Deep Space Brewing — Restaurant in Hillsboro

Although I personally know a lot of people that were upset (myself included) over the kids play area becoming repurposed I decided I would still give the brewery a chance.

I stopped in one day to an open sign only to find out that they were closed that day. Actually come to find out they are closed three days during the week ( 1 star off ) . So I waited until the next day they were open and went with a buddy.

Start the good the bad and the ugly theme - Upon arrival during what would normally be a breweries busy time, the outside parking lot looked like a ghost town but we still trudged in to extinguish our thirst. We swung the door open like it was some sort of Western saloon door expecting to see some locals. To our disappointment nothing but a large dimly lit room and a couple of TV’s going ( 1 star off ).

Switch theme song now to crickets chirping. Not one patron there beside the bar keep whom was very nice. So I take off my fringe suede jacket, pop a seat and eyeball the digital menu. Behold a fairly decent selection of their brews as well as other breweries blends. First I came here with my mind set on one thing, to try Deep Space beer. I ask the bartender to pour me a pint of what everyone loves the most of their own craft. He politely asks if I’d like to sample some of the other ones they make before settling on his choice.(add 1 star for hospitality) I tell him, No, I trust you know what everyone enjoys best. He pours a pint of Deep Space’ finest craft and brings it to me and walks away with well wishes of, Enjoy! I should have known better than rejecting the offer of sampling… Now let’s stop right here and preface that the beers not bad, horrible or non-drinkable. For me it just had the taste of what my buddies and I use to produce making home brew, nothing spectacular just par meh beer (1 star off).

So we decide to drink our one beer at a snail’s pace just to see if maybe we're missing out on something here and actually hoping locals might show up. But by the end of the one pint were still lone rangers in there and I hate to say it, Deep Space is no place for my galactic taste buds.

I feel Hillsboro has far too many breweries that have better hours, fun crowds, decent brews, better lighting (maybe the low lighting was for the Deep Space feeling but no black hole is going to suck me in that easily) that it’s hard for me to want to drive to an industrial building only to reminisce of my home brew days and potentially accidentally take a space nap.

Now I’m reluctantly going to remove a star for this final issue I had. I have never had to go outside a brewery/bar/restaurant to visit a bathroom. No its not bushes, or a port-a-potty outside - but I did find it really inconvenient that in order to use the bathroom you have to exit the building, go up the pathway a short distance enduring inclement weather and enter the building in a different spot. I would suggest putting in a teleportation machine but I hear they are still working kinks out of it, or easier yet giving access from inside the brewery. I’m not sure how many patrons are going to want to walk outside in the rain to use the bathroom but it was a minor inconvenience. (1 star off).

In short this place wasn’t for me and by no means is my review an attempt to persuade you to not venture into Deep Space. It just wasn’t my thing. I’m looking for a place to go that offers more than just hospitality. I’ve purposely left off a food review as I tried some and wasn’t impressed at all but I was told they are getting a 5 star chef very soon. So I will let someone else judge that part.

I’ll keep my eyes open in the future for reviews and if things are looking stellar or out of this world, I might just come back try it and give it...

Update spring 2024:

I haven't been to this location since my last review, but I was at a social gathering and told it is shut down and being gutted.

Honestly, I'm not really surprised. This place was never great or amazing. It was just an okay place to have a beer.

The problems I had the last couple visits is the tap list was getting worse. Half of it was empty. No new beers and mostly guest taps. Food was overpriced and mediocre at best.

I'm not sure what the final nail in the coffin was, but our last visit was not impressive at all. It seems like the new owners had no clue what was going on and drove it into the ground.

Update summer 2023:

For the past several weeks, I noticed the beer list getting smaller and smaller. They used to have around a dozen of their own beers, as well as guest taps, but now about half that.

Found out there is a new owner since late 2022. I asked about the beer selection and was told they have a new brewer who has been trying increase the production. Since fall? That was nearly a year ago.

Did not like the music at all. It was pretty loud, all modern, playing techno, rap, maybe dance.

New owner and staff were plenty friendly.

Beers are all $7, which I guess is becoming normal. I just can't bring myself to pay that anymore.

I'm keeping my review at 4 stars, but with the much smaller beer selection now, and blasting young crowd music, it's just not a place I plan to go to again.

I guess myself and lady have higher expectations than the average customer. I read many people saying how amazing the food and beer is, seems like they are comparing it to Gordon Ramsey.

The food is mediocre at best. It's bar food, maybe slightly a step above. It's not amazing or great.

The beer is just alright. We have tried several, nothing was amazing, just passable. Not terrible but not overly impressed either. Yes we are beer snobs, but we know what to expect in beer, and when I read others saying this is the best beer ever, they have low expectations.

Service is very good. Regularly checked on by staff, the men working were always super friendly, offered many samples, delivered quickly, answered all questions.

Atmosphere is alright. It's not upscale at all. Just a typical brewery. Outside seating is somewhat nice. Everything is clean.

Maybe I'm too harsh, but I don't give every brewery 5 stars just because they have alcohol, are family friendly, and allow dogs. There is more to...

This place feels like it is missing something. I have been to alot of breweries. I have friends who brew. We enjoy trying new beers and different beers then what our go to beers typically are. I was a little disappointed in the beer selection, of their in house beer. I think they only had 5 or 6, out of almost 30 taps; that where their own. Most of the rest where stuff you can find in any supermarket cooler. I did find it interesting that they mix their own cocktails and have them on tap.

The food was just generic at best. We had the charcuterie board. The meats and cheese were all shelf items. Generic and over priced. Luckily we where not going there for dinner.

The beer was above average. Not great beer. Good, but not great. It would have been nice to be able to try a wider selection of deep space beers. If anything, just to get a better feel for their brewer.

Now the part that made the whole thing just feel off. We where given coasters for the tualatin valley ale trail, which I had never heard of. So I scanned the QR code to check it out. Earn points for rewards kind of app. I figured I would try it out, well because like I stated earlier; we like trying different beers. After installing the app, I noticed that they had a half off deal on a app for deep space. Bonus. When we checked out, the server told me they dont accept the coupon because the tualatin valley app added it without the breweries consent. I told her it was ok. She took it off anyway. Very nice of them to do that. I have no reason to not believe her, and will take her word as the truth. It was just confusing. I dont know if the confusion comes from the brewery or the app.

Overall, dont go for the food. Unless you are just looking for snacks to go with the beer. Deep space, please up date your menu or just get some food trucks in there. Then you can concentrate on the beer part. I would like to see more of your beers on tap. Show us what you are...