I haven’t done a roundup of the local beer happenings in a while, and there’s a lot of stuff going on!

Most interestingly, and amusingly, Bend’s craft beer scene is apparently the subject of a nearly-10-minute Korean news magazine article. Shots of Deschutes Brewery, the Cycle Pub, and more are covered in detail though I can’t understand a word of it (except for the English speakers that are interviewed of course). Google Translate helps a bit with the text on the page, for certain hilarious values of “helps”:

United States from Portland, Oregon, four hours away by car in Bend, an isolated city. Even though the summer was piled near the top of the mountain ice caps, snowy mountains in the water tastes good in the glacier will melt throughout the year. 15 years ago, a rich glacier premier began Craft Beer, or artisan beer gained popularity this mountain town is now forestry in the city of beer to the city has transformed. population 80,000 in small towns, large and small Brooklyn young, ie, the brewery a whopping 12 dogs has been running…

“12 dogs” indeed.

Meanwhile, Crux Fermentation Project is on fire, with not only a second beer debuting since they opened (“On the Fence Northwest Pale Ale”) but also previewing the new growlers (more of a fat-bottomed bottle style than the usual jug) and announcing today that they are expanding their hours from 11:30 am to 10pm Tuesday through Sunday. (Previously they opened at 4pm during the week.)

Deschutes Brewery is releasing their anniversary ale Black Butte XXIV this Wednesday at their downtown Pub, celebrating all day long with a special BBXXIV-inspired menu, samples and “special treats” starting at 5pm, and bottles for sale all day (in the past these have cost about $12 per bottle). This year’s Black Butte anniversary beer contains dates, figs, chocolate nibs, and has been aged (25%) in bourbon barrels—it’s going to be something else!

Also this Wednesday, McMenamins Old St. Francis School is featuring their monthly “Curly’s Firkin” limited-edition beer tasting: this month it’s Wildflower Wheat, an American wheat ale with chamomile flowers added, “a golden-hued American wheat ale flavored by chamomile flowers added to the kettle boil, which add earthy aromas and herbal flavors to the summer mix.” The tasting starts at 5pm and lasts until the beer is gone.

The Ale Apothecary is officially bottling beer now, and periodically selling certain bottles directly from the brewery as well. Very exciting as this is the most unique brewery in Central Oregon brewing some of the most unique beer around right now!

Brew Wërks Brewing is slowly but surely coming together as well; currently they’re (still) contract brewing but they are working on getting set up in 10 Barrel Brewing’s former industrial space, as they posted last week: “We want to apologize to all our fans and great customers. The new system that we are having built will allow us to triple our production, but is 7 weeks overdue from the manufacturer. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we will be installing the equipment and take the shackles off of Michael so he can not only brew up more batches of your favorite Brew Werks beer, but also start to be as creative as we know he can be in producing new styles.” It’s late arriving but good to know the wheels are in motion!

The new Sunriver Brewing Company is finally now open in, er, Sunriver! They’ve been open for just over two weeks now and I see that they have four of their own beers on tap currently. I haven’t had a chance to get down there to check it out yet but I will try to do so soon. (And report on what I find.)