Wake up seven days a week with the Cascades Reader. Get local news, event information, podcasts, discounts and more. Sign up now!

Sign up

• A simple beer.

Sometimes plain is just fine. Hop Valley’s 541 American Lager isn’t too much of any one thing—not very hoppy, not too sweet, nor overly bitter or boozy (5% ABV). So what’s the appeal? Isn’t it just a yellow fizzy beer, not unlike a $4.99 six pack of Rainier? Well, kind of. Expect it’s not. It’s a craft lager, which means semi-regional (and better) ingredients used with care. Also, local jobs. And more taste—the 541 tastes much more full and the hops are detectable (unlike that faithful can of Rainier in your fridge). Moral: Pick Rainier when buying in bulk. Choose craft lagers for casual sipping.
The Eugene brewery’s beers can be found at most Bend bottle shops.

This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2013.

MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

$25

$50

$150

Other Donation amount

$

Monthly

$10

$20

$85

Other Donation amount per month

$

Annually

$120

$500

$1,000

Other Donation amount per year

$

We're stronger together! Become a Source member and help us empower the community through impactful, local news. Your support makes a difference!

Donate Now

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Beer of the Week: 541 American Lager

by James Williams, The Source - Bend, Oregon
June 26, 2013

<h1>Beer of the Week: 541 American Lager</h1> <p class="byline">by James Williams, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />June 26, 2013</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter"><img src="https://media1.fdncms.com/bend/imager/a-simple-beer/u/original/2242532/1372207040-img_0945.jpg" alt="A simple beer." title="A simple beer." width="500" height="375" /></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.bendsource.com/bend/ImageArchives?by=2124650" target="_blank"></a></li> <li>A simple beer.</li> </ul> </div> <p>Sometimes plain is just fine. Hop Valley's <strong>541 American Lager</strong> isn't too much of any one thing—not very hoppy, not too sweet, nor overly bitter or boozy (5% ABV). So what's the appeal? Isn't it just a yellow fizzy beer, not unlike a $4.99 six pack of <strong>Rainier</strong>? Well, kind of. Expect it's not. It's a craft lager, which means semi-regional (and better) ingredients used with care. Also, local jobs. And more taste—the 541 tastes much more full and the hops are detectable (unlike that faithful can of Rainier in your fridge). Moral: Pick Rainier when buying in bulk. Choose craft lagers for casual sipping.<br />The Eugene brewery's beers can be found at most Bend bottle shops.</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/beer-of-the-week-541-american-lager-2242531/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=22203&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/beer-of-the-week-541-american-lager-2242531/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Copy to Clipboard

1

Trending

Update: End of the Trail? BendTrails Goes OfflineApril 9, 2026Peter Madsen

Two Restaurants Close, Two New Restaurants Are Opening in Their PlaceApril 15, 2026Nic Moye

Six Candidates Vie to Replace Adair on Deschutes County Board of CommissionersApril 13, 2026Clayton Franke

Local Splitboarder was Passionate About Snow and the EnvironmentApril 13, 2026Dallas Finn Calvert