Bend, rejoice. Come June, we’ll have another brewery in our midst.
Craft brewer extraordinaire Larry Sidor, who for years has been the mastermind behind many of Deschutes’ most popular beers, is teaming up with Dave Wilson of San Francisco-based 21st Amendment Brewery and Paul Evers of tbd advertising, a local creative agency with a rich history in beer marketing. The local firm has worked with Deschutes in the past and counts 21st Amendment among its current clientele.
The yet-to-be-named artisanal brewery (their website, yettobenamedbrewery.com, should go live in the coming days) will focus on richer, bolder beers and will include sours and other such niche brews.
“We’re talking about small-volumes of high gravity, complex beers that are often aged in barrels and/or fermented with wild yeast strains to create crazy, unique aromas and flavors,” Wilson said in a press release. “We want our brews available to beer enthusiasts who are seeking bigger and bolder experiences,” he added.
The 1,000 square-foot tasting room (the former AAMCO building) which will serve pints and snifters and small plates will be located on Aune Rd., just off of SW Division St, near the Parkway and just south of NW Arizona (think Strictly Organic Coffee, The Horned Hand, Parkway underpass, etc.). The tasting room, however is only a small part of the operation. Renovations to the 6000 square-foot building begin in early January with a ceremonial “wall breaking”, scheduled for 2pm today. The brewery will have the potential for 10,000 barrels with year-one expected capacity of 700 barrels.
Can Bend have too many breweries? Maybe, but haven’t yet hit that threshold. Next time you’re out, don’t forget to Cheers! the new brewery and those with vision.
We’re anxiously awaiting more from this all-star crew and looking forward to the grand opening, slated for early this summer. Check next week’s issue for more on this breaking news.
In other new-business news, we’ve been told that the vacant lot between NW Colorado Ave. and NW Arizona Ave (just east of NW Lava Rd.) has been bought by high-end grocer Market of Choice, a Eugene-based natural health-food store that has plans to build on the property that is immediately off the Parkway.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2011 – Jan 4, 2012.
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Bend is probably at the saturation point for brewers that concentrate on just making hoppy Imperial pales and similar ales, but it gives me just a little wood to read that these guys want to make “[…] richer, bolder beers and […] sours and other such niche brews.”
Much more interesting beers.
High-gravity beers are big in Europe, but American microbrews that make them are relatively rare, and I don’t know anyone in Bend making anything like them.
So bring on Bend-brewed barley wines, imperial stouts, Belgium trippels, and other strong ales! Bring on the sours (Jack loves sour beers). Shop local — and have a designated driver: these will not be session beers.
It’s time to expand our repertoire.
Oh, and I saw Larry Sidor on KTVZ news last night and he said that there will be taps provided for other local microbrewers to sell their creations. Nice move, Larry: if your goal is to educate and enlighten beer-drinkers AND provide an outlet for enthusiastic up-and-coming brewers, then I think you’re on the right track to making Bend an incubator for tomorrow’s successful brewmasters.