American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Maybe it’s the snowmelt.
That’s what some locals think is the reason why Bend, Oregon has become such an important craft beer destination. Water is key to the brewing process – so a region’s water is important. Bend has soft water – the result of snow melt from the nearby Cascade mountains – so maybe the water is the reason why a city of 80,000 people has attracted so many important and distinctive craft breweries.
As we’ve written in the past, it all started with Deschutes Brewery, which opened in Bend in 1988 and soon became the nation’s 6th largest craft beer brewer. The brewery’s success helped establish the city as a craft beer destination and served as training ground for brewers who went on to open their own operations in the area. They also offer an in-depth tour of their amazing brewing operation that should not be missed.
When you’re visiting Bend, a good place to start is the Deschutes Brewery Bend Public House, the brewery’s flagship pub that they expanded last year to better serve the city’s ever-increasing craft beer tourists. But the Bend Public House is only the beginning – wait till you visit the “boneyard.”
A “must-see” destination for lovers of seriously hopped beers, Boneyard Beer is one of our favorites. Helmed by Deschutes’s alumni, Tony Lawrence, along with Clay and Melodee Storey, Boneyard is housed in an old auto shop and sports a ski-bum meets biker vibe. The tasting bar is classic, made of corrugated metal and concrete, and the beer is beyond brilliant.
The Bend Brewing Company is known among locals as “the B.B.C.,” and is considered by many to be one of Bend’s most interesting breweries to drop by. Established by Ian Larkin, this downtown pub is designed so visitors can view the second-story brewery through glass windows.
Tonya Cornett, who helped establish Bend Brewing, went on to brew for a new operation that has fast become a player in the Bend craft beer scene. 10 Barrel Brewing Company has a production brewery and a popular west-side pub, where locals and tourists alike can enjoy an Apocalypse IPA or a Sinister Black around a roaring outdoor fire pit.
A relative youngster to the Bend scene, GoodLife Brewing opened it’s doors in 2011, becoming the 9th brewery in town. Founders Ty Barnett and Curt Plants focus on creating well balanced, big hopped beers for a community devoted to it’s beautiful surroundings.
As such, they’ve put a big emphasis on canning, then cleverly marketing their beers with recreational names like Descender IPA, Mountain Rescue Pale Ale and Pass Stout. They’re presently undergoing a huge expansion, from nearly 9,000 barrels in 2013 to a capacity of up to 25,000, which makes them one of the fast growing breweries in the county.
Larry Sidor is a brewing legend in the Pacific Northwest. He left Deschutes after eight years as their brewmaster and is now helming his own cutting-edge brewery along with partners Paul Evers, owner of Bend’s TBD Agency, and 21st Amendment’s Dave Wilson (who is no longer involved).
The intriguingly named Crux Fermentation Project opened in 2012 in what was once an AAMCO Transmission shop that was beautifully redesigned to house the brewery and a super-hip tasting room. Co-owner Paul Evers’ describes Crux as a small artisan brewery that loves to experiment. They now have a rabid following who visit Crux from all over the world, and the brewery’s always ready with twenty tap lines of genius beers for fans to enjoy when they drop by.
Bend, Oregon is truly a craft beer treasure, with more breweries per capita than any other city in the state. The spectacular beauty of the region and the brilliance of its brewers have combined in such a way to make this city a one-of-a-kind travel destination that just happens to offer some of the best beers on the planet!
