Back from spring break—since Friday, actually (yes, we actually went out of town)—and found this backlogged in my email from a few days before we left. Sounds pretty cool, and taking place out at the Terrebonne Depot.

Join us for a special evening of great food and beer!

On Tuesday March 30, 2010 we will be hosting a private Brew Master Dinner with Silver Moon Brewing of Bend. This will be a five course dining event paired with selected beers from Silver Moon Brewing.

The evening will feature a very special dinner menu created by Executive Chef Kristin Yurdin. Tyler Reichert owner of Silver Moon Brewing will be at the event and will take us through his fine local beverages.

Tickets are $45.00 with beer pairing or $35.00 without beer.

The event will start at 6pm.

Stay tuned for the special dinner menu with beer pairing in the next few weeks.

Reservations are required and space is limited so make your reservations soon!

Reservations can be made by e-mail or phone 541.548.5030.

And, here's the menu they're presenting:

1st Course
Pork Belly Napoleon with Creole Barbecue Sauce
Saison de Moon

2nd Course
House Salted Cod Brandade with Mustard Seed Sauce and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Hop Thief Pale Ale

3rd Course
Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce with House Smoked Boar Sausage over Creamy Polenta
Brown Eyes Ale

4th Course
Green Apple and Jicama Slaw with Crumbled Crater Lake Blue Cheese and Spiced Pecans
Snake Bite Porter

5th Course
Caramel Pot de Crème with Russian Tea Cookie
Hoptygon Imperial IPA

It's that time again—St. Patrick's Day! Although it's a Wednesday this year, that shouldn't stop you from having a good time, so here's my "official" pub-hopping guide for the holiday. As always, it's not definitive, but a list of the places that strike me as St. Patty's-appropriate (more in the spirit of the pub rather than the club).

And, a number of places will have St. Patty's-specific menus and events going on, too.

I almost missed this by my wife spotted the news on the Downtown Bend site: Bend Brewing Company is turning 15 this month and this Saturday (February 27th) they're having their 15th anniversary party!

Here's the skinny from the Downtowners:

Saturday, February 27th marks the fifteenth anniversary of the BBC. The anniversary party will last all day, beginning at 11:30 a.m. with half-priced appetizers and $2.50 pints of beer, both of which will be served until closing time that evening.

From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., visit the BBC Garage Sale. Miscellaneous merchandise, including shirts, hats, pint glasses and more, will be offered at very good prices. Guests will also have the opportunity to win tons of great raffle prizes from 5 to 10 p.m.

From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., enjoy live music on the patio from The Buck Rodgers Band, known far and wide for their progressive alt rock with a twist of psycho-billy and infused psychedelic jams. Fire pits will keep revelers warm as they boogie, and a server will be on hand to ensure crowds are adequately fed and watered.

I bolded the best parts. It's gonna be epic. Who's going to be there?

Congrats BBC!

Couple of beer-related items kicking off today.

First, McMenamins is having their last-Wednesday-of-the-month Limited Release beer tasting tonight, starting at 5pm:

Bring all your beer-minded friends out to try a specially released beer, with pints selling at Happy Hour prices all night long (or 'til the keg is kicked!).

"Admission" is free though you'll still pay for the beer, of course.

Also today is the grand opening of 10 Barrel Brewing's new westside brewpub, over on Galveston. The Bulletin has a short writeup today, with a few details:

The pub will open at 11 a.m. daily and will serve 10 different 10 Barrel beers, plus a full menu of pizzas, burgers, salads and more. The 3,000-square-foot building has an 80-person capacity, as well as four large garage doors that will be opened when the weather permits, said co-partner Garrett Wales.

The new pub's address is 1135 NW Galveston, in the former DiLusso Bakery building.

This Friday (the 5th) is Deschutes Brewery's Release Party for Jubel 2010, their latest big beer bottling for their "Super Jubel"—a 10% alcohol "double" version of their seasonal Jubelale. This is only the second time they've ever bottled it (the first being in 2000), so the Release Party should be fun:

Jubel 2010 beer on tap with special menu items. Bottles for sale (6 bottle limit). First 100 guests will receive a Jubel 2010 commemorative goblet.
For more information, please call the Bend Pub at 541-382-9242.

The party officially kicks off at 6pm, and you'll probably want to get there early.

Sisters is having their very first Wine and Brew Festival, coming up in June. This came through as a press release, and it's not for another five months, but sounds pretty cool to me!

One question (so far): will it be kid friendly?

Sisters Wine & Brew Festival Announces First Annual Event

Announcing the first annual Sisters Wine & Brew Festival. Come celebrate the wonderful wines and brews of the Pacific Northwest! The weekend will also include live music, wine and beer pairing classes, cooking demos, art vendors and fantastic food. Entrance to the festival is free.

When:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
11am-6pm
Where:
The Village Green in downtown Sisters.
More Info: www.sisterswineandbrew.com, 541-385-7988, info@specialzied-events.com.

What Takes Place at the Event?

Wineries and Breweries
25 wineries and breweries will be in attendance to serve, sell and discuss their products.

Other Vendors
An array of other vendors will be on hand selling their products and services at the festival to round out participants’ experiences. These will include arts and crafts, food, specialty products and an extension of the retail already available throughout Sisters.

Music and Cooking Demos
Live music will add to the atmosphere and what is wine and beer without great food? Local chefs will be on hand to demonstrate their special recipes on our cooking stage.

VIP Area
Guests in this exclusive part of the Sisters Wine and Brew Festival will enjoy an array of all the wines on hand for hosted tasting at the event as well as delicious appetizers. VIP tickets are available for $60 (hosted wines, brews and cuisine).

Additional Events
In order to round out the guest experience, local restaurants will host a wine and brew makers’ dinner Friday evening. On Saturday, there will be an after party and a variety of local establishments will be staying open late.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday the 5th, Deschutes Brewery is holding their "Cinder Cone Red Farewell Party" down at their pub. That's kind of a big deal for local beer geeks; Cinder Cone is (was) one of Deschutes' most popular seasonals.

Here's the details on the party:

That's right, we are toasting a fond farewell to Cinder Cone Red this year, and making way for Red Chair NWPA. Are you clutching your hair and screaming "WHY!" Well, we'd love to bottle and distribute every beer we come up with, but if we tried that our team would be the ones screaming. Come give us your own words of farewell on our "Memorial Wall" and enter to win a Cinder Cone Red Farewell Bend Package that includes a Mt. Bachelor Lift Ticket, Lodging at Mt. Bachelor Village, Snowshoe Rental from Sunnyside Sports and a $25 Deschutes Brewery Gift Certificate and VIP Brewery Tour. Cinder Cone Red Koozies will also be handed out to those who want to pretend that they are drinking Cinder Cone Red all of the time.

They kick off the Farewell Party at 6pm and go until closing; I don't know when they'll do the raffle for prizes, but I'd imagine not too late.

Christmas is fast approaching (less than two weeks away!) and for any last-minute shopping you need to do, herewith are some suggestions. Organized by category, all as local as possible, with some specific suggestions and some general. Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments.

Both Newport Avenue Market and Whole Foods are great places to go for both specialty foods (gourmet cheeses, chocolates and candies, organic whatever), and have extensive beer and wine selections as well. (Particularly the beer—both have great offering perfect for any beer geek.)

Newport Market: 1121 NW Newport Avenue (west side), 541-382-3940. Open 7 days a week, 7am to 9pm.

Whole Foods: 2610 NE Highway 20 (east side), 541-389-0151. Open 7 days a week, 8am to 9pm.

Gift cards to one of our many good restaurants is always a good option: off the top of my head several good ones would be Zydeco, Ariana, the Pine Tavern, Joolz, the Victorian Café, Kebaba, and one of the many breweries.

Speaking of breweries, pick up a growler or bottles from one of our many: Deschutes Brewery, Bend Brewing, Silver Moon, 10 Barrel (at JC's), McMenamins, Cascade Lakes, or Three Creeks (in Sisters). Word to the wise about growlers though: they shouldn't sit around too long after buying them—they're full of fresh beer and don't have an airtight seal. So if you buy one a week or more in advance then you'll likely be giving flat beer as a gift.

More of a wine person? Try Maragas Winery or Volcano Vineyards. Both offer a nice variety of locally-produced wines which you can pick up (and taste!) in their tasting rooms here in town. Both also feature wine clubs that would be a fun gift to someone as well.

Maragas tasting room: 643 NW Colorado, 541-330-0919. Open Thursday through Saturday 2 to 8.

Volcano tasting room: 126 NW Minnesota, 541-617-1102. Open Tuesday through Saturday 12 to 8, Sunday 12 to 5.

Cheese goes great with wine, and Tumalo Farms produces handcrafted cheeses locally: artisan goat milk cheese, six different varieties on their website right now. You can order from them directly online, but I've also seen some of their cheeses as Whole Foods, and Newport Market probably has them as well.

Coffee lovers on your list? Check out Strictly Organic: they roast their own beans and sell a wide variety of blends and yes, they are certified organic. Stop in at their retail location/café to pick up your coffee, and stick around long enough for a cup or two and maybe lunch.

6 SW Bond, 541-330-6061. Open Monday through Saturday 8 to 8, Sunday 10 to 6.

Finally, booze might be what you're after—nothing wrong with that! My favorite liquor store is East Bend Liquor at 2220 East Highway 20, though the smaller west side liquor store inside of Ray's is pretty good also. East Bend Liquor carries a nice variety of gift packages—bottles of specialty alcohol with custom glassware, for instance—and the staff is friendly and very helpful.

And they stock the full line of Bendistillery wares as well: Crater Lake Vodka, Cascade Mountain Gin, Mazama Pepper Vodka, and the Hazelnut Espresso Vodka.

Good news for you beer lovers out there: Deschutes Brewery is having their Abyss release party on Tuesday, November 3rd, starting at 5:30pm. They posted on their Facebook fan page:

The wait is almost over. The Abyss 2009 release party at the Bend pub will be on Tuesday, November 3rd, at 5:30 PM. This will be your chance to purchase the first bottle of the season, try a three year vertical tasting and purchase the new t-shirt.

If you're wondering, a "vertical tasting" is where they take several different vintages of the same beer and taste them side-by-side. Most likely they will be doing the tastings based on the 2007, 2008, and 2009 (this year's) vintages of The Abyss.

The latter half of this week the Great American Beer Festival has been going on in Denver, Colorado, and today was the awards ceremony for all the beers across the country that was sent to compete. There was some 3300 beers in 78 different categories, and I'm happy to report several of our local breweries are bringing home medals.

First and foremost, big congrats to 10 Barrel Brewing for winning their first GABF medal! They won the Bronze in the "Out of Category" er, category for their S1NIST0R Black Ale, beating out 79 other beers to do so (82 entries in the category total). Huge win for the young brewery—good job guys!

Bend Brewing also brought home a medal: Silver in the "Old Ale or Strong Ale" for Outback X, their double-strength Outback Old Ale. They have been a consistent medal contender for the past few years, so it's nice to see another big award like this.

And finally, Deschutes Brewery won three medals: Silver for Mirror Pond Pale Ale in the "Classic English Style Pale Ale" category; Bronze for their "Quad" (a Belgian Quadrupel) in the "Belgian-Style Abbey Ale" category; and Bronze for Black Butte Porter in the "Brown Porter" category. Nice work as always!

Saturday was The Little Woody, the barrel-aged beer festival I'd been touting for awhile, and I was able to make it down there from 12:30 until 3. (The event lasted until 10.) I've written a more detailed review over at my beer blog, including notes on the beers themselves, but here are some general notes about the fest from a more Bend-centric angle, along with the pictures I took.

Read more

Last week I posted details about the upcoming barrel-aged beer fest, The Little Woody—and today, I have a list of the beers that are going to be on tap.

This Saturday, the 12th, the lawn of the Deschutes Historical Museum will be the site of the beer festival, which is running from 12 noon until 10pm and featuring wood-aged beers from all of our local breweries. $6 admission, $15 for the "tasting package".

Here are the beers:

Bend Brewing

Barrel X
A limited release of our award winning Outback X aged for a year in a bourbon barrel. This is a deep mahogany beer with an aroma of rich malt balanced by hops and alcohol in the background. It fills the mouth with a medley of prickly hops, dry roasted malt and toasted oak.
O.G. = ?
Alc. by vol. = ?
IBUs = ?

Cascade Lakes Brewing

Skookum Strong Wood
This is a special version of our Skookum Creek Strong Ale. It starts out a medium-bodied strong ale with a noticeable hop presence. There are four hop varieties and eight different malts in this beer that provide the hop presence and malt complexity our region is known for. We then aged it in a bourbon barrel for 9-plus months, which lends notes of vanilla and toffee.
O.G. = 1.068
Alc. by Vol. = 7%
IBUs = 50

Paulina Lake Pilsner
This is a classic German style pilsner that’s light straw in color and well hopped with European noble hops, and fermented to a low final gravity. This leads to a beer with few residual sugars to create a dry crisp lager with higher hop bitterness and aroma than your typical American Lager. A perfect palette cleanser during a day of drinking barrel aged beers.
O.G. = 1.045
Alc by Vol = 4.5%
IBUs = 30

Deschutes Brewery

Lost Barrels of Mirror Mirror
After releasing this inspired barely wine last April as part of our Reserve Series, we found some “lost” barrels in the back corner of the warehouse. So, we set aside this special 100 percent barrel-aged version of Mirror Mirror for occasions such as this. This was brewed at our main brewery in a barrel previously used by Domaine Drouhin with Millenium and Cascade hops and four different malts.
O.G.= 1.102
Alc. by vol = 10.7%
IBUs = 51

Bond Street Bourbon Barrel Quad
A celebration of a classic Belgian-style ale with a Deschutes twist made with loving care in our Bond Street Pub using three different hops and two different malts. The barrel from which this beer originates was originally used to age bourbon by Makers Mark for 15 years.
O.G. = 1.087
Alc. by vol. = 9.3%
IBUs = 19

McMenamins Old St. Francis School

Reaper’s Demise Oktoberfest
This traditional Oktoberfest-style ale was aged in a McMenamins Hogshead whiskey barrel to help give a nice roundness and oaken flavor to an already malty and somewhat sweet beer. A medium hop flavor and aroma add nicely to the smooth aftertaste of whiskey while sipping the Reaper’s Demise. Beware as you might not get much work done harvesting the fields once you indulge yourself in this creation.
OG = 1.059
Alc. by vol. = 6.2%

Silver Moon Brewing

The Nekkid Creeper
This is an old-style strong ale aged several months in a fresh bourbon barrel with a fresh a floral aroma thanks to a generous Goldings dry hop and late kettle addition. Vanilla and oak dominate the nose along with alcohol due to the high gravity of this beer. The flavor is full bodied and mouth layering with a strong English malt background, toasty and bready. This beer is a dark mohagony in color and low in carbonation.
ABV = 9.1%
IBUs = 110

Bourbon Bite Porter
Our award-winning Snake Bite Porter aged in a fresh bourbon oak barrel. The aroma is that of roasted coffee, chocolate and a slight smokiness thanks to the black patent and chocolate malts, which satisfy the oakiness of our robust porter. Finishing dry, this porter has a big-mouth feel, along with the vanilla and sweet bourbon flavors, the roasted smoke character smoothes and compliments. Jet black in color a low carbonation level ensures a smooth tantalizing experience.
ABV = 5.2%
IBUs = 20

10 Barrel Brewing

Bourbon Barrel RIPA
A unique and generous blend of Ten Barrel’s original IPA and Rusty Barrel Red Ale, aged for several months in an oak bourbon barrel. This beer is deep amber in color with smooth ruby highlights. It has a full-bodied mouth feel that’s malty with hints of caramel and toffee. The beer uses six different types of malts and four hops to create a balanced hop bitterness and flavor, mingled with a smooth blend of bourbon, oak and vanilla.
Alc. by vol. = 7.5%
IBUs = 62

Three Creeks Brewing

Firewater Red
A big, balanced Red Ale with Northwest attitude, aged in a Hogshead Whiskey barrel. It took six malts and just over 10 pounds of hops (Columbus, Cluster, Willamette and Centennial) to create this Red ale that starts dry, offers a hint of malt sweetness in the middle and finishes with just the right amount of hop bitterness and evidence of whiskey that we were looking for.
OG = 1.058
Alc. by vol. = 5.8%

In addition, the Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization has two beers that will be available: both stouts, one is aged in a rum barrel and one in a whiskey barrel.

I mentioned a while back a brief bit about The Little Woody, the barrel-aged brew festival coming up in September to replace the Bend Brew Fest. There are more details now; as I posted on my beer blog last night:

This festival will feature hand crafted, wood aged beer as well as one specialty brew from all of Central Oregon’s seven breweries. The Little Woody will be the place to be September 12, 2009. Festival goers will enjoy live music, great food, a wood carving exhibition and beer tastings throughout the day and into the night.

The Little Woody will take place in downtown Bend on the lawn of the Des Chutes Historical Museum located on the corner of Wall Street and Idaho. Event hours are Saturday September 12th from 12pm-10pm. Admission to the event is just $6 and includes a commemorative glass. A tasting package is available for $15 and includes a commemorative glass and tasting tickets. A portion of the event proceeds will benefit the Deschutes Historical Society.

All of the local microbreweries are participating—even Sisters-based Three Creeks Brewing. There will even be two beers from the local homebrewing club—both stouts, one aged in a rum barrel and one aged in a whiskey barrel.

In addition, the music line-up looks like this:

• 12:00 A Scottish Heart
• 1:30 Shireen Amini
• 3pm Old Wave
• 4:30 Bare Roots
• 6pm Buck & the Digs
• 8pm Blackstrap

This should be a good beer fest—while Deschutes Brewing obviously is an old hand at barrel-aging their beers, I'm really interested in seeing what the other breweries can do.

Over on my original Abbey Pub post, Geoff (the owner) has been answering comments and providing updates, and the last was worth reposting:

Our hours have changed a little bit. Here's the scoop: we were closed last Tuesday due to having a wisdom tooth extracted.

We will be closed this Tuesday due to going back to the dentist in the AM and then, frankly, taking the rest of the day off to rest. Coming up on a month straight with the only day off being the wisdom tooth day, I need a little break.

We are opening at 11:00 am Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat. We have been opening at 2:00 on Sunday because it has been really slow in the mornings, but this will change when Football start and when COCC starts (Sept 21st I think).

I have started a twitter account if anyone wants to follow that to see what the current draft list is (twitter.com/TheAbbeyPub). We blew the Big Sky Trout Slayer yesterday and put Terminal Gravity ESG (Extra Special Golden) on. Upcoming beers are: Sea Dog brewing Blueberry Wheat and Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale.

As for the lighting, that will be taken care of after the cooler issues. I have a guy coming over on Wednesday to look at the coolers, so we should have the coolers up and stocked (somewhat) by Friday. That means the lights should be addressed by the following Friday. I will go shopping for lights on Tuesday and try to get that taken care of. Thanks for all the posts and suggestions.

Say Hi when you come in and let me know you found out about my place on Jons' awesome blog!

Geoff Marlowe
The Abbey Pub
323-2337 (323-BEER)
1740 NW Pence Ln

I added the emphasis and the link. Have you been in there yet? Why not?

A friend of mine is very close to opening a new beer bar over on Bend's westside, and this weekend we got a chance to look in on the progress and get some updates to blog about.

Located next to WineStyles, just off of College Way at the base of the hill, the Abbey Pub is the name of the place. As of right now, they are planning on opening up this Wednesday, which is ambitious but doable. You may have seen the build-out going on in the eastern part of the building—while we were there, a guy walked up to find out if they were open yet, and Geoff (the owner) said that since their sign went up, people have been coming by and asking about it.

The Abbey is going be a beer bar, in the spirit of the Bier Stein in Eugene and Belmont Station in Portland: they will have between six and 12 beers on tap, and will be offering something like 150 (to start) specialty bottles for sale in their coolers. The bottled beer isn't just to go; you'll be able to buy the bottle(s) and open them up on-premise to enjoy.

Here's the initial draft beer lineup:

• Laurelwood Free Range Red
• Double Mountain Kolsch
• Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
• Green Flash West Coast IPA
• Walking Man Homo Erectus (Imperial IPA)
• Hopworks Urban Brewery Organic Survival "Seven-Grain" Stout
• Stone Arrogant Bastard
• Lagunitas Lucky 13
• Trumer Pils
• Caldera Dry Hop Orange

There will be a food menu as well, though I don't yet know what it looks like; I would expect appetizers and pub fare, with some desserts being added later.

Hours for the Abbey are going to be 11am to 10pm—though I don't know yet what days they're planning to be open (dumb oversight on my part to not ask).

The location used to be an ice cream shop, but they've put a lot of good work into it and I really like how it's turned out. Check out the additional pictures below—you can see there's still some work to do before Wednesday—like I said, ambitious but doable.

I'll post any updates to the schedule or anything, too, so stay tuned—but right now, plan on visiting the Abbey as of this Wednesday the 5th.

I don't know how many people know this yet—I actually saw something about it in The Source last month I think, and KOHD had a story about it—but this year's Bend Brew Fest has been canceled. Or, rather their website says it's been "postponed for restructuring." Of course, being postponed until 2010 amount to being canceled for this year.

According to the KOHD story:

According to documents obtained by KOHD News from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission or OLCC, the event has had problems, including minors drinking, intoxicated patrons being served drinks, even one case of an intoxicated patron crashing a golf cart into a tent. Prompting the OLCC to ask for changes including banning minors and shorten the hours during that event.

The Brew Fest normally takes place the third weekend in August.

But, something's coming up in September which will help fill the gap: The Little Woody.

Lay It Out Events is proud to present the First Annual Little Woody Specialty and Craft Beer Festival. This event promises to be one of Bend’s tastiest events. The event will feature hand crafted, wood aged beer as well as one specialty brew from each of Central Oregon’s Breweries. Taking place outside on the Deschutes Brewery lawn in the Old Mill District the Little Woody will be the place to be September 12th. Festival goers will enjoy live music, great food, a wood carving exhibition and beer tastings throughout the day and into the night.

Thus far, they're promoting Deschutes Brewery, Cascade Lakes, and 10 Barrel as participating with this Fest. (Hopefully the other breweries will get involved too.)

Barrel-aged beers can be fantastic; this should turn out to be a great event. Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 12th. (No word on pricing yet.)

A couple of notes about Deschutes Brewery, actually. First is their outdoor seating. Didn't know they had outdoor seating? Today they Twittered:

We now have OUTDOOR seating at the Bend Pub! First time EVER! Come sit outside and enjoy one of our amazing hand-crafted brews in the sun!

My guess is it's sidewalk seating, like you'll find at certain other restaurants around downtown; there's just nowhere else they could go, really. Still cool.

And then this Friday, the 3rd, is "Jubel in July":

Come on down for a Jubel in July Party! It will be like a tropical Christmas with grass skirts and lei's, Jubel specials with tropical influence and a tropical party. Hope to see you there!

It's either a sneak preview of the 2009 Jubelale, or just an excuse to tap some past Jubelale kegs. Either way, it's all good.

I just noticed on Bend Brewing Company's website that they are offering bottled beer again, but this time there are two different beers available: HopHead Imperial IPA (as before), and Elk Lake IPA.

I'm a bit surprised to see that Elk Lake is available by the bottle, though I suppose I shouldn't be as I've noticed it's on tap around town more and more these days. I guess I would have thought that something more "limited" like the Rocksy stone beer would have made the cut.

Totally a guess, but the bottles are probably selling for $7 or $8 each.

After work today we stopped in to the Eastside Longboard Louie's for a drink and appetizer, and I have to blog this: they have $2 pints of beer all day, every day.

No kidding! My wife told me about it some time back, but I thought that meant they had a happy hour, or a locals night or something. No. It's $2 always, as near as I can tell.

(I don't know if they have this at their Westside location also—anyone?)

And we're talking good beer selections, too—nearly all the local microbrewers are represented (at least two each from Deschutes, Bend Brewing, Silver Moon, 10 Barrel, and Cascade Lakes), as well as others.

It may well be the best beer deal in town.

Friday after work we popped in to Deschutes Brewery to try the newly-released Mirror Mirror, and in a shameless bit of self-promotion I'm pointing you to my beer blog to read about it. Suffice to say it is a very worthy beer to get while it's still available on tap.

I also tried a taster of their Gluten Free Golden Ale out of curiosity. It was very different—it's not made from barely but instead from sorghum, brown rice, and roasted chestnuts and is 100% gluten free. I found it to be sour-ish and very light with a different character than "beer" but at some point I will probably order a glass to figure it out.

Bend Brewing Company should have a very interesting beer on tap soon, a "Stein (Stone) Beer" brewed in collaboration with Lost Abbey brewmaster Tomme Arthur. What makes this notable is the "hot rocks" method of brewing by placing glowing-hot rocks into the brew kettle, causing the wort (unfermented beer) to boil rather than by traditionally, you know, heating the kettle with flame underneath.

Stein beers I've tasted elsewhere are quite delicious, so I have high hops for this one. In fact, I believe it's named "Hot Rocks" and may in fact be on tap now—the website hasn't been updated in a while. Call down to see.

I had previously mentioned the Brew Shop stocking specialty beer; I've been in there a few times since and can verify that they have filled their coolers nicely and offer one of the biggest specialty beer selections in town. (Whole Foods and Newport Market are still impressive, too.) They're located at 2524 NE Division, just down the street from the newly opened Rivals.

The names in the title refer, of course, to Deschutes Brewery's two latest special-edition beers, and this Wednesday (according to Twitter), the Brewery is hosting the release party for these beers at their pubs.

"Festivities" should start around 5pm, and if previous release parties are any indication, there will be specially-themed menu offerings (made with the beers in question) to accompany the new beers.

The guys over at 10 Barrel Brewing (formerly Wildfire and primarily served up at JC's) have a neat idea: behind-the-scenes video.

This video is the first in a series that gives a little insight into what we, as a small brewery in Bend, Oregon, go through on a daily basis.

You can view this first video here.

Central Oregon only has one beer brewing supply shop that I'm aware of: The Brew Shop. If you homebrew, you get your stuff there, and for a long time it occupied a small space at 2538 NE Division, a small, industrial-type building, just big enough to have supplies in the front and a small brewing "kitchen" and storage in the back.

(In fact, Silver Moon Brewing got its start in that very space, on a 1-barrel brewing system, if I remember right.)

Well, good news to homebrewers: the Brew Shop has recently moved and expanded—however, "moved" is relative as it's still at the same address: they simply moved into the larger building on the other side of the parking lot.

I was in there last weekend and was very impressed with the extra space, and most interestingly, the entire back wall is a big bank of refrigerators—the big "grocery store style" coolers fronted with glass doors. When I asked after them, they told me they had just received their OLCC liquor license and were planning on stocking them full of beer—becoming, in effect, a boutique beer shop as well as homebrew supply shop.

Their plan is to ramp up with some 300 varieties of beer, and ultimately expand to 900 or more. There will also eventually be some beer on tap and a small tasting room area.

The good news is, they already have beer for sale! (I have an email confirming it.) Bend's beer scene just got even better.

Head down there this weekend and pick up some specialty beer, why dontcha?

Geoffrey from All Around Bend sent this tip along:

Hey man, there is a Deschutes Brewery promo event this Thursday from 4-6pm at the Reed Pub. Pints are $1.75 each and there will be prizes to win!

I can't find anything else online about it, which seems odd because this sounds like a huge wine if you like Deschutes beer.

Reed Pub is at 1141 SE Centennial, just off of Reed Market by the railroad tracks.

Incidentally, I don't know if I've seen the All Around Bend site before (or if I have, it was vastly different). Seems sharp, and I'm most impressed that they've got a book coming out. Nice.

Hard to believe, but everyone's favorite drinking holiday is just around the corner: Tuesday the 17th. Like the last couple of years, it's time for the "official" Pub Hopper's Guide. It's not definitive, but a list of the places that strike me as St. Patty's-appropriate.

And like last time, I'm also noting when a place has a specific St. Patty's thing going on (I've bolded the name and included a blurb).

They've only got the Portland Pub event listed on their page, but Deschutes Brewery is having their Cinder Cone Red release party at the downtown pub this Thursday, the 5th, starting at 5pm.

Cinder Cone Red is their spring seasonal and one of their popular ones. Cinder Cone will be pouring, naturally, on Thursday, and there will be a menu of Cinder Cone-inspired dishes.

Bend Brewing Company is celebrating their 14th anniversary this Saturday, February 21st. I noticed this on their website just today and twittered it also.

Celebrate our 14 Year Anniversary on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm with raffle prizes, 1/2 priced appetizers, $3 pints, merchandise clearance sale and a patio party with live music starting at 8pm!

Sounds like fun—I hope the weather holds for the patio party. (Currently it's predicted to be 49°.)

Congrats BBC, and here's to 14 more years!

I noted back in August that Wildfire Brewing had to change its name, and back in December I also noted that they picked their new name: 10 Barrel Brewing.

I'm not a big fan of that name, but I am glad to see they have a proper website now—before all they had was a MySpace page that wasn't up-to-date. Their new site is 1000 times better than the MySpace page and it's much more informative. (I see, though, that they still have a MS page linked from the site, and I think it's even harder to read than the old Wildfire one.)

It's not perfect (copyright 2006? FrontPage?), but it's a good start.

Tomorrow at the Deschutes Pub they are having a "Wednesday Night Beer Event" featuring a special menu and food pairing with their event theme:

This fourth and final Wednesday Night January Event will feature Sour Beers. Come down to the pub to discover five of our funkiest brews.

Sour beers are something of a specialty/rarity, at least here in Oregon, so it's definitely worth checking out.

The event is marked as started at 5pm and lasting for two hours.

Here's a nugget pulled from the Deschutes Brewery's twitter feed:

6 different fresh hop beers will be pouring at the Bend pub this Wed at 5:30 & will include flights, pairings and a special menu.

Fresh hop beers are awesome. You should go.

Just when even I think Bend is at the brewery saturation point, I'm surprised: the Bulletin breaks news today on the eighth microbrewery soon-to-be-opening: Brewtal Brewing Company.

The Brewtal Brewing Co., formed by Bend resident Tony Lawrence, will be the region’s eighth brewing company. Lawrence began moving into a small warehouse near downtown Bend on Tuesday and will begin building the brewery he hopes will fill its first keg this spring.

“I’ll be brewing ales, like most craft breweries do, IPAs, pale ales,” Lawrence said. “Some guys are over the top heavy-handed with hops, but that’s not my school. I’m a more traditional, balanced brewer.”

He initially plans on brewing about 10 to 15 barrels per month. For reference, 1 barrel at 31 gallons per barrel is about 13 cases of beer. Lawrence is also an alum of Deschutes Brewery, so he's got the experience.

Lawrence said his small-batch brewery — to be built himself with brewing equipment he’s collected over the years as a builder and consultant — will initially focus on selling its beer to restaurants. Bottling lines are expensive, he said, so there are no immediate plans to sell bottled beer in retail locations.

There will be a tasting room at the brewery, located at 37 N.W. Lake Place, but Lawrence said his permit will not allow him to sell beer on-site. Lawrence said he may eventually build a brewpub if he feels there’s demand.

Incidentally, remember awhile back I blogged that Wildfire Brewing had to change its name? This article reveals the new name (I always wondered): 10 Barrel Brewing. It's a little disappointing, actually; of all the good names to pick out there, "10 Barrel"? Er, okay...

I probably should keep this to myself in order to score more beer, but Bend Brewing Company's website has a notice posted that their HopHead Imperial IPA is going to be available in 22-ounce bottles starting November 28th (this Friday).

This is a pretty limited beer, and remember, it won the gold and then the bronze medals at the Great American Beer Festival in recent years. So I expect it won't last long.

No word yet on price.

I saw this in Deschutes Brewery's email newsletter, and thought it was interesting:

Come down to the Deschutes Brewery & Public House in downtown Bend on Tuesday, November 4th to watch the Presidential election and enjoy Monday night pricing ($3.00) on select pints all day long. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent or just looking for a cheap pint, Deschutes Brewery is your spot. We will have full Presidential election coverage, as well as, an election of our own.

The "election of their own" is a faux throwdown between Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Hop Trip. I'm not sure if they're actually having people vote on which they prefer, or if it's just election night fun.

$3 for their imperial pints is a pretty good deal.

Congratulations go out to our three biggest local breweries: Deschutes Brewery, Bend Brewing Company, and Cascade Lakes Brewing, for winning medals at this year's Great American Beer Festival!

Kudos to Cascade Lakes especially, since this is their first win: they brought home the Bronze medal for their Blonde Bombshell in the "Session Beer" category.

Deschutes won the following medals:

• Gold for The Dissident in the "American-Style or German-Style Sour Ale" category
• Gold for Bachelor ESB in the "Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter" category
• Bronze for Chinquapin Butte Golden Ale, their new gluten-free beer, in (appropriately enough) the "Gluten-Free Beer" category

Bend Brewing won the Bronze for their Hop Head in the "American-Style India Pale Ale" category (they previously won the Gold in 2006 for this beer too).

Go celebrate with a pint at the respective breweries!

Next Saturday, October 18th, Deschutes Brewery is having a Fresh Hop Beer Tasting dinner at their Mountain Room. (I'm going.) Fresh (or wet) hop beers are a relatively new thing and Deschutes is taking to it in a big way; they plan to have seven fresh hop beers on tap.

Here are the details:

Saturday, October 18th
Doors open at 6:30 pm

Featuring 7 Deschutes Brewery Fresh Hop beers,
including Hop Trip & a fresh hop version of Mirror Pond!

Menu:
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Ham (and a vegetarian friendly version too)
Roasted Fall Vegetables with Fresh Herbs
Braised Beef Short Ribs on Pumpkin Puree
Assorted Breads, Spreads & Crudités
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Wheat Malt Crust drizzled with Fresh Wort Caramel

$35 per person - Includes the following food, all beers, and gratuity.

Please call Sharon for reservations at 541.385.8606

I don't know if there's much availability left, but you have a week to reserve your spot. Like I mentioned, I'll be there, and it sounds like it's going to be a great time.

We visited the new Three Creeks Brewing Company over in Sisters on Saturday, and I wrote up a long-ish review (with photos) over on my beer blog here. The verdict: good food, decent beer.

Overall, we all agreed the beer is decent and drinkable, and I think they're doing some interesting enough things (like the IBA and the Rye) to keep them noticed and fresh.

Beers are $4 per pint, and growlers and apparently bottles are available to go as well.

... The food, though, was good all around. Paul kept raving about his "Chicken-bacon-tater" meal, which was essentially all those ingredients in a flatbread taco thing smothered (I think) in cheese and stuff. Decadent, you know. I ordered fish and chips, which is pretty standard for me whenever I first visit a brewpub—I figure it's a good measure of the place—and it was a solid plate.

Tuesday, September 23rd (that's tomorrow!), Deschutes Brewery is celebrating 21 years of Jubelale with a launch party for the seasonal beer at their downtown Pub. The toast is at 5pm and there will three variations of Jubelale on tap: regular, cask conditioned, and nitro.

Here's the special menu for the evening:

• Bison Meatloaf
• Jubelale Short Ribs
• Jubelale & Hoisin Braised Boneless Short Ribs
• Pizza Special: House-Made Jubelale Infused Spent Grain Pizza Dough
• Pasta Special: Pan Seared Pacific Salmon Served Over Angel Hair Pasta
• Dessert Special: Jubelale Ice Cream

Also, the artist for this year's label (since each year is custom painted), Pam Jersey Bird, will be on hand, signing posters (presumably of the label).

Everyone should know by now that when I mention beer, I'm almost always talking craft beer and/or microbrew. This weekend we had family in town and spent a good portion of it introducing them to the various breweries here, some of which they knew, some they didn't.

So I can say that the best beer deals are to be found at Silver Moon and JC's (Wildfire): Monday night at Silver Moon is Locals Night where the pints are $2.50 (and the pool and foosball is always free), and Monday through Friday at JC's, happy hour is from 3 to 6pm and all Wildfire brews are $2. Yes, only two dollars, you read that right. I think that's the best beer deal anywhere in town for micros.

This is news I'd expect to have shown up locally first, but instead it showed up on the NewWest site (out of Montana): Bend’s Wildfire Brewery Forced To Change Name.

Wildfire restaurants - a chain of eateries with locations in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Georgia - sent a letter earlier this month to the owners of Wildfire Brewery informing them that they were in violation of a trademarked title. The letter strongly suggested that the brewery changes its name within six months, said Paul Cook, a co-owner and brewer for Wildfire.

Rather than take the issue to court, Cook said the Bend suds producer opted to change their business name....

As for a new name to replace Wildfire, Cook said he and his business partners currently have a list of five they are trying to narrow down. The owners of Wildfire Brewery - which opened in April 2007 - are also reaching out the public for help creating a new name. Fliers are being distributed throughout Central Oregon where patrons can write down what they think should be a new name for the brewery. If Wildfire Brewery owners choose one of the names suggested, the individual who creates it will be given a free kegerator.

Fortunately, the main things they have to replace that are branded are tap handles around town. And, they're still producing beer during this time, so that's good news.

Anyone seen any of these name-change fliers yet?

Posted on the Blacksmith's blog today, their Wednesday beer tasting lineup: IPAs. If any style embodies the "West Coast", it's the hoppy India Pale Ale.

For our final Beer Tasting this month we will focus on India Pale Ales or IPAs.  Please join us to sample 5 great beers.

• Mikkeller All Others Pale
  American Pale Ale | Copenhagen, Denmark | 6.0% ABV
• Great Devide Titan IPA
  India Pale Ale (IPA) | Denver, Colorado | 6.8% ABV
• Green Flash West Coast IPA
  India Pale Ale (IPA) | San Diego, California | 7.0% ABV
• Deschutes Hophenge
  Imperial IPA | Bend, Oregon | 8.1% ABV
• AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer)
  Imperial IPA | San Diego, California | 8.5% ABV

Join The Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room this Wednesday, July 30th, from 5-7 PM. $10 per person.

I received a couple of emails today regarding Central Oregon's newest microbrewery, Three Creeks Brewing Company, located in Sisters. The first was from Wade Underwood, the owner, letting me know that they are officially open for business (a few weeks early).

The other was from Geoffrey of AllAroundBend.com, with a mini-review:

Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters is open as of today!

They had a real nice black ipa, a so-so blonde, and a good pale ale. Half a dozen other beers to come in the upcoming month.

Food was decent, staff was kinda green though. Overall a great addition to the beer scene. Definitely a good thing for Sisters.
Best part is they have a mug club where for $75 a year all pints are upgraded fro 16 to a 21oz, free merchandise, special pairing dinner initiations, etc. Looks like a great deal for locals.

(Emphasis mine. Naturally, I'm most interested in hearing about the beers.)

TCBC is located on the east side of Sisters, near the town's (only) movie house in their FivePine development. It's facing Highway 20. The theme is rustic, Old West livery stable. You probably remember that I've written about it before.

The beer keeps on rolling down at the Blacksmith's Wednesday tastings; this week it's Belgian style beers.

• Poperings Hommel Ale
  Belgian Strong Ale | Poperinge-Watou, Belgium
  7.5% ABV
• Ommegang Hennepin
  Saison | Cooperstown, New York
  7.7% ABV
• Fantôme Saison
  Saison | Soy-Erezée, Belgium
  8% ABV
• Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
  Abbey Tripel | Chambly, Canada
  9% ABV
• Midnight Sun La Mâitresse du Moine
  Abbey Dubbel | Anchorage, Alaska
  9% ABV

Join The Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room this Wednesday, July 16th, from 5-7 PM. $10 per person.

Apparently the Blacksmith didn't limit its beer tastings to Wednesdays in June (which is a good thing); tomorrow they have a Wit Beer tasting:

This is one of those beer styles that fits in perfectly on a warm summer day. Come sample 5 unique Wit Beers this Wednesday, July 9th.

• Pinkus Organic Hefe Weizen
  German Hefeweizen | Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
  5.1% ABV
• Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel
  Dunkelweizen | Munich, Germany
  5.5% ABV
• De Proefbrouwerij La Grande Blanche
  Belgian White (Witbier) | Lochristi, Belgium
  7.5% ABV
• Chimay Triple White
  Abbey Tripel | Baileux, Belgium
  8% ABV
• Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock
  Eisbock | Kelheim, Germany
  12% ABV

Join The Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room this Wednesday, July 9th, from 5-7 PM. $10 per person.

Wildfire Brewing has kegs for sale for this 4th of July. Dock sales format, and there might be some dock sale deals to be found, too.

Prices:

• 5 gallon soda-style keg (1/6 bbl): $58
• Pony keg (1/2 bbl): $74
• Full 50L keg: $113

You can find Wildfire at:

20750 High Desert Lane #107 (off of Empire across from Mt. Hood Beverage)
(541) 585-1007

This is a big weekend for Deschutes Brewery; not only is it their 20th Anniversary—and they're holding a party—but they are also releasing two big beers, their Black Butte XX (in wax-dipped bottles) and their 20th Anniversary Wit.

They've got parties going on Friday and Saturday (see below) and, if their Now Pouring page is up to date, they've got both of these beers on tap right now.

Ironically, I won't be able to attend either party—prior commitments have us tied up completely. But I expect each and every one of you to go and drink some good beer for me. And take pictures if you can.

Here's the press release that the Brewery sent me, which I also ran on my beer blog:

Deschutes Brewery Celebrates 20 Years of Great Beer

To celebrate 20 years of creating some of the world’s finest craft brews, Deschutes Brewery is opening its doors to host a two-day 20th Anniversary party.

On Friday, June 27th, locals and visitors are encouraged to take advantage of Central Oregon’s beautiful June weather with a celebration outside the Deschutes Brewery and Public House in downtown Bend, Oregon. This event is free and open to the public, with live music by Scott Fox and his band, beers and a barbecue available at Locals' Night prices completing the festive atmosphere.

Then, on Saturday, June 28th, the party moves to the brewery where self-guided tours and music from the Moon Mountain Ramblers allow attendees to explore at their own pace. The brewery’s newest releases, Black Butte XX and 20th Anniversary Wit, will be poured along with the brewery’s original offerings, Black Butte Porter, Bachelor Bitter and Cascade Ale, from 1988.

When & Where:
Friday, June 27th, 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Deschutes Brewery & Public House
1044 NW Bond Street, Bend, OR 97702

Saturday, June 28th, 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Deschutes Brewery
901 S.W. Simpson Ave., Bend, OR 97702

Just in case you can't get enough Deschutes beer and Blacksmith goodness, I notice that on the Blacksmith's blog they announced a beer dinner for tomorrow, June 24th Tuesday, July 8th.

Blacksmith and Deschutes Brewery team up on Tuesday, June 24 July 8th to create a five-course meal paired with five Deschutes brews. Mix and mingle starting at 6:00 p.m., then sit down to a gourmet meal at 6:30 with a Deschutes Brewer. $75 per person. RSVP: 541-318-0588

Yes, I'm behind on pointing to this. I was out of town all weekend.

Update: the Blacksmith's new blog entry has published the updated date for the dinner: two weeks away.

Tonight's lineup of "Western Beers" is online on the Blacksmith blog:

• Mac & Jacks African Amber (American Amber | Redmond, Washington | 5.6% ABV
• Rogue Younger’s Special Bitter (English Special Bitter | Newport, Oregon | 4.8% ABV
• Green Flash West Coast IPA (American IPA | San Diego, California | 7.0% ABV
• Deschutes Hop Henge (Imperial IPA | Bend, Oregon | 8.10% ABV
• Midnight Sun La Mâitresse du Moine (Belgian Strong Dark | Ankorage, Alaska | 9.0% ABV
• Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti (Imperial Stout | Denver, Colorado | 9.5% ABV

Good beer drinkers take note: on tap at Kebaba right now (I know, Kebaba, right?) is a keg of Chimay White. It's on tap for $6.50 a glass and the owner expects it to last only four or five days.

(Believe it or not, $6.50 for Chimay White on tap is a good deal.)

After that, it gets better:

The next import keg I am trying to get is a Saison Du Pont. Another Belgium beer that is equally as tasty as the Chimay. It will be a few weeks after the Chimay is gone when it goes on tap. Then every few weeks another specialty import keg.

Chimay is good, but Saison Dupont is amazing. I wouldn't have guessed Kebaba as having anything more than the usual run-of-the-mill tap list restaurants mostly have around here, but this is good to know.

The lineup of beers for this Wednesday's Blacksmith Beer Tasting is posted:

Join us this Wednesday to taste some great beer from the East Side. This week we will be tasting the Dogfish Head 60 & 90 minuet IPA’s side by side. Plus two distinctly different and wonderful beers from Victory Brewing. And last but not least one big Belgian from New York.

• Victory Prima Pils (German Pilsner | Dowingtown, Pennsylvania | 5.3% ABV | RB: 90)
• Dogfish Head 60 Min IPA (American IPA | Milton, Delaware | 6% ABV | RB: 95)
• Dogfish Head 90 Min IPA (Imperial IPA | Milton, Delaware | 9% ABV| RB: 99)
• Ommegang Abbey Ale (Belgian Strong Ale | Cooperstown, New York | 8.5% ABV | RB: 97)
• Victory Storm King Stout (Russian Imperial Stout | Dowingtown, Pennsylvania | 9.1% ABV | RB: 100)

Join The Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room this Wednesday from 5-7 PM. $10 per person including passed apps.

Most of those are fairly heavy and more expensive beers, so $10 is definitely worth it.

The other day I blogged about the Blacksmith's beer tasting Wednesdays, and I wondered aloud (as "aloud" as posting on a blog can be) what the actual beers would be. Wonder no more; I got an email pointing to the BS blog listing just what will be tasted this week:

This week will be the first installment of Beer month at The Blacksmith and we will be tasting five international beers. 

• Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse (Munich, Germany | ABV 5.0%)
• Fullers ESB (London, England | ABV 5.9%)
• Mikkeller All Others Pale (Copenhagen, Denmark | ABV 6.0%)
• Saison Dupont (Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium | ABV 6.5%)
• Black Boss Porter (Witnica, Poland | 9.4%)

Join The Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room this Wednesday from 5-7 PM. $10 per person.

That's a nice lineup, a bit different from their usual assortment of beers (based on what they have listed online; the Franziskaner is the only cross-over that I see).

This past Saturday Deschutes Brewery had their annual Chocolate Beer Pairing Dinner, and I was extremely fortunate to get invited to attend on the house. Naturally I blogged about it, and you can read that review (with pictures) on my beer blog here. Overall, it was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it or similar events to anyone who likes beer.

In May, the Blacksmith's Wednesday tastings were all Martinis. For June, they're doing beer:

Prepare to achieve beervana. During June, the Blacksmith Restaurant + Bar + Lounge gives brews their due at Wednesday tastings featuring beers from near and far. Join the Blacksmith’s own beer connoisseur’s study group in the Anvil Room every Hump Day.

Here’s the line-up for June:
June 4 = International Beers
June 11 = East Coast Beers
June 18 = West Coast Beers
June 25 = Local Beers

Price is $10 per person, including appetizers. Party starts at 5pm.

I like the sound of it—and $10 is definitely easier on the wallet than the $25 for the martinis—though I'd like to know what beers each day will actually feature. "Local Beers" is pretty obvious, naturally. But are they brining in special beers just for the tastings, or just going with what they have on tap or in the bottle?

Photo credit: Copyright © by (my friend) Simone Paddock of Emerald Bay Photography.

This came in as a press release and seems like a cool event, even though it's the first time I've heard of a brewery crawl in a grassroots campaign like this. They'd welcome people from the media, too.

(Incidentally, the other two breweries are Deschutes and Bend Brewing.)

The Oregon Natural Desert Association is on the move, amping up its campaign to protect the Badlands of Central Oregon as an official Wilderness this spring and on Thursday, March 27th will host a Brewery Crawl for the Badlands.

Just 15 miles east of Bend, the Badlands is home to 1,000 year-old Juniper trees, unique wildlife, exceptional spring wildflowers, and incredible lava flow formations. But as our community continues to grow, it is vital that we protect this amazing area as one of our last wild places.

Right now Bend has its best opportunity to preserve the Badlands as a Wilderness and so, the time is now for fans of the Badlands to show their support and take action to preserve this priceless resource for future generations.

Join ONDA on March 27th for a ‘Badlands Brewery Crawl.’ Starting at five o’clock at the Silver Moon Brewery on Greenwood and moving to two more fine brewpubs downtown, ONDA will be generating important visibility and action for the Badlands all night along the way. Come toast the High Desert and celebrate this effort to protect such an amazing wild place in Central Oregon with ONDA on March 27th!

And right now what can you do? Go to www.onda.org and check out our new action website when you click “take action for the Badlands” on the right.

Here we go again. This may be a perennial favorite: The St. Patrick's Day pub guide!

This time around, I'm also noting when a place has a specific St. Patty's thing going on (I've bolded the name and included a blurb).

I've also broken last year's rule of "not restaurant lounges, and nothing fancy" with The Blacksmith and The Village Grill. The Blacksmith is fancy, but I love their beer bar and they have some specials; and The Village Grill, while largely restaurant, is also at least half sports bar, so I'll qualify it.

In The Source this week, H. Bruce Miller explores the size of pint glasses at the "Big Four" breweries in town—literally taking a measuring cup in and pouring his beer into it to see exactly how much beer each place pours.

For some background, there are two commonly used types of "pint glasses": shaker glasses (the straight-walled glasses most people are familiar with) and imperial pint glasses (curving, bulbous-type at the top to hold more liquid). The problem is, shaker glasses typically hold only 14 ounces (a true pint is 16 ounces), and some "cheater" glasses only hold 12. Sometimes you can get a full 16 ounces if you fill right up to the rim and no foam or spillage is involved—not likely. The imperial pint glasses hold 20 ounces, but the same caveats apply—it has to be a full pour to get the exact 20.

(See The Honest Pint Project.)

Anyway, HBM determines the four breweries pour as such:

• Deschutes: imperial pints, but about 18 ounces: $4
• Bend Brewing: shaker glass, about 12 ounces: $4
• Cascade Lakes: imperial pints, about 18 ounces ("a bit over"): $4
• McMenamins: shaker glass, about 13 ounces: $4.15

It's a good start, but I'm also curious about other places in town. The other two brewers, for example—Silver Moon and Wildfire (via JC's). I know that Silver Moon serves up in shaker glasses (though I think they're only $3), but I don't know about JC's/Wildfire.

And then there's other places in town. The Blacksmith, for instance, serves their beer up in two types of glasses (neither of which are pints): a tall straight-walled glass (like a pilsner glass but maybe more like a stange), and a large snifter, all for $4 (on draft).

So who's going to be doing the rest of the legwork on this? Let me know.

Ah, March is the month of that eminent beer drinker's holiday, St. Patrick's Day, and McMenamins has two days of celebration scheduled for it this year.

On Saturday, March 15th, is their Day One. Free (as in, no cover or minimum charge), music starts at 1pm, and it's family friendly. They'll have their Irish Stout on tap, naturally, and it's an easy-drinking beer.

Then, on Monday the 17th (St. Patrick's Day proper), is their Day Two. Same deal, only the music starts at 4pm.

While I'm on the subject of beer from my previous post, I checked the Now Pouring page on the Deschutes Brewery's website and saw this:

Mirror Pond Pale Ale Experimental Trials!

We here at Deschutes Brewery are always looking at ways to improve our beer, this includes our flagship brand Mirror Pond Pale. We are trying to provide a pale that has more hop flavor and aroma. We would like to enlist your help to pick the pale that is most desirable. You will be presented with two 10oz snifters and a comment sheet on which you will be ask to pick the one you like the most and rate it. Feel free to leave comments. Thank you from Deschutes Brewery. $4.25

Now that's interesting... I don't necessarily agree that there's anything that needs "fixing" or "improving" with Mirror Pond Pale Ale, but I like the fact that they're soliciting customer feedback for it. That seems pretty progressive. I'll definitely have to drop by and rate the beers.

The Blacksmith Restaurant has put their beer list online. I note this because since their rennovation, they are the best beer bar in town, with selections no one else has.

(Of course, if I'm wrong, I'd be happy to check out any other beer bars that people care to point out...)

And that's just their draft beers; their bottled beer list is here.

An item of interest, though I don't know if it's still applicable. Had dinner at the Pine Tavern Sunday, and on their specials list, they were selling the 22-ounce bottles of Deschutes Brewery's Abyss, for $16.50 each.

Even the restaurants aren't immune! The waitress told me that they had "two of the last cases" of it, hence the reason for selling it at the marked-up price.

(I also know for a fact that the Blacksmith has squirreled away several cases of the Abyss... as well as a keg.)

The local homebrewing club, Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization (COHO for short), is hosting a spring competition on April 19th:

• Entries will consist of two 12-16oz. bottles. All bottle caps must be blank, or otherwise blacked out. Raised letter bottles from breweries such as Deschutes, Widmer, and New Belgium will be allowed. Swing top "Grolsch style" bottles will not be accepted.
• Entry fees are $5 per entry, with no limit on the number of entries. Please make checks payable to Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization.
• The deadline for entries is Monday, April 14.

The event will be held at the Sons of Norway meeting hall at 59 NW Harmon Blvd. in Bend. Judge registration will begin at 10AM, and will be followed by first round judging at 11AM. Awards and prizes will be issued directly after the Best of Show judging in the afternoon.

It's an officially sanctioned competition (by the American Homebrewers Association) and is open to anyone who brews beer and would like to enter. They'll also be hosting a reception for the awards ceremony that day starting at 4pm for COHO members/guests and competition entrants.

Bend Brewing has the most interesting lineup of beers listed that I've seen in a long time: Nitro Coconut Cream Stout, Nitro Amber, Big Eddy Bitter, Imperial Pilsner, and Scotch Ale. In particular, it's the Coconut Cream Stout and the Imperial Pilsner that caught my eye.

The other day when I blogged about finding Deschutes Brewery's The Abyss around town, I didn't foresee the beer showing up on eBay. At least, not so soon.

Seriously. Go to eBay and type in "abyss deschutes" in the search box. I did that just now, and there's one with six bids up to $26; one with four bids up to $21.50; and two marked as "Buy it now" for $49 each.

I half-joked when I bought a case for myself that I'd wait a couple of months and sell the bottles for $20 each (twice what I paid for them). I guess some people couldn't wait...

(You can blame Kina for first bringing this to my attention.)

That would be Deschutes Brewery's much-coveted Imperial Stout, which was just officially released today. I have a write-up on my beer blog of their release party.

But the real hint here is where to find it. I've been calling around to the various stores in town who will carry it, and the earliest anyone can tell me they'll be getting this beer is "maybe Wednesday." Even at the Brewery itself (on Simpson Avenue), Wednesday at the soonest. So if you're dying for this beer, you'll have to wait until (maybe) it shows up at the store. And it doesn't sell out.

...Unless you go to the Pub itself downtown. They were selling bottles tonight (they're $10 each), and if they haven't run out, you can still buy them there. Score! I took no chances: I bought a case.

It was about six months ago when I blogged about the plans for a brewpub in Sisters (part of the FivePine development). Well, yesterday the Nugget reports that they've broken ground:

Three Creeks Brewing Company (TCBC) broke ground on its new brew pub facility on Monday, January 7.

Kallberg Construction will build the structure on the FivePine campus, just west of Sisters Movie House, with an opening slated for the summer of 2008.

[T]he 6,000-square-foot facility will provide a full restaurant, a 10-barrel brewing system, a large bar area with large screen plasma TVs, two pool tables and a large patio.

The theme is to be rustic, Old West livery stable.

Nice! Something else to look forward to come summer. Still curious about details, though, but I think I'll try to contact Wade Underwood and see what's what. I do note that they've already registered the domain (though there's no site yet, just a landing page).

(I need to follow the Nugget more regularly; I found this via John Foyston, who's in Portland.)

In my Holiday Gift Guide entry for Beer, I mentioned that I didn't know if Wildfire Brewing had beer available to go. (Wildfire is the brewery established by the JC's folks.) Well, Paul (the brewer) was kind enough to write in to let me know:

Growlers can be filled at our brewery, which is located at 20750 High Desert Lane-just up the street from the Indoor Soccer place and directly across from High Desert Beverage.

At present, we don't have our own fancy growlers, but are happy to fill up the container of your choice if folks want to drop by.

Sweet! You should probably call first before showing up, just to make sure: 585-1007.

What: Growlers of beer from one of our local microbreweries, of course! (Oh come on, you knew I'd get to this one eventually, right?) And actually, they don't have to be limited to growlers: Deschutes Brewery, for instance, will fill any (reasonable) container for you. But don't just get any beer you can find in the grocery store (like the main line of Deschutes and Cascade Lakes beers, for instance)—pick something special from the respective brewery.

For: Beer drinkers.

Price: From the $4 minimum for 20 ounces Deschutes charges, to roughly $12 for a "standard" growler, to an ultra-fancy flip-top one (like the one pictured) that Deschutes sells, filled, for $35 - $-$$$

Where: Deschutes Brewery, Cascade Lakes, Bend Brewing Company, Silver Moon Brewing. I (shamefully) don't know if McMenamins or Wildfire Brewing (at JC's) sells growlers, but it never hurts to ask.

Trivia: Both Deschutes and Bend Brewing are medal-winners at the Great American Beer Festival, as well as being the two oldest microbreweries in the area.

Check this out: the Blacksmith Restaurant is all set to re-open (remember, they had closed down for remodeling), and they have an extensive beer list, thanks to local blogger brewerman. I've seen the tap list (Spence at brewerman gave me a peek—it's not online yet) and I can confirm it's quite extensive—the best tap list of anywhere I've seen in town.

(If I can, I'll post the list.)

I don't know how extensive their bottle selection will be, but I imagine it will be similarly well-stocked. Basically, among other things, the Blacksmith is going to be the best beer bar in town.

Did you know you can take just about any sealable container into Deschutes Brewery and they'll fill it up for you to go? I just found out about this recently, and got some beer today.

It's essentially like getting a growler—the half-gallon glass jugs that they'll fill up for you for $12. The bartender told me today the fill-up policy amounts to about 17 cents per ounce, though I think they charge a minimum of $4—the same price as a 20-ounce pint of their beer. But as long as it's a container with a lid—mason jar, water bottle, growler, gallon jug, whatever—they'll fill it up for you.

(Incidentally, a gallon jug would cost you $24—twice that of a growler.)

How cool is that? I had them fill two 20-ounce plastic water bottles today. Cost $8. Microbrewed beer you can't get anywhere else, to go: priceless.

I don't know if the other breweries will do this; growlers, sure, but I'll need to call to see if they'll fill up other stuff.

Big congrats to Deschutes Brewery and Bend Brewing Company on winning medals at the Great American Beer Festival! The GABF wrapped up today, and Deschutes brought home 3 gold medals and the BBC 1 silver.

The medals were for:

• 4K Pils (Deschutes) - International Style Pilsner category (10 entries)
• Pub Bitter (Deschutes) - Bitter or Pale Mild Ale category (43 entries)
• The Abyss (Deschutes) - Imperial Stout category (44 entries)
• Outback X (BBC) - Old Ale or Strong Ale category (32 entries)

Right on! As if we need any more proof that Bend is a top-class beer town...

The Bend Brew Fest starts today, August 17th, from 4pm til 11pm, and continues Saturday from noon til 11pm. It's at the Les Schwab Amphitheather. Entry is free, but you'll need to pony up for beer and food:

A $5 one-time purchase of a 2007 souvenir mug is required for tasting. Mugs from previous years will not be filled. Tasting tokens are required for beer purchase. Tokens cost $1 per - sold in packets of five - and equals a four ounce taste.

A variety of food is available from outstanding local vendors. Cash is required for food purchase. There is an ATM on site.

The pricing in and of itself is pretty standard—the Oregon Brewers Festival charges $4 for the mug—but you have to buy tokens in packs of 5? Seriously? No offense to the organizers, but that's lame, they should absolutely let people buy single tokens if that's how they want them (or if they need an odd number not divisible by 5...6? 7? 3?).

Kids can attend, with a caveat:

ALL AGES are welcome until 7pm each night with a parent or guardian in attendance. Parent/guardian is required to sign a pledge acknowledging the responsibility of preventing children from consuming alcohol and the penalties for the parent and child.

They've got a really impressive lineup of beers available, too. The Source has an "official guide" insert in this week's issue with the music and beer lineup (which is online, too, but the internet isn't as practical when you're actually there). They also have an article online about it.

Sadly, I won't be in town this weekend to go. It's a camping weekend for me that I can't change. Too bad too! This was an event I'd really like to go to again someday.

Send me your reviews of the Fest—I'll publish 'em here.

I got this forwarded to me in email today:

We need your help for this year's Fourth Annual Bend Brew Fest!! This is a big fundraiser for us but we need the volunteers to make it happen. The event will be held at the Les Schwab Amphitheater on Friday, August 17th from 4pm to 11pm, and Saturday, August 18th from noon to 11pm. Each volunteer will receive a Brew Fest T-shirt, souvenir mug, and beer tokens. Admission is free to all, and the event is kid friendly until 7pm each night. There will be over 40 different breweries represented, live music, great food, and much more.

There's further details on their volunteer page, too:

You must be 21 years of age. Apply as soon as possible in order to receive the shift you want, as preferred shifts go early. Please contact Kent at The Les Schwab Amphitheater at 541.312.8510 or email info@bendconcerts.com.

I would totally do this, but we already have plans for that weekend—meaning I won't be able to attend the Fest at all, which is a bummer. It sounds like it's getting better each year.

I'll be doing a longer post on the BBF soon, too. In the meantime, if you can volunteer, go for it—the experience will be a good one, I think.

An item in yesterday's Bulletin Business section caught my eye: "FivePine to get boost from new brew pub, restaurant" is the article's title, though it's behind the Bulletin paywall so you can't read it online. Here's the brewpub-pertinent stuff:

A new brew pub in Sisters could serve as a gathering place for locals and tourists and further cement Central Oregon's reputation as a craft brewery mecca, industry analysts say.

The unnamed brewery would open by the end of next spring at the FivePine development on the eastern edge of town, said Wade Underwood, a partner in the project who would own and manage the brewery.

"We'll start brewing in-house and ultimately strive for small-scale local distribution," Underwood said. "We're hoping to serve locals as well as people passing through town."

I found a bit more detail from the Sisters Nugget (Bulletin, take note: it's freely available):

Wade Underwood, who moved with his wife to Sisters last July, is adding the brew pub that will be located across from the movie house.

"We decided that a brew pub would be something we'd be interested in bringing to the town because we think the craft beers are great," Underwood said. Underwood's vision is for the pub to offer a family environment with great food at a reasonable price.

The building which is currently being designed will have a warehouse and livery stable appearance with commanding barn doors. "We'll have our brewing equipment up front that will be visible and well lighted and hopefully kind of fun to watch the brewing process go on," Underwood said.

The pub will offer pool tables and only a few televisions to keep up with sporting events.

"Hopefully we can keep our local patrons from having to drive all the way into Bend if they want a craft beer," Underwood said.

All pretty interesting, and pretty inevitable, I think. I've thought for quite a while now that a brewpub would do well in Sisters—seasonally, anyway. Sisters is pure tourist town, and while I'm pretty sure a good brewpub would do well there, during the tourist season, I don't know if during the off-season there would be enough of a local support base to maintain one.

Maybe a McMenamins, or something with backing like that.

And I think for one to really do well, it would have to be located right in the center of town, on the main drag, to pull in all the foot traffic.

So, some questions to keep in mind: What will be the name of the brewpub? Who will be brewing for them? And what kind of beers will they brew?

For a long time now, the local (and only) shop for homebrewing supplies was hand-in-hand with Silver Moon Brewing, located on Greenwood just west of the underpass. In fact, Silver Moon started out as The Homebrewer (or The Brew Shop), and gradually made the transition to microbrewery.

Now, the Brew Shop (not sure if this is the official name) is getting new life breathed into it and is moving—back to its old location on Division Street, for those who remember that—separate from Silver Moon (which is still downtown). And today, the 5th, is the big opening for the Shop, at 10am. I haven't yet met Tom, the guy who's operating it now, but I will soon, I imagine.

If you brew beer, or make wine, it's the place to go for supplies and equipment. It's located at 2538 NE Division, the building and driveway just north of Yale Ave.

I saw this on Deschutes Brewery's site today, from their "Bitter Truth" newsletter:

Deschutes Brewery’s Annual Open House is scheduled for Saturday, June 16th from noon until 4:00 p.m. Come tour the brewery, sample fine ales, talk to our brewers and enjoy tasty snacks. This is our fourth year for the Open House and everyone who visits has a great time. Bring your family and friends for this once-a-year opportunity. All ages are welcome!

It's down at their main brewing facility at 901 SW Simpson. I need to get that on my calendar. I've never been on their brewery tour, can you believe that? All this time I've lived here, and I'm a beer guy, too...

Found this posted on the back door of the old roller rink, or Domino Room, or whatever they are these days:

I never knew Bend Brewing made a Desert Dog Ale. Anyone know anything about it?

Ah, the hiatus is over, it was a good vacation. Back to the world.

I've a few things to post about, but for tonight it's the news that according to JC's MySpace bulletin (you get it if you're a friend), Wildfire Brewing—their in-house operation—is now brewing beer. They have photos up on their page, too.

Cool! That means they should have their first beer(s) on tap in a few weeks. Maybe longer, if they're brewing and aging lagers, but still—soon!

The Bend Restaurants blog has a mouth-watering write-up of Deschutes Brewery's annual Spring Dinner last Saturday, the 10th. These events are six-course beer pairing dinners, where each course is paired with a different Deschutes beer.

I've always thought it would be fun to do, but typically they run in the over-$50 range (this last one was $55), which tends to give me pause. The review, though, makes it look like it's totally worth it. Pictures too. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for the next one...

In the meantime, on the brewery's Mountain Room Upcoming Events page, the 3rd Annual Barrel Tasting is taking place on June 16th (Saturday). Cost is only $35. I could get into that.

I thought it'd be fun to write up a guide to places to go if you're going pub hopping on St. Patrick's Day. My only criteria? Pretty loose and arbitrary; any place that I think of as primarily where you would go for a drink—not necessarily to eat. And it has to be a pub or tavern or thereabouts—not restaurant lounges, and nothing fancy. Sorry Astro Lounge, I'm lookin' at you.

Basically, the kinds of places I think would make for a good Irish pub crawl. Any other suggestions?

This was found on the Backporch Coffee Roasters' blog today:

Well some exciting news is instore for all you coffee folks. Deschutes Brewery has just announced the release of the new "Backporch Imperial Porter" which will be served at the downtown pub on the X tap. We are so excited to be paired with such a fine company to create such a beautifully paired beverage. Thanks to those at Deschutes who made this possible (Patrick). Get some while you can and make sure to tell them how much you like it.

Okay, let me just say, "Yum!" If it's like the Imperial Porter Deschutes now has on tap at the pub, it'll probably weigh in at around 8% alcohol.

Incidentally, Backporch Coffee is located on the westside in the old Royal Blend location: 1075 NW Newport Avenue, next to Newport Avenue Market.

I'm getting all beery on these last couple of posts, I notice.

Just a note to list the current tap lineups at two of our breweries (in the spirit of Deschutes' Now Pouring page): Silver Moon Brewing and Bend Brewing Company.

Over at Silver Moon, there is:

• Hound's Tooth Amber Ale
• Badlands Bitter
• Snake Bite Porter
• Bridge Creek Pilsner
• A seasonal—some kind of nut brown ale, I believe

And at the BBC:

• High Desert Hefeweizen
• Metolius Golden Ale
• Elk Lake IPA
• Outback Old Ale
• Pinnacle Porter
• Axe Head Red
• Amber Ale
• Scotch Ale on nitro
• HopHead Imperial IPA

Spotted in an ad in The Source: Eagle Crest Resort is hosting a Winter Brewfest on Saturday, March 3rd. It runs from 12pm until 7pm, and prices are pretty much the brewfest "standard": $5 for entry which includes a stein and three tasting tickets; additional tickets are $1 each.

Breweries that are advertised as participating are:

• Deschutes Brewery
• Silver Moon Brewing
• Lagunitas
• Pyramid Brewing
• New Belgium Brewing
• Mac's Ale (MacTarnahan's)
• Full Sail
• Kona Brewing
• Allagash

For more information, contact Eagle Crest Resort:

1522 Cline Falls Rd.
Redmond, OR 97756
(541) 923-2453

Deschutes Brewery's website has a nice feature that I've completely overlooked in the past: their Now Pouring page, which lists the beers currently on tap at the brewpub.

It was updated three days ago, on the 3rd, and if they keep it reasonably up to date (every few days), that's pretty valuable; they always have a bunch of seasonals or specials on tap that they don't otherwise advertise, and you don't know what they are unless you go. None of the other local breweries offer this on their sites, as near as I can find.

I'll keep an eye on this and see if they keep it updated regularly.

Yes, Joker's Bar & Grill is having their 1st Annual Beer Festival on Thursday, January 11th. That's according to their ad in The Source, anyway—I don't see anything on their website about it.

It'll run from 7pm until 11, and is featuring beers from the following breweries:

• Deschutes Brewery
• Bend Brewing
• Cascade Lakes
• Rogue
• Full Sail
• Big Sky Brewing
• Stone Brewing
• Mad River Brewing Company
• New Belgium
• Lagunitas
• MacTarnahan's
• Pyramid Brewing
  

There's no admission fee, and tasting tickets are $1 each (with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Club).

Regarding the charmingly Nietzschian title of this blog post, I refer to Deschutes Brewery's new ultra-limited reserve series beer, The Abyss—their high-alcohol Imperial stout that has just been released. In fact, it's so limited that there were only 13,000 bottles produced (all waxed-dipped 22-ounce), and you're going to have trouble finding any of them.

I should know—I checked Newport Market on Thursday, the eastside Safeway today (found and bought the one they had left), Wild Oats, called the brewery itself (they were set to have some in the afternoon sometime), and Ray's Food Place (westside). No luck. The only bottle I had found was at the east Safeway. Well, I wanted several bottles to cellar, hence the scouring around town. Finally, a guy at Ray's told me he saw about a dozen bottles at the westside Safeway (just across the street).

So we checked over there and sure enough, they have a bunch. I bought four more bottles and was very, very sorely tempted to buy more. I may do just that. Though at $5.99 a bottle, that's not gonna be cheap.

In the meantime, though, if you're looking for some of this beer (which by all accounts is fantastic), try the west Safeway.

Though I'm probably sabotaging myself by telling you. :)

I was checking out Bi-Mart today and I saw a sign on the cash registers: Beer and wine are 10% off from Sunday the 17th through Sunday the 24th.

That means you've got three more days. And Bi-Mart is generally cheaper compared to some of the other outlets, so it's not a bad deal if you need to stock up for the holidays.

More in my "Holiday Shopping Guide"! This time I'm going with alcohol (hey, write what you know, right?)—beer, wine, booze. What shopping guide would be complete without it?

Liquor store

No real recommendation here; a liquor store is a liquor store is a... well, you get the idea. I am partial to the eastside store, it's big and convenient, but I also like the one in Ray's on the westside.

Newport Avenue Market

The best selection of bottled beer that I've found around here is, by far, Newport Avenue Market. From cheap American lagers to expensive high-end Belgian ales, it's the place to go. Don't forget to check out their Thirsty Thursday beer tastings if you're in the area. And you can pick up a growler of Silver Moon Brewing beer if you want to keep it really local. (And no offense to Deschutes, but you can get theirs anywhere.)

Can't find what you're looking for? Odds are they can special order it for you—but be warned, it's by the case.

1121 NW Newport Avenue
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 382-3940

Bend Brewing Company

You can only get Bend Brewing Company beers on tap at the brewpub, but they do offer beer to go—another chance to keep it local. Keep in mind these won't last long. They're filled from the tap and aren't sealed so they'll go flat. Drink quick!

1019 NW Brooks St.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 383-1599

Maragas Winery

Currently one of two wineries in Central Oregon (Volcano Vineyards is the other, see below), Maragas not only makes wine but is also starting their own vineyard to grow their own grapes locally (up north of Terrebonne). Down at their tasting room on Colorado and Bond you can buy their signature Legal Zin, as well as glassware and accessories.

And, sign up for a membership to get discounts on wine and receive their limited edition releases (three times a year).

643 NW Colorado
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 330-0919

Vino Mercato

Not just a wine bar and bistro, Vino Mercato sells wine by the bottle as well as a variety of specialty deli goods. So not only can you find the perfect bottle of wine, but you can put it together with a variety of cheese and meats, or even a custom gift basket.

916 Wall St.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 385-6979

Volcano Vineyards

The other winery in Central Oregon; whereas Maragas uses grapes from both California and Oregon, Volcano only uses Oregon grapes that they personally harvest. Down at their tasting room downtown on Brooks Street, you can not only try (and buy) their own wine, but:

In addition to our own Volcano Vineyards wines, we carry wines from other small production, self-distributed Pacific Northwest producers, such as Zerba Cellars, Mystic Wines, Spindrift Cellars, Anthony Dell Cellars, Eden Vale and Medici.

930 NW Brooks St.
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 617-1102

On an email list I'm on there was a heads-up that beer is again being served on tap at Silver Moon Brewing—at the tasting room that shares the space with the Home Brewer homebrew shop. Previously they weren't allowed to serve beer on-premise because of a construction issue, but that's apparently been resolved.

That's good news! Because that's a nice space down there for the tasting room. Stop in for a pint or two.

The Home Brewer/Silver Moon Brewing
24 NW Greenwood
Bend, OR 97701
(541) 388-8331

I'm prescient. Last week I first blogged about Wildfire Brewing starting up (from the owners of JC's Bar & Grill), and today there's an article on them in the Bulletin.

According to the Bulletin, they're planning on opening in the next two months.

“It’s sort of scary because nobody wants to take on Budweiser and Coors, which everyone drinks at the bar,” Cox said, adding that not all breweries offer lager beer. “We’re trying to tap into the lager market in Bend.”

Lager is one of the two flagship brews that brewer Cook will make at Wildfire’s new 1,600-square-foot facility in north Bend. Cook also will brew a pale ale, he said.

Cook said he’ll start making the beer within the next month and hopes to have beer ready for consumption in two months.

The Wildfire brewery will produce roughly 1,600 to 2,200 barrels of beer per year, Cox said.

Looks like I was right; initially the beer will be sold on tap at JC's. Within six months, they hope to start bottling the beer.

This is pretty cool—I'm looking forward to trying them out. Stay tuned.

A friend gave me heads-up that the owners of JC's Bar & Grill downtown are starting their own brewery—WildFire Brewing. I found confirmation on JC's MySpace page, where they say:

JC's is soon to be pouring beer from WildFire Brewing Company. This brewery was started by Jeremy and Chris and brewmaster Paul Cook.

This seems like it might coincide with their expansion into the space next door. I imagine they will primarily serve their beer on tap at JC's, but beyond that? No idea. If it were me, I would focus pretty exclusively on the brewpub model and not worry about distributing until firmly established.

It's cool that they're doing this—I'm never one to say that more beer is a bad thing—but with five other breweries in the area, I hope they're not entering into an over-saturated market. Time will tell.

Bend Brewing Company has won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival this year! The winners at the GABF were announced yesterday, and in Category 39, American-Style India Pale Ale, Bend Brewing took the gold for their HopHead Imperial IPA. Awesome! That's a huge honor in the world of beer; Bend Brewing beat out 93 other contenders for this medal.

I believe that HopHead was one of the first (if not the first) beers that they bottled for general release (being a brewpub, they only serve on-premise). It's currently on tap right now, too, so now is as good a time as any to visit the brewery—they're located at 1019 NW Brooks Street downtown, just half a block down from the Pine Tavern restaurant.

Sometime soon I hope to write a more in-depth post about them. For right now, congrats!

On Tuesday, September 26, the Deschutes Brewery is hosting their launch party for the new seasonals of Hop Trip and Jubelale at their Mountain Room. It runs from 6pm to 8pm, and only costs $10 to get in; this "gets you appetizers, door prizes, and of course, samples of Jubelale and Hop Trip".

Ten bucks seems like a sweet deal for this, and the Mountain Room is a pretty neat place. It's located at their main brewery, just off Colorado at 901 SW Simpson Avenue—right at the first roundabout on Colorado after crossing the river (heading west).

Oktoberfest is upon us!

Sunday, September 24th, McMenamins Old St. Francis School has their all-day Oktoberfest celebration:

Come out for live music, McMenamins Oktoberfest Ale, food & drink specials, belly dancing and more! Wander about the entire property, beer and bratwurst in hand, to check out the fun.

It's free (well, except for the beer and food you'll have to buy), and live music will start at 3pm. The music will be by the Moon Mountain Ramblers, Coyo & The Gypsy Fire Belly Dancers, and Mark Ransom & The Mostest.

Then, Saturday, September 30th is the 2nd Annual Bend Oktoberfest, in downtown Bend. It runs from noon to 10pm, and will occupy Oregon Avenue—between Bond and Wall only, I think, but I might be wrong on that. Cost is $3.

There will be seasonal beers from all five breweries in town (Deschutes, Bend Brewing, Cascade Lakes, Silver Moon and McMenamins), and food provided by Merenda and the Blacksmith Restaurant. Also, they advertise:

• Oktoberfest Girls Competition
• Live Bavarian Music
• Traditional German food
• Beer Stein Challenge
• Hammerschlagen Contests
• Puppet Shows & a Kinderland area for the kids

I'll bet it's going to be fun. Chilly too, probably, so bring a jacket.

The third annual Bend Brew Fest is coming up in just under two weeks, on Friday, August 18th and Saturday, August 19th. The big deal this year is that it's free. And yes, this is a big deal because the first year I went (two years ago), it cost $15 just to get in.

While admission is free, the mug and tokens are not; $5 for the souvenir mug, and $1 per token (for tasters). That's not a terrible deal, though. There are also going to be (they say) 60 beers from 30 brewers. That's pretty impressive for only being in its third year of existence.

Other details? It's located at the Les Schwab Amphitheather. Hours are Friday from 4pm until 11pm, and Saturday from noon until 11pm. There will be food and live music.

Sadly, I won't be able to make it; that's the weekend we have our annual family reunion. A shame too, as the Brew Fest people seem to have really gotten it together this year...

I wrote about the Bond Street Barber Shop on my other blog a few months back, and I wanted to mention it here as well. It's an old-school barber shop that looks a bit like a sport bar as far as atmosphere goes (whereas the other barber shop in downtown, L & K Barber Shop, is almost entirely old-time barber decor), and all the barbers are men.

The big draw is the complimentary beer or wine you get while waiting for your haircut. Aside from a couple of Bud Light clones, the beer is from Cascade Lakes Brewing, very decent stuff. And they're nice guys down there too; perhaps a little on the slow side, but you're drinking beer, so who cares?

They're located at 841 NW Bond Street, downtown. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 8 to 5. You can make appointments (the number is 541-312-2121), or just walk in and take a seat. There's a beer in it for you...

Though I'm kind of dubious about giving blood in exchange for free booze, this Wednesday, May 17th is the Pint Fest Blood Drive, hosted by the American Red Cross and Deschutes Brewery.

The idea is, give a pint of blood and get a voucher for a free pint of beer from Deschutes. Donating blood is always a good thing, but this certainly sweetens the deal.

The blood drive runs from 12:30 until 5:30. I'd not recommend going straight to the brewery after giving blood, though. :)

Via NewsChannel 21.

Every Thursday, Newport Avenue Market over on the westside offers free beer tastings (I originally blogged about this here). From 3:30 until 6:00, you'll find two or three beers "on tap," typically.

There's usually some sort of theme behind the beer selection, according to Rob, Newport Market's wine and beer guy. Last week, the day before Cinco de Mayo, they were Mike-arrita (how I think it was spelled, a margarita-flavored malt beverage from the makers of Mike's Hard Lemonade) and Rogue Chipotle Ale.

And watch for occasional deals on schwag, too: I picked up a couple of $1 pint glasses and a $5 t-shirt a few weeks ago (and a free poster).

So mark your calendars: Thursdays at Newport Market from 3:30 til 6. Maybe I'll see you there.