A couple of weeks ago, I saw a list of the top 100 "beer bars" in the U.S., and Deschutes -- or any other Bend brewpub, for that matter -- didn't make the list. And I was wondering how an oversight like that was made. I mean, I guess when you're making a list of 100 places from all over the country, and you're not a huge beer nerd, I can see how Bend might miss the cut. But, this was from a beer website/magazine that fancies itself an expert on all things beer. Do we live in a bubble? Is Bend as beer paradise a figment of our imagination?
Then the world got set back on its axis, as this story listing the top 10 beer cities in the country was posted by the Seattle PI. He even notes how Bend doesn't get the proper props from other beer lists. Excerpt:
In exactly NONE of the two dozen lists I read on google did the name “Bend” show up. BIG mistake. Here’s a town of 80,000, sitting all alone in the middle of Oregon’s High Desert, with no major college or national business headquarters except Country Financial, no major sports teams, and a downtown the size of a phone booth, and you’d think Nothin’ is Happenin’ In Bend, except for some pretty fancy skiing up there on Mount Bachelor. And you’d be WRONG, so totally freakin’ wrong....
...and you have Bend – a national-class beer destination and one of the country’s hottest emerging craft beer cultures.
PDX was No. 2. But I think No. 8 is pretty good. And the analysis was written by someone who did his research. So, fear not. We live in beer country. Life is good.
Bend's brewing fame is definitely NOT a figment of your imagination! The Deschutes brewpub certainly should have made the list.
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