So, Portland beer snob, be honest -- you think Portland is the center of the universe, right? And you think all worthy things involving hops, malts and yeast begin and end in Beervana?

Well, put down that pint of 120 IBU, 10.8% ABV, IIIPA and hold onto your barstool. Because the hottest thing in the Portland beer scene is ... (gulp)

Vancouver.

No, no, not the cool Canadian one, eh? Rather, the one across the Columbia River.

You know, the Couve?

That's right. Oregon may have Beervana, but Southwest Washington has Brewcouver. From downtown to Hazel Dell (Google map it), the past few years have seen the growth of a vibrant, delicious, walkable scene in once sleepy Vancouver. At least a dozen breweries have sprung up to take advantage of cheaper real estate, a less-intense competitive environment and a thirsty yet underserved community.

Unlike a Portland landscape loaded with professional talent, many of the Vancouver start-ups come from former homebrewers, passionate to turn their hobby into a career. And while they admit their fermenters might not push the boundaries like their neighbor to the south, they're still making approachable, robust brews that are turning heads - Loowit Brewing Co. won a silver last month at the prestigious 2016 World Beer Cup.

The confidence they could make great beers and succeed in uncharted waters is a streak that runs through all of the brewers.

"This was an untapped market," says co-owner and head brewer Rodney Stryker of Heathen Brewing, which poured its first batch in August 2012. "There was nothing here. Everyone wanted to go to Portland. But we were pretty confident that if you brew it, they would come."

Seizing opportunity downtown

You would think it wouldn't have come to that. Downtown Vancouver is, after all, arguably the birthplace of brewing in the region. The soldiers of Fort Vancouver for the early part of the 19th century drank beer brewed in small saloons in downtown Vancouver, at the time more populous than Portland.

Henry Saxer opened Liberty Brewing in Portland in 1852, and four years later John Muench opened one of the area's first large commercial breweries, Vancouver Brewery. It would be the first Northwest brewing home for German immigrant - and future Portland beer godfather -- Henry Weinhard. And soon one of the region's most iconic brands, Lucky Lager, would begin being brewed downtown under a giant cursive red "L."

A century and a half later, downtown Vancouver struggled with blight. That changed, however, with the restoration of Esther Short Park and addition of a Hilton hotel and convention center over a decade ago.

The early seeds of craft beer's return were planted in 1993, when Phil Stein opened Hazel Dell Brewery, then in 1998 Larry and Ana Pratt took their Salmon Creek Brewery and Pub from Woodland to downtown Vancouver. A year later, McMenamins opened its brewpub on the banks of the Columbia River east of downtown.

But those breweries would toil in relative isolation until downtown's resurgence gave rise to a new group of young, eager brewers. The first was Mt. Tabor Brewing, which raised eyebrows in Portland when it relocated north of the river in October 2011. Loowit and Heathen soon followed.

Loowit would become the first to win big, earning silver in this year's World Beer Cup in the rye category for its Grimlock Rye Porter. When it opened in October 2012, in a downtown space near the old Lucky Lager brewery, such an achievement was barely imaginable for co-owners Devon Bray and Thomas Poffenroth.

"At first it was scary for them, they put a lot on the line," says current head brewer Matt Freeland. "Their investment, their savings. They were having to work full time in other jobs just to make it work."

Today Loowit exemplifies the Vancouver vibe: an unpretentious, casual garage-style setting with a neighborhood feel, populated by regulars, professionals, families and beer geeks, what Freeland calls "a nice little Cheers style atmosphere."

A few blocks north, Heathen's Feral Public House boasts a taproom and full-menu brewpub. Adorned in a hardcore biker industrial chic motif, it's in step with the blue-collar ethos of its hometown - a quality that's important for Stryker, the co-owner with founder Sunny Parsons.

"Portland probably still laughs at us," says Stryker. "But it's been really fun. Aside from the brewing scene, downtown has really developed, and things have been very welcoming in the community."

"Some people wouldn't even give us the time of day," he says. "They're like, if it's not made in Oregon, they don't want it. I still see people poking fun at us."

But the pub is consistently busy, the brew site a few miles north is at capacity and expanding, and at the most recent Washington Beer Awards, Heathen pulled in a silver for its Epitaph Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout and a bronze for its Absolution Kolsch.

New kid on a united block

The latest to throw down is Trusty Brewing. Owner and brewer Gary Paul, a West Linn resident and another converted homebrewer, opened his taproom and pub in mid-May in the former Dirty Hands brewery. Previously unfamiliar with Vancouver, he opened there for many of the same reasons - real estate costs and a less-congested market.

"Over in Portland, your brand is dissolved into 'Portland beer,''' Paul said recently, taking a break from the one-man production line in his on-site basement brewery. "Over here, we have a chance to stand out. Even though there's a good Vancouver beer scene building, with the waterfront development, growth is just going to continue. That will draw people here, and hopefully beer will grow with it. Trusty Brewing wants to be part of that."

Beyond the prospects brought by the massive Columbia River development Vancouver has begun, he cites other reasons: access to quality ingredients and a better business atmosphere. The Great Western Malting Co. is just across town, and some of the world's best hops are found in the Yakima Valley, Paul said.

And Paul tells none of the nightmare stories of opening a business repeatedly muttered down south.

"Being a business owner, this is a gem here," Paul says. "The community has been great, the other brewers have been great, and the city of Vancouver has been great. It wasn't at all what I thought it would be."

Such cooperation has led to the creation of the Brewcouver brewery passport, the brainchild of Michael Perozzo, a founding partner at Zzoom Media, a marketing group in downtown Vancouver. Zzoom is pitching in to harness a cooperative spirit among the Vancouver brewers, whose margins don't always leave much for a marketing campaign.

He sees the passport, which allows beer drinkers to collect merchandise after accumulating stamps from nine breweries in and near downtown, as a local version of the Bend Ale Trail or Columbia Gorge breweries tour. About 15,000 have been printed, he says.

The energy in Clark County isn't isolated to Vancouver breweries. Barrel Mountain has opened in Battle Ground, and Amnesia, Doomsday and 54o 40' are brewing in Washougal. Brothers Cascadia is building its brewery now in Hazel Dell.

And taprooms such as The Thirsty Sasquatch and Ben's Bottle Shop are popping up as well, with more planned.

Perozzo has seen the downtown transformation evolve over the past few years, and he's watched the nascent beer scene develop with it.

"It's really happening," Perozzo says. "I'm amazed on a Friday and Saturday night at the people in downtown. They're at the restaurants, the bars - it's neat to see."

-- Andre Meunier

The Oregonian/OregonLive

503-221-8488