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.