
Flannel Fest coming Feb, 4, 2023. Mark your calendars and borrow as many flannels as possible…
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I was asked to author my 10 favorite beers of the year for Bend Source Weekly. My first draft clocked in at 1,500 words because I gave a fair amount of thought (and background info) on each one. But my word count is a firm 700. After a couple rounds of edits, I got it down to 1,050 words, meaning I’d shed 350 but still had 350 to go. While those first 350 are now lost to the ether, I’m re/pre-printing the list here at the mid-way point just so folx could see I didn’t just write 60 words per phenomenal beer.
By my best guesstimate, each of Central Oregon’s 27 breweries released, on average, at least dozen beers in the past year, meaning we had no fewer than 350 local beers to choose from. I confess, nay, lament, I did not try them all. (That said, drinking a new beer each day in 2023 is quite a tempting challenge.) So take this list of my 10 favorite Central Oregon-brewed beers with a grain of salt (that’d be right at home in Spider City’s Kaffir Lime Sea Salt Gose or Cascade Lakes’ Salted Caramel Porter)
Every devout beer geek I know is polyamorous when it comes to beverages. As such, I cover the wider world of drinks–usually the adult type–whenever I can. And when I heard about a thin silver lining that climate change wrought when it came to this year’s grape harvest, I got to tip locals off as to what they can expect when the 2022 vintages hit shelves including from Central Oregon’s first/oldest vineyard, Maragas up near Terrebonne.
Not sure how aware most people are, but the people who write news stories always suggest headings, but those proposed headlines are rarely used. Case in point: this story I’d pitched about a truly acquired taste in beer–rauchbier, aka smoke beer–which I knew was a perfect fit for The Takeout’s “Aquired Taste” feature focusing on food and beverages that are popular in certain sets or regions without wide awareness or appeal. The headline ran called it “America’s most hated beer” style. C’est la vie. But when it comes to smoky beers, which get very little press, the old adage must be true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Smoke ’em if you brew ’em.
I hate listticles, but do love doughnuts and getting paid. So when I was asked to write a list of the best doughnuts, I got to work on a list so air-tight, it could be be impeached, reproached, are in any way argued against. Take a look at my suggestions for the best baker’s dozen, found in The Takeout, and realize I’m 100% right.
Of all the trips I’ve taken or will take in my self-appointed role as a doughnut ethnographer, Detroit may not be the most touristy destination or have the most exotic-sounding treats, but I’d say visiting Hamtramck to explore the larger-than-life world of Polish pączki (“poonch-key”) had me drooling the most. For one, I love jelly doughnuts. For two, pączki are unlike typical jelly doughnuts and they can even be enjoyed spiked with a shot on what others call Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras but in the Upper Midwest everyone knows it as Pączki Day, which I got to write about for TheTakeout. Take that, other immigrant doughnut styles.
New breweries usually means new IPA factories. Which, TBH, is part of the story of Bend’s Van Henion Brewing, the first new brewery in town since way back in 2019. But the real driver behind the new brewery (which is housed in an old brewery and founded by its old brewers) is that they’re focusing on German lagers like Munich-style Helles. What’s German for huzzah?
Many months ago, someone mentioned hearing about a new brewery in the works. I had no details other than it would be opening in Sisters, about a half hour outside of Bend, and that it was from someone who’d briefly worked at Spider City Brewing, which does a good job of brewing beer styles from around the world. Except, from what I’ve seen, Belgian saisons. So imagine my delight, as a devout saison lover who has precious little in the way of locally brewed examples of the style to choose from, that Funky Fauna Artisan Ales would be a saison-centric brewery. Here’s my profile on ’em in Bend Source Weekly.
The concept of “Dry January” took off a decade ago and finally landed on my radar a few years ago, but as a beer writer, what use have I of non=alcoholic beverages to write about? It turns out, when these soft drinks are hopped, I’ve got at least two occasions to cover ’em. The first was in Drynuary 2020 and then again Drynuary 2022 with a local (to Bend) twist. Here are some great hoppy N/A beverages for a thirsty nation via The Takeout and here’s some available to Central Oregonians via Bend Source Weekly.
It seems every month offers something new I’m completely pumped about getting to experience for the “first” time as a full-time Bend resident. Certainly, even in Portland, Bend breweries are well represented so it’s not like these are all new to me, but whereas Portland winters are usually dreary, Bend winter is cheery. There were snowmen on every block until the snow turned back to rain these last couple of days. But I won’t let that rain on my parade. Or my batch of favorite “winter warmers.” I tried to limit this round-up to just five, but I sorta snuck in a pair from five different local breweries. Sue me.