Can’t see your car under the snow? Must be time for The Abyss. One of Deschutes Brewery’s most well-known brands, the 11th edition of The Abyss barrel-aged imperial stout made its official debut last Friday at the Deschutes pubs on Bond Street and Portland’s Pearl District. It will eventually be shipped across the nation, from […]
Oregon Breweries
Posted inFood & Drink
The Other Beer City USA
On a tour of U.S. beer, Grand Rapids stakes a claim
Many, many towns and municipalities across the US call themselves “Beer City” these days. During my travels around beer country, I still say Bend, of course, is the best one. (That statement’s in print, so it must be true.) The western Michigan city of Grand Rapids is the only one actively promoting “Beer City” as […]
Posted inFood & Drink
What’s your Blizzard Bar?
The snow is starting to fly. Before the next blizzard, identify your nearest watering hole.
Ah, winter…that time of year when we’re often stuck inside waaayy more than we’d like. Sure, those studded tires are going to get you around when the snow and ice comes around, but once in a while the weather gets so bad that there’s nothing else to do besides hole up at home. But wait! […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Land of the Spotted Cow
New Glarus: Only available in America’s Dairyland
Next up in beer reviewer Kevin Gifford’s beer trek across the nation: Wisconsin. It feels, in modern-day Bend (and Portland for that matter), that Boneyard’s RPM IPA is available at every establishment that has a liquor license. It’s ubiquitous. And across the entire state of Wisconsin—from the college bars of Madison to the rural supper […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Road Trip: Beer Where People Aren’t
Feel the need to roam? The Source’s beer guy heads across U.S. Route 2 and the Great Northern Plains
With any road trip, the emphasis rightly deserves to be on the roads taken. If time is abundant and solitude is one of the main priorities, there are few better options than U.S. Route 2, which starts outside Seattle, goes on until Ontario, and is mostly a barren two-lane blacktop in between. Spokane, covered here […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Going Inland
Breweries in Spokane worth exploring
When it comes to craft beer in the less-populated parts of Eastern Oregon, there isn’t much. Steens Mountain in Burns is one, a tiny outfit that received a glowing profile in BeerAdvocate magazine a few months ago. Beer Valley in Ontario, whose Leafer Madness IPA is a mainstay around Bend, is another. Otherwise, one might […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Glorious Dive Bars of Astoria
Four dank spots one eventful night
What makes for a good dive bar? A pool table helps, as well as a lack of light. The more graffiti in the bathroom stall the better. And the floor also has to be sticky and grimy, but not too sticky or grimy, or else it’ll ruin the buzz generated by the “Tuesday night shot […]
Posted inFood & Drink
A Whole New Ale Trail
Portland ups its beer tourism game
The Bend Ale Trail is arguably one of the best ideas that Visit Bend has ever come up with. Thousands of visitors to Central Oregon have picked up a free map and embarked on a tour of the 15 breweries listed inside, and the number of people who’ve completed the entire run is in the […]
Posted inOutside
Ales and Astronomy
Worthy Brewing Shows Off Its New Observatory
In 2012, Roger Worthington had a vision of building his own “Beertopia.” The Worthy Brewing founder and owner describes it as “a mini-campus, a place where a person can make connections, can be stimulated, a place where the mind can expand.” His first step toward Beertopia: Looking to the stars. Worthy Brewing is finishing construction […]
Posted inFood & Drink
A New Barrel-Aged Collage
Deschutes and Hair of the Dog team up for more complex booziness
Four years ago—longer than many people reading this have even lived in Bend—Deschutes Brewery launched a beer called Collage, a collaboration between the Bend-based giant and Portland’s Hair of the Dog Brewing. The beer actually had its genesis earlier than that, in 2010, when HotD owner/brewmaster Alan Sprints stopped by Deschutes’ production facility to brew […]