We're back. For now

To anyone who started following us when we got up and running...we're back! Our new year's resolution was to get the BBB up and running again, so, here we are.

Our big problem when we started the first time? We tried to do too much, and we got crushed by the weight of our own expectations. We've resolved just to start posting again, with no expectations, goals, etc. We just want to post about beer, and have some fun. And we hope a few of you read it and enjoy it too.

Cheers from the original Bend Beer Blog,

Dustin, Beau and James

Add another brewery to the list

Wow, the BBB gets a little lazy and what happens? A new brewery opens.

While the tap room is still a work in progress, Boneyard Beer Co. in Bend is up and running. I swung by for sample last week and was able to enjoy a nice porter.
The plan, says Boneyard's events coordinator Melodee Storey, is to have a tap room on site at the brewing facility on NW. Lake Place, while really focusing on getting on taps around the state. According to Storey, Boneyard will also bottle and can its beers. (Hence the old-school logo.)
Right now Boneyard is brewing the tasty porter I mentioned before, a pale ale and a hefeweizen.

Beer links

Here's a quick look at some beer-related news in Bend:

• Ride your bike to the bar, drink at the bar, then ride and drink at the bar. That's the idea behind the Silver Moon's Roller Rumble event. The Bulletin's Heather Clark has the story here.
• The new kid on the block, 10 Barrel is trying to name its new pale ale, which will replace Code 24. I had it earlier this week and was not impressed. Thoughts? In all honesty, I'd rather see Code 24 stay if it's going to be replaced by this.

That's all we've got for now.

Eugene road trip

Man, I go out of town and the blog shuts down shop. I guess we know who the MVP of the BBB is.

Anyway, I was in Eugene last weekend and made sure to sample some of the local treats. Only 2 1/2 hours from Bend, Eugene's not a bad drive at all if you're in the mood for a microbrew vacation.

The first night I was in town I headed over to Ninkasi Brewing. Arguably the fastest-growing brewing company in Oregon, Ninkasi doesn't have brewpub, but a cool little tasting room on site at their brewing facility. In addition to recent favorites like the Otis Oatmeal Stout and Total Domination IPA, Ninkasi had on hand a few beers that don't often make it over the mountains. Cool environment where there's plenty of beer geeks on hand to chat microbrews with.

Day No. 2 was all about Oakshire Brewing, a great-tasting brewery in its own right which at least around here in Central Oregon is overlooked because of all the great things Ninkasi is doing. Hunkering down at Cornucopia, I had the Oakshire Frog's Wort Pale Ale and O'Dark:30 Cascade Dark Ale, both winners. Dare I say I enjoyed Oakshire's Cascade Dark even more than Deschutes' Hop in the Dark CDA? I do. In Bend, the Abbey Pub, Jackson's Corner, Nature's, Whole Foods, Ray's and The Brew Shop all carry Oakshire brews. It's definitely worth a try.

My final Eugene-area brewery experience was completely by chance. Having dinner with friends from Portland, the bar we were at told us that all the Hop Valley Brewing beer was free for a limited amount of time. FREE. A rep from the Springfield brewery was at the bar buying rounds for everyone for about two hours. I'll admit, the name of the brewery didn't knock me out, but their Alphaholic IPA - another regrettable marketing choice - was great. The double IPA the brewery rep recommended was forgettable, but the regular IPA was something I'd pay for next time. It looks like they've got a brewpub not too far off I-5 just north of the Gateway Mall. I'm not sure I'd make it a destination, but I wouldn't shy away from their IPA if I saw it on tap somewhere.

Quasi-beer related notes:

• Cornucopia rocked both times I ate there. Homemade chicken pot pie one night and a reuben the next in which they make their own corn beef. And they've got great beers on tap.
• College towns are happy-hour heavens. Renni's Landing, a great pub right off the University of Oregon campus had microbrew pitchers for $7.50 from 4 to 7 p.m. Taylor's had a $6 burger and beer special. Life is good and cheap in Eugene.

Three for Tuesday: Sampling some non-Bend beers

So Mondays with the BBB spilled in Tuesday with the BBB, as the crew came over to my place to try some 22s.

Here's what we got: Lagunitas Imperial Stout, Ninkasi's Believer Double Red Ale, and Widmer Brother's Reserve Cherry Oak Doppelbock.

Mondays with the BBB: Abbey Pub

So I made a long-put-off trip to Abbey Pub, just off College Way. And it was definitely a worthwhile trip.

Some of the early reviews of it weren't so favorable, but the fluorescent lights of the past have replaced, and it honestly felt like a comfortable place to have a beer. There's a lot of natural light in there, for a bar, but it's really not that bad.

Bend Brewing Co. release at Abbey Pub

The BBB was just at Abbey Pub on the west side for our Monday beer, and we found out Bend Brewing is having a release party for its Doppel Bock today, at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. And you can meet the BBC brewer. Go check it out!

And sorry if you got a goofy feed from us...I was trying to post from my mobile earlier, and that ended up being a lot of gibberish. We're still trying to work out the kinks.