Stop and Smell the Beer | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Stop and Smell the Beer

Bend's Bouquet of Beer, the thoughtful gift for craftheads

Like beer? Fed up with all the pesky driving around and going to the store required to purchase beer? If you live in metro Bend, your prayers have been answered.

Bouquet of Beer, founded this summer by Andrew Gorman and Daniel Brewster (with a last name like that, it'd be a crime if he wasn't involved with beer somehow), is a Bend company with a concept that's brilliantly simple. Go to their website (bouquetofbeer.com) and use their interface to select six bottles, broadly divided into light, dark, IPA, cider, and gluten-free varieties. Pay for your order, and the beer will be delivered straight to your door, complete with a pint glass and metal opener, in a snappy cardboard holder that looks a bit like a flower bouquet; all this for $39.99, with free delivery anywhere within Bend. (On the same day, even, as long as you order by noon.)

Thoughtful of them, isn't it? And to a dyed-in-the-wool Bend beer fan, there's no better way to show someone that you care about them. Maybe the beer won't last as long as a dozen roses, but it's 100-percent guaranteed to make you feel better, or at least drunker.

Twenty-six different beers are available from Bouquet of Beer, with the selections changing over time. Here are a few recommendations on what to buy, depending on who the bouquet's for:

- Keep It Local (Deschutes Mirror Pond, Deschutes Twilight, Deschutes Inversion, GoodLife Descender, GoodLife Sweet As, 10 Barrel Apocalypse): For patriotic Central Oregonians who feel guilty whenever they order a beer hailing from more than fifty miles away. All of these selections offer a nice quaffing experience, with enough hops to keep your mouth happy—and they won't knock you on the floor, either. Good for those new to beer.

- Dark and Brooding (Oakshire Espresso Stout, Sierra Nevada Porter, Three Creeks Fivepine Chocolate Porter, Deschutes Obsidian Stout, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Cascade Lakes 20" Brown): If someone you know is feeling gloomy, why not cheer them up with some beer that's a good color match for their feelings? Fivepine is one of the best porters made in all the Pacific Northwest, and Oakshire's stout offers a fairly startling amount of coffee flavor while remaining fairly light and accessible.

- Off the Beaten Path (21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon, 10 Barrel Pub Beer, Sierra Nevada Nooner Pils, 2 Towns Outcider, Ace Hard Pear Cider, Ground Breaker IPA No. 5): Want to surprise someone? Treat him or her to a grab bag of beer that marches to the beat of its own drum. Hell or High Watermelon is like a beer version of Hi-C, 2 Towns and Ace both produce excellent cider, and—well—gluten-free beer is certainly different, anyway.

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