The Brew Shop / Platypus Pub

Bar, Eatery, Homebrew, Beer-to-go

1203 NE 3rd St
Bend, Oregon, 97701-4330
United States

// CLOSED //

Store Hours:
Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 8:00pm
Saturday - Sunday: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Pub Hours:
Daily: 12:00pm - 11:00pm
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.45
Reviews:
15
Ratings:
28
pDev:
6.74%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of mactrail
Reviewed by mactrail from Washington

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25
This is the place to stop for beer in Bend. I can't improve on many of the other reviews, but this has been a great place for years. Even if you're just looking for smaller central Oregon breweries, or flights of Abyss, they'll be here.

The light-filled, high-ceiling former church is a great place for shopping. Friendly and enthusiastic service. Many, many beers with an emphasis on larger bottles, but lots of 12 oz bottles and cans available as singles. Beers from everywhere. Can't go wrong here.
Jun 14, 2017
 
Rated: 4.43 by Budlum from Maryland

Mar 06, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by natfiedler from Oregon

Jun 24, 2016
Photo of DONALD_HAGUE
Reviewed by DONALD_HAGUE from Oregon

4.8/5  rDev +7.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4
First, there's only one reasonable rating, that's 5 stars. The beer selection in the Brew Shop, most excellent.
The staff in the Brewshop, Most Excellent, as is their bottle beer selection. I'm currently drink'n Goose Island Bourbon Barrel Stout from Platypus), limit 3 bottles/person, on an unusually rainy Central OR day, Most Excellent(the beer, not the very reasonable limit). The brew Pub also excellent, this is not Claridge's dining room, but it is excellent pub food, so is their usual draft beer selection. What's not to like, including their quarters in a now disused church. Come to Central OR, go to Platypus. No I have no financial interest in the establishment and as a homebrewer/beer drinker appreciate that we have this establishment in the Beer Capital of the World, Bend OR
Dec 07, 2015
Photo of BlueSpader
Reviewed by BlueSpader from Washington

4.28/5  rDev -3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
Went there looking for Pliny - no luck. But they do have a good selection on tap, friendly and knowledgeablestaff, good food and a great selection of bottled/canned beers.
Jul 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.57 by Erik-P from Canada (BC)

Jun 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4.67 by Beer21 from Florida

May 08, 2015
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.55/5  rDev +2.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.75
Any place that has Pliny on tap gets points automatically. An unassuming place on 3rd Ave in Bend, an old church re-purposed. Brew shop upstairs, bar in the basement. Excellent taps downstairs, nice bottle selection upstairs. Read the signs carefully, else you'll think its a church. A must stop in Bend.
May 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.61 by Citreal from Oregon

Jan 10, 2015
Photo of ricke49
Reviewed by ricke49 from Oregon

4.94/5  rDev +11%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 5
this is more for the beer store part, rather than the comfy downstairs pub.... or for the beer making supplies aspect. what I like most about buying beer here is the selection, the fair pricing - make sure you reach the number 12 in your selections and save 5% off the already decent prices), and the easy going nature of the staff - good down to earth folks. they've been at it here in Bend for at least 10 years and seemed to have developed some pretty good connections to insure an interesting assortment of common and not so common beers. Love shopping here for my latest "12"
Dec 15, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by yemenmocha from Arizona

Sep 25, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Mebuzzard from Colorado

Aug 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by FB-Beersnob from California

Aug 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by strongaf from Washington

Jul 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by MacWonk from Oregon

Jun 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by sharpski from Canada (BC)

Jun 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by bumchilly25 from Canada (BC)

May 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Kurmaraja from California

Mar 17, 2014
Photo of flexabull
Reviewed by flexabull from California

4.23/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.5
Stopped in here on a Saturday morning to grab some hops I needed to dry hop my home brew. I couldn't find them at home, and was hoping they would have them here.

Atmosphere is kind of cool. The building looks like it used to be a church. Now the front of the building is a pretty large shop with brew supplies, and quite a few beers in coolers along the back of the store.

Quality and selection was excellent. Pretty much any quality micro from OR was here. Plus there were tons of great beers from WA, CA, and other places as well.

Serivce was fine. The guy was quiet, but he came over to help when I saw that the hops I wanted to get were sold out. (bummer)

I didn't make it to the pub, (they weren't open yet) so I don't know what the food is like. But I saw the draft list and it looked really solid.

Prices were fair.

Overall, a very nice homebrew/bottle shop. Well worth checking out. And I'm sure this is a great place for locals because it looks like they hold tastings and other events often.
Aug 20, 2013
Photo of MattyPrize
Reviewed by MattyPrize from Oregon

4.88/5  rDev +9.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
As someone who likes to sit in a dimly lit bar without many distractions from my beer, this place is PERFECT. Platypus Pub has become my most frequented establishment in Bend. The staff is superb and the beer selection far surpasses anything else Bend has to offer. Platypus also offers several "Meet the Brewer" events throughout the year. This is where a brewer from any of they great breweries in the Northwest brings some beers and allows the patrons to sample and talk about current and upcoming projects. GREAT idea.

As for the Brew Shop, their pricing and selection is the first stop for beer heads looking for the perfect bottle. A home brewers mecca, Brew Shop offers anything a backyard-chemist may want to craft a unique brew.

If you're in Bend, and love beer, go to The Brew Shop first.
Jan 23, 2013
Photo of MilwaukeeCrusher
Reviewed by MilwaukeeCrusher from Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +12.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
I'm going to give these guys praise that seems to be missing on here compared to other places. Half the beer was in coolers, the other half warm, selection impressive and spent well over $100. Staff seemed to really to have a knowledgable appreciation about beer and I found beers that seem to vanish quickly in the Midwest, such as Firestone Walker 14, Parabola and Abacus. Place had a wholesome vibe to it, and I was never rushed in any way. Reminded me of my favorite beer store in Green Bay, and while selection due to silly distribution laws could always be better no matter what the place, everything else here was exactly how it should be.
Nov 13, 2011
Photo of caninedevotion
Reviewed by caninedevotion from Oregon

4.68/5  rDev +5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
The Brew Shop has a very friendly, helpful staff and a great, ever expanding selection of great regional and international beers. The Brew Shop also has a pretty respectable stock of the myriad great breweries of Oregon. The prices are almost always better than any other place in town. As a bottle shop alone, they are fantastic - but they also fill growlers, sell home brewing supplies, and have a tasting room. The guys at the Brew Shop are always willing to give their opinion on any beer and are interested in what I thought of beers they haven't gotten around to trying.

Re-review:
The guys at The Brew Shop have moved, expanded their selection, and opened the Platypus Pub. Everything I said before about the Brew Shop still stands, except now there is even more of the good, with an expanded bottle selection and a better location. They are still doing a great job stocking a ton of Oregon beers, as well as most of the stuff you would expect from the widely-distributed great breweries of America and abroad. Downstairs, The Platypus Pub has a great, varied beer selection and pretty decent pub food. So far, it seems like they always have something special on tap... very exciting stuff.
Nov 04, 2011
Photo of peacebone116
Reviewed by peacebone116 from California

4.56/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
This is a dream come true for me!

Stopped in here with some family to pick up some bottles of beer that are not normally distributed to CA Bay Area. We were all really impressed with the selection and each ended up spending around $100 each on beer to take home.

All the beer was priced right around where it should be and, of what I have currently had, all tastes pretty fresh. They offered a 5% discount for buying more six or more bottles, and we definitely qualified for this (especially as a group), so that really took a bite out of our overall costs. I also love the lack of sales tax!

It was excellent that all the beer for sale is out in the chillers. This came in handy because we were able to pop a few cold bottles as soon as we got to the hotel. However, aside from a few sixers (21st Amendment, in particular) most of the bottled beer was sold as singles (primarily bombers and such).

Not only does this place sell bottles, but it also sells brewing supplies. So, I picked up a bunch of stuff that I have been wanting from my unorganized brewing supply store, including several bags of hops, which I intend to use in an Oregon commemoration brew.

The people here were incredibly friendly and helpful and enjoyed chatting it up with us. If you are ever heading through Bend, I really recommend a stop here.
Jul 06, 2011
Photo of jdense
Reviewed by jdense from Oregon

4.14/5  rDev -7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4
Visited 3.12.11.

Located near the confluence of Highways 20 and 97 in the north end of Bend, The Brew shop is rather unassuming from the outside. Don't be fooled by appearances. This is without a doubt Bend's best bottle shop, with close to 500 bottles in stock in UV-protected cases. The usual Northwest beers, a number of relatively hard to find (for Bend) beers, including Alesmith at reasonable prices. I was surprised to see FW 14 and 50-50 Evan Willams Eclipse in stock and several other one offs. The staff was helpful, though they could tell I knew what I was looking for. Besides the beer they have a small brewing supply section. They also did growler fills, f.e. HUB Secession for $11. All in all, a real cool place for Beerheads looking for a special bottle. While they don't have the selection of Belmont Station or John's Marketplace, it's obvious these people care about quality craft beer. Recommended.
Mar 14, 2011
Photo of yuriruley
Reviewed by yuriruley from Oregon

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
This place has a pretty good selection. They have several coolers stacked full of beer from all over the state and world. The prices are pretty reasonable, not really any better than whole foods in town. They have some stuff that the local whole foods doesn't have though, but that goes both ways. The guys that work there are helpful and friendly. Not only do they have a good beer selection, they have stuff for beer and wine making.

One thing I like is they have their selection up on their website. I am not sure how often it gets updated, but it gives you a good idea of what to look for when you go in.

Overall a good place, would recommend it.
Oct 06, 2010
Photo of Elimination
Reviewed by Elimination from Oregon

4.85/5  rDev +9%
The brewshop will more than likely have what you are or are not looking for.

The bottle selection is tremendous for the area, with coolers listed as state and country. Wether a rare hard to find local, or a east coast brew that doesnt usually make its way over, they might have it. All beer is stored in cold tempatures and is sure to be kept in good quality.

The homebrew section is the best and only you will really find in bend. the staff knows there stuff and will help you create your own one of a kind or copy cat recipe.

prices are relativly good, pretty average really. They also offer kegs of as I was told, pretty much anything you could want, they could get.
Jun 14, 2010
Photo of SurlyDuff
Reviewed by SurlyDuff from Oregon

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
Great staff and cool stuff.
~~Location Change~~
They now have 240 bottles of beer (on the wall). They moved across the parking lot to the large building next door. They installed half a dozen glass coolers. Their selection is great. It's comparible to Newport Market or Whole Foods, except they have 0% macro beer, so therefore they have a bigger selection IMO.
~~~
From old review:

Their staff will get you everything you need to get started. Beginner kits (everything you need) is less than $100, and includes bottle capper, carboy, you name it. They also rent jockeyboxes and kegerators.
Mar 19, 2008
Photo of RedDiamond
Reviewed by RedDiamond from Oregon

4/5  rDev -10.1%
Update: These guys have moved on and reworked their scene, making this review a bit obsolete. Read it for archival purposes only.

An interesting establishment in that it shares floor space with Silver Moon Brewing and a head shop where glass water pipes are made on premises. You can enjoy a pint of Silver Moon beer while shopping for brewing materials or watching artisans blow glass. Silver Moon has pints for on-site consumption and growlers and kegs to go but no bottles. A small counter and tiny seating area make this something of a "brewcafe" replete with lots of Zymurgy magazines to browse while imbibing. There's also two outdoor tables by way of a smoking area.

The Home Brewer has a confusing array of aliases including The Homebrewer (one word), The Brew Shop, and Just Brew It. They also have winemaking accessories and a friendly staff. Brewing materials cover all the essentials but aren't especially extensive. They have plenty of books, bottles, cappers and carboys, but Bend may not have enough of a homebrewer market to justify stocks of specialty malts. The Home Brewer allegedly runs an online sales operation but their website is too obsolete to be reliable.
Oct 12, 2004
The Brew Shop / Platypus Pub in Bend, OR
Place rating: 4.45 out of 5 with 28 ratings