When 10 Barrel opened up in the Maker’s Quarter District of San Diego, the reception from the other 150-odd breweries that call the city home was not exactly welcoming. Many locals decried the new neighbor, accusing it of hiding its AB-InBev ownership and trying to lure customers away from “real” local craft. A carpenter’s union […]
Beer & Drink
Posted inFood & Drink
Hazy in L.A.
A trendy style for a trendy beer city
All across the Northwest, breweries are falling over themselves to produce hazy, opaque-looking, juice-like ales, commonly called New England IPAs. It is the opinion of this column (your mileage may vary) that only a couple of them—Great Notion Brewing in Portland and Sunriver Brewing Company—have really nailed the style yet. People are still arguing over […]
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Enjoying the GoodLife in ’18
More bottles and special releases are on their way
GoodLife Brewing, opened to the public in 2011, is now old enough to qualify as a veteran of Bend’s beer community. Originally set to launch as Noble Brewing (until California-based Noble Ale Works opened first), GoodLife’s been putting out enough Sweet As and Descender IPA in cans across the Northwest to keep beer fans practically […]
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A Trip to Russian River
Why the brewery behind Pliny still rules them all
When Russian River Brewing began operations in 1997, its homeland of Sonoma County was best known as one of California’s largest producers of wine grapes. Now it’s known to beer fans nationwide as the producers of both great Belgian-style brews and Pliny the Elder—the classic that arguably invented the entire concept of a “double IPA.” […]
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Out in the Mountains
Beer’s footprint in far-out Eastern Oregon
There’s not much to the town of Mitchell, Ore., nestled in the Ochoco Mountains about an hour east of Prineville. The population was estimated at 121 people in 2016, and outside of the outdoor festivals this little town off Highway 26 holds each year, there’s simply not much fun happening—unless one’s idea of “fun” is […]
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Tune In to CBS
Founders’ massive maple stout hits home
It’s not often that one of the most sought-after beers in the eastern United States gets an official release in Bend, a place all about keeping it local with food and drink. Founders Brewing Company, however, is shattering that mold with its current release of CBS, which (until now) was the sort of rare bottle […]
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The Beer in Review
New styles, new breweries, new competition
Remember when living in a city with lots of craft beer was considered unique? Bend may have been at the forefront of the idea, creating one of the world’s first Ale Trail atlases, but now it has tons of company. As of the end of 2017 there are more than 6,000 breweries operating in the […]
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The Beer Giants of Ashland
Two old standbys near the Cascade foothills
To visitors, the town of Ashland, Ore., about 15 miles north of the California border along Interstate 5, is known for majestic mountains, quaint old architecture and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Anyone who forgets about the beer scene down there, however, is missing out—because in this little town nestled among the mountains, two breweries have […]
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A Blast from the Prairie
Why beer from Oklahoma is worth caring about
When fans of good craft beer think about great places for the beverage of their choice, a few international hotspots come to mind. Germany. Belgium. The great city of Bend. Tulsa, Okla., would not be atop anyone’s list, except for people exceptionally attuned to local beer scenes across the U.S. That’s thanks in part to […]
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Madras Wants Beer
One town’s plan to bring beer to Jefferson County
Madras, a little under an hour from Bend, is a prospering town. Its population has grown to around 6,700 people, it’s cheap to live in, it’s conveniently nearby Indian Head Casino, and it hosted nearly 100,000 visitors during the solar eclipse in August. Despite that, to many Bendites, it’s known simply as some place to […]