worth it. Even when I’m lazy and it’s raining and I take my car here (like a jerk.. disgusting gas guzzler that is)…
What I like about this place is: The people at the bar (the owners?) are just wonderful, knowledgeable, accessible (you can’t say that about all specialty liquor stores), in my opinion 5 star customer service. I LOVE the selection. It seems like a small space, but there’s little missing here. My pet peeve. you guys usually have some good tunes on. This place could be pretentious if it wanted to, but you’re not, just good servicable wonderful folk with a great space and selection, and with the occasional tap takeovers, always an excellent reward for Pavlov’s dog here.

1856 is AMAZING! Be sure to ask Adam for wine advice and Matt for beer advice. Both are mega experts and play super great vinyl! Also compared to other places I’ve been in Portland, their prices for draft beer and glasses of wine are hard to beat. Constantly they have great new selections and tasting events. Get down here ASAP

Good place to pick wine and beer. Better place to pick up cider! Always good beer and a cider on tap. Stop by and support your local adult beavridge store

Went here last night after playing tennis. Got a $ 3.50 12oz pour of some pretty good beer, but definitely felt unwelcome due to my shortage of hip looks. I tried joking with the bartender but he wasn’t interested. We tried talking beer with some other patrons but the conversation ended quickly. «Shut up, drink your beer and don’t talk to me» is status-​quo for Portland bars and this place is no exception.

These are good folks! Shop here for sure. They sell the Urban Wine Passport and Drink Deck Portland which are great gifts.

I like wine — like, a lot. But I’m admittedly not well versed in describing what I like and why… I just know it when I taste it. (Cherry notes? Oak essence? Smokey? I have no F-​ing idea.) Adam asked me a few totally unpretentious questions (notable because in my experience unpretentious is not the norm — you know the kind of wine person I’m talking about) and I gave him what I was SURE were super unhelpful answers. To my joy, he then proceeded to pour me a glass of what was everything I want in a wine. I ended up going home with a few different bottles of his recommendations and after opening the first of them, I had the same sentiment about his selection: it’s EVERYTHING I want in a wine. So now I have a wine personal shopper, and his name is Adam.
Oh and also: 1856 is a lovely space with 8 – 10 seats at the bar, conveniently located in a hood where you can easily find parking, they play rad records, and they pour and sell a large selection of beers as well, none of which I tried because I was too distracted enjoying my wine.

I love this place! Matt is super nice, and friendly, and always has fantastic recommendations. Don’t miss out on the salted caramels by the register as well.

We’re new to the area and have been going to all the great beer and bottle shops in town. Adam and Matt have created a very special place. Very friendly with incredible wine, beer and sake knowledge. Plus they spin records and will put on yours if you bring them. This is the first place we have ever found in over 10 years that had our all time favorite beer on tap — duchesse de bourgogne. Its amazing they’ve only been open a short time with all their knowledge. Definitely a favorite and with all their plans sure to only get better.

Went here a few weeks back for my husband’s birthday before dinner, and this has got to be one of the cutest and quaint spots I have been to.
Matt (the owner/​bartender?) was a wealth of knowledge! I am not a beer fan, however I love ciders. He gave me input on a cider that I would enjoy and he was spot on. I had to drive that night, so I couldn’t open my bottle there, but the next day I cracked open my bottle, and it was delightful. It was exactly how he said it would be.
I also found a huge selection of different wines that I thought were really nice as well. Our group mostly was there for the beer, and everyone couldn’t agree enough that the selection was pretty great.

We stumbled upon 1856 just walkin’ by. Glad we did! This is a terrific little bottle shop! Small, minimalist bar with several fine craft beers on tap. I went with the Commons Fresh Hop.
The co-​owner, bartender Matt was very friendly and knowledgeable. He was spinning old school vinyl R&B while serving up premium brew and wine. Cool. Neat little patio area out near the sidewalk.
The cold case is stuffed with all kinds of tasty, cold beverages. Love this place. We’ll stop in often!

This one’s a no brainer! 1856 has an incredible selection of beer and wine, both local and imports. The draft lists is always changing and always interesting. Great music, knowledgeable and friendly staff… everything a bottle shop should be!

Most wonderful addition to this close-​in North Portland neighborhood with a great wine and beer selection.