Are you Zwickelmania-ing today (despite the snow)?

Today, Saturday the 24th, marks the 10th annual Zwickelmania for Central Oregon, the statewide brewery open house/backstage tour that sees breweries open their doors to special brewery tours, tastings, and more. (The Portland metro area did this last weekened, now it’s the rest of the state’s turn.) Are you planning … Continue reading

Nam Tok Kitchen: westside Thai (former Thai Thai location)

Recently we ventured over to Northwest Crossing to check out the new (sort of) Thai restaurant, Nam Tok Kitchen. The style is unique to Bend, a blend of northeastern Thai and Lao cuisine, and notably the menu is entirely gluten free and made from scratch. Owner Pahlee Bretoi is from … Continue reading

Bend City Council meeting minutes for January 2018

Here are the meeting minutes from the two City Council meetings from this month. Bend City Council meeting minutes, 01-03-18 (MS Word doc) Bend City Council meeting minutes, 01-17-18 (MS Word docx) A fair amount of discussion on the 17th about the proposed new elected mayor role (as opposed to the mayor … Continue reading

Tetherow’s 3rd annual Brewery Smackdown, Wednesday, Jan. 31

On Wednesday, January 31, Tetherow Resort‘s Brewery Smackdown series of beer and food pairing events returns for its third year. Not only food and beer pairing, but a people’s choise-style competition where two breweries from Portland, Ecliptic Brewing and Ancestry Brewing, square off against the reigning champions, Crux Fermentation Project … Continue reading

Talking about Bend’s beer history

Shameless self-promotion time! This Saturday, January 27 (today!), I will be at the Deschutes Brewery Bend Tasting Room to present “Uncovering Bend Beer: A History of Beer in Central Oregon” — a book and history talk based on my book Bend Beer (of course). My plan is to talk both about the history of … Continue reading

5th annual High Gravity Brewest at McMenamins, Saturday, Jan. 13

On Saturday, January 13, McMenamins Old St. Francis School hosts their 5th annual High Gravity Brewfest, their winter celebration of big, bold, and strong beers and ciders. They’ll feature over two dozen beers and ciders pouring from a host of guest breweries, a mix of our local Central Oregon ones … Continue reading

The Summit Saloon is closed

Not a fun way to start the new year: The Summit Saloon and Stage in downtown Bend announced today their sudden closure. They posted the news on Facebook: Dear People of Bend, It is with heavy hearts that we announce our closing effective immediately. Unsuccessful lease negotiations and economic factors … Continue reading