Royal Hotel Portland

Reluctantly, and after a significantly longer stay than expected, we set off from Horsham. And three hours later we found ourselves at the final stop on this epic leg of the Tour: the Royal Hotel Portland.

Even though we only ended up being there for one evening, I really took to Portland. It’s a cool place with a great harbour and a bit of a ‘only-town-for-miles-around’ vibe. And it’s a decent sized place that’s got a good variety of shops, cafes, and pubs. Although we, of course, were only interested in one of the pubs.

The Royal Hotel Portland itself is a decent sized place. There was a large beer garden stretching back behind the original pub. It looked like there were a fair few nooks and crannies to the place as well. But as we’d had a long day on the road, we were happy to just settle into the front bar for dinner and some beers.

There was a pretty solid selection of beers on offer as well. Most notable was the Coopers Vintage Ale. I’m not a huge Cooper’s guy in general, but the Vintage Ale is pretty good in addition to being pretty strong and pretty rare to find on tap. A bit of a further chat with the very cool barman revealed that apparently the Royal Hotel Portland is one of a handful of pubs across the country that gets access to Coopers Vintage releases every year. In fact, they also hold a yearly event with various editions of the Vintage Ale that they keep secretly stashed away in the cellar.

As Jordy is a particular fan of the vintage, over the course of the night he managed to convince/plead/cajole/demand that bartender into giving him a sample of some of those cellared Vintage Ales of previous years (I hope this doesn’t get him in trouble).

But even outside of the rare beer on offer, the pub a really good place to wind up the trip. The food was great. The Chicken Kiev (locally referred to as Chicken Kevin) was a particular standout. And the place was just a good place to hang out. It was a Sunday evening so not the busiest of times. But the handful of locals that were in on the night were friendly and good value. And a few games of pool over several schooners was just what we were after.

The Royal Hotel Portland may not be the flashest or most standout Royal we have hit on our journeys, but it was still a really good classic Royal. I’d love to make it back to Portland at some point and, when I do, I’m definitely keen to make a return visit to the Royal. And maybe see if I can pull a Jordy and convince them to bring out something from their private reserve for me.

Royal Stats

• Town/Suburb: Portland, VIC
• Population: 10,016
• Date Visited: Sunday, October 20, 2024
• Visited By: Cory, John, Jordy and Anthony
• Beer Sponsorship on Sign: Carlton Draught
• Beer Consumed at Pub: Pirate Life South Coast Ale
• Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $10.40
• Unique Award: Best Secret Royal Beer Stash
• Tour Progress: 54.0% (75/139)