Generic beer flight.
Since the start of 2022 I’ve been putting my research chops into gear for something I caught wind of called “Conscious Sedation.” At first all I had was the name and a few other things off a couple of government records, plus an Instagram account. Its location, noted as 1505-1533 NE Alberta Street on the liquor license application, also piqued my curiosity.
As for that Instagram account, @conscioussedationpdx, it was devoid of content for a long time. However, I saw that it followed a lot of beer-oriented accounts, so that clued me into what its focus was. Finally about a week ago an avatar went up with the words “Conscious Sedation Beer Garden,” which confirmed my suspicion of its focus on beer. The Instagram account’s description, which was only put in place recently, is:
Hand-picked Local Craft Beer, Wine & Cider Garden
Coming Soon March/April
NE. 15th & Alberta | PDX
A beer garden can be a large place, and that span of addresses, 1505 to 1533, is essentially that whole block of Alberta Street (between 15th and 16th Avenues). This location (1505 NE Alberta) also holds a well-established food cart pod, Bantu Island (named after the Bantu Towing Company that was previously at this location). 1533 is the building that used to hold New Rose City Cab Co but that has been closed for a while.
As for the Conscious Sedation beer garden, 57 outdoor seats are part of the liquor license application; no indoor seats are indicated. This is a lot of seats and I wonder how they will be situated on the properties along that block. What does that mean for the food cart pod?I’ve messaged the folks behind the Instagram account for more information on Conscious Sedation.
The term “conscious sedation” is used in the medical world, often in dentistry, to describe a mix of drugs to help you get through a procedure like a root canal, without going all the way under. The mix of drugs block pain and relax you, helping to quell your anxiety (because dental work can be scary).
When a version of conscious sedation called “twilight sleep” was given to a woman during childbirth, there would be an amnesia component as well, and she would wake up with no memory of the birth. I believe there is a scene in The Crown where Queen Elizabeth goes through “twilight sleep” for at least one of her births.
You can imagine how curious I am to learn more about why the folks behind the Conscious Sedation beer garden—Puneet Sharma, Andrea Hertzfeld, and John Hertzfeld, according to the Oregon SOS—came to decide on the name. Naming origin stories are almost always pretty interesting and I’m sure theirs is, too. I will share more details when I get them.
Conscious Sedation beer garden [opening spring 2022]
1505-1533 NE Alberta Street, Portland
Instagram
Meg Cotner
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Very interesting, thanks for the early details! I hope this comes with a bit of a re-configuration of the Food Pod. I wasn’t around back when Bantu was originally set up, but at this point the set up really hasn’t kept pace with design and style of some of the newer food pods that have popped up in the city over the last few years. Also, while many good carts at Bantu, the hours of them all are just so inconsistent.
I’m really curious to see what happens in that space. I won’t deny that “OMG are they closing Bantu Island?!?” went through my mind at one point. So far from what I can tell, that is not the case. I hope in the end it’s a situation where everyone wins.