By my best guesstimate, each of Central Oregon's 27 breweries released, on average, at least a dozen beers in the past year, meaning we had no fewer than 350 local beers to choose from. I confess, nay, lament, I did not try them all. (That said, drinking a new beer each day in 2023 is quite a tempting challenge.) So, take this list of my 10 favorite Central Oregon-brewed beers with a Lime Gose's or Salted Caramel Porter's worth of salt.
1. Funky Fauna Artisan Ales, Thought I'd Something More to Say (Wild Saison). While saison is possibly the most elegant beer style, the big tent is woefully overlooked and under-represented among area brewers. This Sisters-based brewery went all-in on them when it launched a year ago. Among the 50 it released, some were fruity, one was even purple, but the delicate complexity of this oaked saison conjures notes of wild grasses, tangy herbs, and the terroir of locally-grown and malted grains. At only 4.5% alcohol, it may be the ideal beverage to pair with gourmet or quotidian meals alike.
2. Deschutes Brewery, Experimental 1320 (Fresh Hop IPA). It's not that every fresh hop beer is delicious, but therein lies their wonderment because they're difficult to hit the bull's eye, but when you do, they're phantasmagorical. Deschutes Experimental 1320 struck my taste buds as smacking of fresh pineapple veering into POG (pineapple orange guava) territory with that tell-tale freshie finish like chewing on flower stems.
3. Spider City Brewing, Spicy Goat (Serrano-Pineapple IPA). Unlike Spider City's Grazing Goat West Coast IPA, which is a solid hop-delivery vehicle, Spicy Goat is also a capsicum delivery vehicle courtesy of serrano peppers. To temper the heat, a sweet, juicy wave of piña, which brings out the tropical fruit note from the hops, conveys enough dank and juicy vibes as if swept up in the Pineapple Express current.
4. Bevel Brewing, Black Ace (Cascadian Dark Ale). Whenever I miss the stout-IPA combo locally dubbed CDA (colloquially dubbed Black IPA), I perk myself up with a trip to Bevel. Perk is apt considering CDAs proffer espresso notes from dark roasted malts and piney notes from PNW hops. As Bend's rare yet typically year-round CDA, Black Ace (7.6%) is par for the course.
5. Cascade Lakes Brewing, Resurgence (gin-barrel-aged IPA). Cascade Lakes filled an empty Old Tom (oaked gin) cask (c/o Redmond's gin-centric Gompers Distillery) and aged Revival IPA for seven months in it. Playfully marrying gin's botanical top notes with Centennial and Idaho 7 hops' resinous flavors for a fascinating result ought to be equally welcome by hop heads and G&T fanatics.
6. 10 Barrel Brewing, Gindulgence (sour ale). At brewery behemoth 10 Barrel, the niche imprint TinyHaus serves as a creative output for brewmaster Tonya Cornett. This sour beer was imbued with peach, chamomile tea, and — most critically — gin botanicals (primarily juniper berries) to create a refreshingly complex, slightly sour ale that scratches the itch of a fruit beer, a hard kombucha and a gin gimlet.
7. Van Henion Brewing, Schwarzbier (black lager). Before even turning one, Van Henion honed in its Germanic lager radars on Schwarzbier (the style simply translates to black beer) and this sub-five-percenter expertly pulls off boasting a light body while bursting with dry, astringent, dark roasted malts that lend burnt toast notes atop clean, noble hops.
8. Porter Brewing, Infamous (Extra Special Bitter). The "bitter" family of ales have become endangered, but even its strongest member, ESB, is far less bitter than IPA. Infamous ESB is a delectable platform for English malts, and hops packs woody, floral top notes, toffee bottom notes, and comes wrapped in a warming—but not "warm" cask-conditioned ale.
9. Deschutes Brewery, Kanpai Crispy (Rice Lager). The once-disparaged rice adjunct has perhaps never showcased better than in Japanese-style lagers. This 4.8% beer is dry, refreshing, and crushable AF. I dare say it's the best beer for floating (and great for aprés ski or, if you're one of those who can't wait til you're off the lift, during).
10. Crux Fermentation Project, Yaamco (spiced winter ale). While Crux's Bochi Bochi vied for my vote as best rice lager, this 6.7% Yaamco—it's a yam beer brewed in a former Aamco station—is my runaway vote for best winter warmer. Picture a malty brown ale like Crux's Dark Snap embellished with roasted yams, orange peel and the triumvirate of baking spices: cinnamon, ginger and clove. Suck it, egg nog! Winter has a new snowy sipper.
