More good press about beer in Bend

As soon as I complain about a lack of respect for the craft beer scene in Bend, and I start seeing the city getting kudos from seemingly everywhere.

First, Bend gets a mention from away.com, as one of the top "beer towns" in the United States, along with San Francisco and Asheville, N.C.

The Bend Ale Trail even gets a shoutout. Check it out below:

Deschutes Brewery is also mentioned in a CNN Money piece on craft breweries here.

Ray's growler fill station opens Friday

Growler stations in Bend continue to bubble up.
Ray's Food Place will open its own growler fill station Friday, Feb. 8, in its former liquor store area. It's a nice-looking setup with saloon-style doors that open up to a 15-tap bar.
Fills are $9.99 across the board and $14.99 if you buy a growler.
I just caught a brief glimpse of the taps during my dinner break this evening, but it looks like they're going heavy on local beers. Don't quote me, but I thought I saw Mirror Pond, Black Butte and Boneyard's IPA, for better or worse, among others. (I know, I should have written down everything they're pouring.)
Good beers, but when I fill a growler I usually like to get something that's not readily available in Bend. Just me.
Anyway, sounds like you can get samples but can't sit down and order a pint.
Thoughts?

Bend: Not top 100 in beer, but is top 10?

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.

Opening night at Worthy Brewing

Braving the crowds and the east side, I checked out the first night at Worthy Brewing, the new brewery/brewpub in Bend. We knew it would be a bit of a cluster, but willing to accept that fact, the wife and I went anyway.

Anyway, here are my takeaways from night 1:
--Worthy will be printing money. It will pretty much become the top spot to go out on the east side immediately, unless they screw something up. There's no comparable place to go without crossing 3rd Street. It's a great space and location. The beer and food are good (see more below). And the outside patio will be packed when it's warm. We overheard someone connected to the pub say that they were planning on showing movies outside in the summer.
--Great building. Outside of the remodeled Deschutes, this is probably the coolest looking brewpub in town. And it might even surpass that. It's open and inviting, has a great bar, a community feel. We start chatting with our table neighbors during dinner. Anyway, long story short, they clearly put a lot of money and effort into the building. And it shows. (Photo credit, Worthy's Facebook page.)

--Good beer. We tried all five of the beers that Worthy currently has on tap (we're guessing they are planning on more, as their sampler has six slots.) The stout was the big winner in the family...my wife, who would probably never drink a whole glass of stout but nevertheless at least samples every one I get, said it's the best she ever tasted. High praise indeed. They also have an IPA, an imperial IPA and a pale that were all fine, if not mind-blowing. I was also a fan of the Go Time Xtra Pale Ale, which is definitely different than just about anything you can get anywhere else in town.
--Reserving judgment on food/service: I wouldn't make any long-term judgments about a restaurant on its first night of operation. The front of the house did a good job keeping the masses in order and trying to get everyone seated as quickly as possible. Although I had to laugh at people walking in at 5:30 and grumbling about a two-hour wait -- what did you expect, exactly, at the first night of a brewpub in Bend? The service was definitely a little spotty, but once again, this is new staff at a new place. And we were happily sipping our beers while we waited. We had a burger, the reuben and some fries on the side. The serving of fries seemed pretty small for six dollars. The burger was good but served rare, sted mid-rare -- once again, not going to judge consistency issues on night one, and we like our burgers on the pink side anyway. The reuben had good flavor, but there was a lot of bread for the amount of meat on the sandwich. Anyway, the meal wasn't a debacle, it was tasty and it all got eaten. I'll be interested to see where they are at in a month, though.

Long story short, I'd expect waits at the dinner hour for a while, judging by last night's crowd, and probably at lunch, too. But you should definitely make the pilgrimmage, when you get the chance.

PDX Marathon + brewpub adventure

So, I went to Portland this weekend to run the marathon. It was my first one, it was a lot of fun, but it also hurts like hell -- during and two days later.

More impressive than my time of 3:50:41 was the fact that I made it to seven brewpubs with the wife over the next two days. We started with Deschutes in PDX (I know, I am from Bend and went to Deschutes, lame). But, I had never been to the one in Portland, and I really wanted Black Butte XXIV. And that is exactly what I got:

Also had the fresh hop porter, which was weird and good at the same time.

Here's the rest of the brewpub hopping, and the recollections my still marathon-addled brain can come up with:
--Rogue. I had the stout that was on nitro. It was yummy.
--Bridgeport. Skipped the beer here for coffee and dessert, as I was still starving and sleepy after getting up at 5 a.m. Awesome peanut butter pie.
--Hopworks Urban Brewery. Had the ESB, which was fine, but the sample of "Give Me Liberty," a fresh hop bitter, was awesome, and I brought a growler home. 
--Double Mountain and Full Sail, Hood River. Highly recommend the Killer Red IRA at DM. And had the 25th anniversary lager at Full Sail, which is like a lager on steroids.
--Ice Axe Grill (Mount Hood Brewing). Had the multorporter ale. Which is a confusing name. It's a porter. Or at least it tasted like one. The only guy working the front of the house was slammed, so I didn't get more info. Regardless, it was good.

Truth be told, I had meant to go to Solera in Parkdale instead of Ice Axe, but for some reason I had it stuck in my head that it was in Government Camp. An adventure for another time.

Fermentation Celebration in Bend this July

Isn't every day in Bend a celebration of beer? In July, however, things get a little more serious with the "Fermentation Celebration."

The party will take place July 12th in the Old Mill District starting at 5 p.m. Twelve different Central Oregon breweries will participate, although we haven't seen a full list of who is in. Not shockingly, Deschutes is included, however.

You can get in for free, but if you want to sample beers, it will cost you $15 (includes a Silipint and 4 ounce samples at each brewery's stand).

The winner of the Ale Trail Beer for a Year will be revealed at the celebration (more on that and how to enter here).

Get more details on the shindig from the Old Mill website here.

Growler fills on the cheap on the east side

If you don't venture over to 27th Street very often, now you have a reason to go.

Before hitting a fellow BBBer's barbecue this weekend, I headed over to the Shell Stop and Go to check out the growler fill station for the first time. Improbably, there is actually a fill station in a gas station convenience store. Knowing that OLCC laws are kind of a pain, a growler fill station in a gas station seems kind of unlikely. But they do serve food there, too, in the form of Baldy's. So maybe that makes it ok.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. They have an amazing selection of beer for just $8.99 a fill. Which, if you're keeping track, is generally cheaper than you fill a growler just about anywhere, other than on special days at the breweries themselves.

Here's what they currently have on tap, according to their Facebook page:

Goodlife- Sweet As
Boneyard-Diablo Rojo and RPM IPA
Three Creeks-8 Seconds IBA
Cascade Lakes-Riverside Red and  Monkey Face Porter
Deschutes-Hop Henge-(soon Hop in the Dark)
Bend Brewing Co.-Metolious Golden Ale(coming soon)
10 Barrel-One Hop Wonder and Sinister Black
Silvermoon-Get Sum Summer Pale Ale
Phat Matt's-Kolsch
Rogue-Imperial Stout

Great selection, good prices. Do yourself a favor and get a fill there.