When location scouts for 1995's "Mr. Holland's Opus" went searching for a nondescript Portland location where the film's eponymous music teacher could doodle on his masterwork in peace, they chose Roscoe's.

, set in 1980, star Richard Dreyfuss sits at a faded booth in the longtime Southeast Stark Avenue dive -- done up as a diner -- and encourages a breathless student to follow her singing passion to New York.

At Roscoe's today, you'll find the ambiance mostly unchanged. The walls are still lined with the same chevron-patterned wooden slats. The booths are still there, now stationed to the left of the door. If anything, the lighting is dimmer. But there is a difference. Behind the bar, Roscoe's now pours some 20 draft beers, recently dominated by an enviable assortment of fresh hop ales.

Oregon's breweries have developed a deserved national reputation for their quality, depth and diversity. Just as impressive is the way craft beer has penetrated our day-to-day lives. Across the state, even our biggest chain supermarkets devote significant shelf space to craft beer. You can fill beer growlers with subtle farmhouse ales, hoppy IPAs and potent winter warmers everywhere from country stores to gas stations. And in Portland, bars such as Roscoe's have transformed themselves into craft beer destinations, all without sacrificing their neighborhood character.

According to the Oregon Brewer's Guild, nearly 50 percent of the beer poured in Oregon is brewed in-state. For Portland, that number is closer to 60 percent, says the guild's Executive Director, Brian Butenschoen. And while a large portion of those beer sales come from our flagship breweries and beers, there are plenty of bars going beyond the big three -- Widmer Hefeweizen, Deschutes Brewery's Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Ninkasi's Total Domination IPA -- with great beer in unexpected places.

"Look at A & L Sports Pub at Northeast 60th and Glisan," Butenschoen says. "They have 30 beers on tap, and all but five or so are craft."

At unpretentious watering holes such as A & L, Kenton Station, McPeets, The Lion's Eye and many more, publicans are dumping mass-produced domestics in favor of the latest Northwest cider or big beer from Bend. And with the exception of Roscoe's, these aren't beer destinations in the Bailey's Taproom, Belmont Station or Beer Mongers vein. On any given night, you might find karaoke nights raging, burgers sizzling on the grill or football on the flatscreen TV. What each of these bars has in common is Portland's savvy customer base and an owner who developed a taste for craft beer.

Great beer in low-key bars (a very partial list)

Roscoe's:

8105 S.E. Stark St., 503-255-0049,

Kenton Station:

8303 N. Denver Ave., 503-286-9242,

A & L Sports Pub:

5933 N.E. Glisan St., 503-234-7607

McPeets Portland Pub:

4501 N.E. Fremont St., 503-287-0625

The Lion's Eye Tavern:

5919 S.E. 82nd Ave., 503-774-1468

Plus many more reader suggestions in the comments section:

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"It's all about the consumers saying what they want," Butenschoen says. "They want the seasonal. They want the IPA from the up-and-coming brewery. Now you'll see (great) beer all over, at dive bars, even strip clubs."

. . .

"Our goal was to become a low-key craft beer destination," says Jeremy Lewis, sitting at one of Roscoe's booths in a light blue western shirt, the soundtrack to "The Big Lebowski" playing overhead.

But when Lewis and partner Quyen Ly took over the bar back in 2007, there were few craft beer bars to turn to for a model (Lewis mentions Higgins, Horse Brass Pub and the Moon and Sixpence). So they decided to leave the Roscoe's look largely intact while slowly tinkering with the beer list, first pulling Widmer Hefeweizen in favor of Franziskaner, a true German hef. It took a leap of faith, but they eventually ditched all their mass-market beer.

"You'll still have people who come in and, because of the way Roscoe's feels, they'll ask for a bottle of Bud," says Lewis, "We have to say, 'Sorry, we don't have that.' And they get genuinely upset."

Though the regulars playing pinball in the corner might not know it, Roscoe's has become a world-class stop for beer tourists coming to Portland. Crowds, drawn by tweets and Facebook posts, flock to Southeast Portland whenever Roscoe's lands a coveted keg of Russian River's Pliny the Younger or Boneyard's Notorious Triple IPA.

Not all bars will be able to make the leap from dive to beer destination, Lewis cautions.

"You have to have a genuine love of craft beer, and you have to know what people will want to drink," Lewis says. "If you don't have the knowledge base, you're basing everything on what people are trying to sell you, instead of what your palate is telling you you want to drink."

Still, craft beer is popping up in more-and-more unlikely places.

"Flying Pie Pizzeria or the Academy Theater (have) phenomenal beer selections," Lewis says, referring to two nearby Montavilla neighborhood businesses. "I think the customer is really driving it. Portland probably has the most knowledgeable craft beer consumers in the country."

. . .

Kenton Station looks like the kind of roadhouse bar more likely to pour ice-cold pitchers of Bud Light (they do) than to host a representative from San Diego's Green Flash Brewing (they did that too). The neon-lit bar has Triumph motorcycles in the windows, hunting and golf video games by the door and an actual Nascar tire perched high on a platform near a life-sized basketball hoop. They also have nearly 20 draft beers, including 11 on a constant rotation. Better yet, on Tuesdays, all microbrew are priced at $2 a pint.

James Littlejohn was a Kenton Station bartender for six years before he bought the bar with wife Amanda. His former bosses stuck mostly to what he calls "Applebee's beer -- the Fat Tires and such." It took Littlejohn about two years before he began upgrading his beer selection.

"It was all customer demand," Littlejohn says of the change. "We're a neighborhood spot, the neighborhood clubhouse, so to speak, and folks were requesting it. The request for IPAs was overwhelming."

He doesn't like to plan his beer list too far ahead, but he keeps about five IPAs on tap at any given time. If a keg blows in a couple of days, it's likely to return. If it's on for three weeks, you won't see it again.

He also keeps an eye on the local beer press. If Portland beer writer

, it will likely find its way to Kenton Station the next week. If the

, it's sure to appear as well.

Last week, Littlejohn tapped a keg of Double Mountain's in-demand Killer Green fresh hop IPA. If it's still around on Tuesday, pints will go for $2 each.

For Littlejohn, running a bar is all about being welcoming to all kinds of people. He still keeps the usual craft suspects and a few big-brand domestics on tap for his regulars. But asked whether he has any regrets about dipping into the craft beer market, he can only think of one:

"I should have done it two years before."

-- Michael Russell