Visiting Bend/Sunriver (2015 Update)

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by sharpski, Apr 20, 2015.

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  1. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    An update reflecting changes to Central Oregon's beer landscape in the last year, and a look ahead to some changes on the horizon. Suggestions and corrections welcome.

    (Almost) Universally Recommended "Must-Hit" Breweries & Brew Pubs
    Bend Brewing
    Crux
    Deschutes
    Silver Moon

    Other Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs
    10 Barrel
    Ale Apothecary (by appt)
    Boneyard (small tasting room only)
    Goodlife
    McMenamins Old St. Francis (check out the soaking pool and O’Kanes in back)
    Sunriver Brewing (Sunriver)
    Wild Ride (Redmond)
    Worthy

    Beer Bars / Bottle Shops
    Brew Shop / Platypus Pub
    Broken Top Bottle Shop
    Crow's Feet Commons
    Growler Guys Eastside / Westside
    Growler Phil’s
    Mountain Jug (Sunriver)
    The Wine Shop

    New 2015 Activity
    Monkless debuted
    Bridge 99 opened a tasting room
    Oblivion is set to open a brewpub in June 2015
    Three Creeks opened a production brewery

    Hyper-local Distro Bottles to Watch For
    Below Grade Brewing esp. Dangerous Kate and Identity Crisis
    Bend Brewing esp. Ching Ching, Lovely,

    Brewery breakdown by town
    Bend 19
    Redmond 4
    Prineville 1
    Sisters 1
    Sunriver 1
     
  2. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Other rumors/upcoming openings:

    Immersion Brewing is set to open a brewpub/u-brew facility in Bend

    Old Mill Brew Werks has closed, but will re-open in the same location as CRAFT Kitchen and Brewery with the former OMBW Brewer and some of the same ownership. The rest of the OMBW ownership team have announced they will have a new project too, but details are scarce at this point.
     
  3. blackcloud

    blackcloud Savant (1,243) Apr 28, 2012 Alaska
    Trader

    has Silver Moon gotten significantly better? I recall it as being just mediocre.
     
  4. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think they have. IPA 97, Dark Helmet Schwarzbier, and quite a few of their more experimental offerings have been firing on all cylinders. They've updated their brewpub and are building a production space in Redmond.

    I demoted 10 Barrel from the top list since their A-B affiliation precludes them from "(Almost) Universally Recommended" status, though I still think the brewpub serves great beer made by locals. I debated bumping Worthy up too (the space is very cool, they've cultivated more pub-only offerings, and I predict a big hit for the cans of Prefunk Pale just released), but with Chad announcing he's leaving I decided to wait and see.
     
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  5. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Is Silver Moon in distribution now? I was at a meeting this morning about the beer fest in town this weekend, and Silver Moon has a table, and they're in the middle of a bunch of breweries distributed by the local ABI house, so I put 1+1 together and got 11.
     
  6. Reidrover

    Reidrover Grand Pooh-Bah (4,886) Jan 14, 2003 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Awww what a shame i liked how their place was more laid back, more blue collar, had pool.
    It was good to go their after the other places in Bend.
     
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  7. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    They officially started WA distro late last year through Columbia, and are soon to distribute down to CA.
     
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  8. Reidrover

    Reidrover Grand Pooh-Bah (4,886) Jan 14, 2003 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I see their bottles all over the place in The Valley.
     
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  9. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think they have. Maui Wowee and Nelson the Spacefish are stellar IPAs.
     
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  10. Reidrover

    Reidrover Grand Pooh-Bah (4,886) Jan 14, 2003 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I am recently going back to simple old Pale Ales and their Get Sum is an excellent beer.
     
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  11. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    LOL!!! Yeah, me too... but then I've always been a sucker for a good dive bar. :-)
     
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  12. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    The Silver Moon taproom still has the dive bar atmosphere, they just cleaned it up a bit. I always make it a point to stop in when I'm in Bend.
     
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  13. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Looking forward to some Silver Moon at the fest this evening. I'm leading a crew setting up, so I might get to do some quality assurance testing.:grinning:
     
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  14. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    What are they pouring?
     
  15. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    They ended up just pouring Get Sum and ISR, from bottles. Nice stuff.
     
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  16. TheeWalrusHunter

    TheeWalrusHunter Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2013 Oregon

    Yeah but its all about that Mauie Wowie
     
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  17. BuckeyeOne

    BuckeyeOne Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 Washington

    My wife and I are considering getting tickets for Wilco for Aug. 8 and spending that weekend hitting the multitude of Bend breweries. My question is not about beer but lodging. What would folks suggest --- hotels or camping? Also, if we need reservations for either, is there really a drop dead date for making such?

    We are avid campers and have tons of gear to make it as comfortable as possible, without losing the sense that one is still camping. So, my question is not about the pros and cons of camping per se but whether that seems like a good idea in the Bend area.
     
    #17 BuckeyeOne, Apr 28, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2015
  18. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Have they bottled it again? Picked one up last Summer at Broken Top.
     
  19. TheeWalrusHunter

    TheeWalrusHunter Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2013 Oregon

    Not that I have noticed.
     
  20. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Until they get the production facility up and running, I think they're devoting all their bottling energy to Snake Bite, etc. Can't believe they're distributing to OR, WA, and soon CA out of that space.
     
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