It’s a bit of a running joke at this point. Every time a brewery opens up in Central Oregon, the first reaction is often “Surely there’s no way this city can sustain yet another craft brew outlet.” Then, a few months later, another brewery opens. Then another, then another. It never fails. Such is the […]
Kevin Gifford
Posted inFood & Drink
The Little Woody Cheat Sheet
Small fest, big beer
Labor Day is here, and with it comes cooler weather, football on TV, and (in the case of Bend) the end of heavy traffic. Since 2009, it’s also meant hanging out and drinking big, bold, barrel-aged beers like a rock star. The Little Woody is celebrating its 10th year this Friday and Saturday, in the […]
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All About Brut IPA
The SF export is craft beer’s and hot new style
During a sweaty August afternoon around here, a lot of people’s thoughts quickly turn to knocking off to the local brewery and grabbing an IPA. Which one, though? The now-standard Northwest style? Something a little more sessionable? Or one of those ever-present New England-style IPAs, a genre which has exploded so massively that there are […]
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In Search of
Products to make homebrewing a snap
Homebrewing has gone a long way since Jimmy Carter legalized it on the federal level in 1978. The early days were packed with innovative people, including Ken Grossman, who welded kettles together from things such as used dairy equipment and scrapyard metal to put together his first system. (Grossman later founded Sierra Nevada Brewing in […]
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Bigfoot, Beers and Bend
Three great things that go great together
It may very well take a city like Bend to come up with an event that combines specially-crafted beers, primate conservation and lectures on “Bigfoot culture” in one place. (This is not a bad thing.) Somehow, craft beer and Sasquatch folklore have become heavily intertwined, especially here in the Northwest. Olympia Brewing sells 24-ounce “Bigfoot” […]
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Hot Sun, Cold Beer
How the 21+ set keeps from melting in Bend
It’s that time of year once again. Temps stick around in the nineties for what seems like forever, the sun beats down like a jackhammer, and the city of Bend temporarily forgets that it’s actually pretty chilly here most of the time. It’ll all be forgotten about come late September, no doubt, by which time […]
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Beerfest Mania
Party it up in Bend, Portland…and Boring?
It’s late July, and that means one thing—time to go out, swelter under the hot sun and trade wood tokens for craft-beer pours, over and over again. This upcoming weekend features a couple huge events for Oregon brew folks, not least of which is the largest fest in the entire state. The Oregon Brewers Festival, […]
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Boneyard: The Brewpub
Inside the long-awaited pub opening
For nearly eight years, Boneyard Beer has been slinging brew out of its first location, in a former auto shop in what’s otherwise a residential neighborhood near Bend Parkway. It was a place with lots of charms—lots of weird stuff on the walls, people visiting it from all over the world and a brewing space […]
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Something Old, Something New
The return of Swill and some tasty Yakima brews
It’s mid-July and judging by the crowds downtown and at every drinking establishment, it’s another very good summer for local beer fans. The proliferation of new bars and restaurants dotting Central Oregon has brought a wild amount of variety to the drinking scene this summer. But some things are still eternal, as 10 Barrel is […]
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Worthy Enough for Downtown
Taps and Tacos livens up Brooks Street even more
It says something about the density of Bend’s beer scene that not only are there several neighborhoods perfectly suited for craft pub crawls—but in some cases, there’s no need to so much as turn onto a different street at all. Take Brooks Street downtown, which saw last weekend the grand opening of Worthy Taps & […]