The Pine Tavern in downtown Bend has been open since 1936, making it (I believe) the oldest continually-operating restaurant in the area (the D&D Club has been open for a similar amount of time), and next year they are celebrating their 80th anniversary. They wanted to do something big to commemorate the occasion, so why not a beerfest?

(Full disclosure: They reached out to me so see if I would be interested in judging and to share any ideas and advice for the event. So, I’m one of the judges!)

Here’s the press release that describes this PT80 Beerfest Challenge:

The Pine Tavern Restaurant and Bar in Bend will host their first annual PT80 Beerfest Challenge on September 29, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. The event will launch their 80th birthday celebration with a beer garden, food, judging and a people’s choice award for the best IPA 2016. Sixteen Central Oregon breweries will be competing for the best IPA and judged by local celebrities and beer fans. The aim of the competition is to select a winning beer and brewery and celebrate and recognize the craft beer industry in Bend. In addition the Pine Tavern Restaurant and Bar will serve the award winning beer known as PT80, as its signature beer for the year 2016.

The competition will highlight the submitted beers for tasting and a panel of judges will deliver an independent, neutral and expert verdict on the craft beers. This bestows a high level of recognition upon the participation in the competition thereby giving recognition to the craft brew industry in Bend, the prize-winning product, and their producers.

In addition to the competition, the Pine Tavern will host a beer garden on the patio where the participating breweries will serve beer samples to the public. Tastings will be available for $10 which includes a souvenir pint glass and five tasting tokens. Event proceeds will benefit The Humane Society of Central Oregon. For more information and a list of participating breweries, visit pinetavern.com or https://www.facebook.com/PineTavern.

So mark your calendars for next Tuesday, September 29, and come on down! It’s going to be a great event to showcase the local breweries side-by-side with craft beer’s most popular style, the IPA, and proceeds are going to a great cause.

See you there!