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lupestripeBy American standards, our drive on the Monday after Furlandia (29 May) was quite short at a mere three and a half hours. However, we did have a deadline as we needed to be in the town of Bend for 3pm, when we had booked a tour of the Deschutes Brewery. Tuxedo isn't a particularly large beer drinker, largely due to health reasons, but he tolerated our love of brewed beverages. Indeed, it was his idea to go to the Deschutes Brewery, a brewhouse of which we hadn't heard before and yet is one of the biggest and most well-known breweries on the West Coast.
As is so often the case in the US, the scenery on the drive was stunning, with twisty roads winding through a valley alongside a river of crystal clear water. The mountains provided a breathtaking backdrop, while Tux's knowledge of the local botany was particuarly insightful, particularly when the trees changed from pine to spruce over the main ridge, which demarked areas of high and low rainfall due to the topography. Most of the scenery we could only see from the car window but we stopped where we could - largely in laybys and parking spaces - to take as many unobstructed pictures as possible. There were quite a number of lakes, created through various damming projects of the 1950s and 60s, which made for a tranquil setting, particularly in the late Spring sun. The thing that was most striking though was the juxtaposition of the lush green trees alongside the barren rocky cliff faces, which when mixed with the beauty of the scenery made for a picture postcard scene.
Further into our drive, atop one of the major ridges, we experienced a rather eerie scene as we saw the jagged remains of trees which had been burnt out from a forest fire. Such fires are rather common and do occur naturally, but a number of them are caused by man, and there are many signs littered by the roadside highlighting the fire risk that day. These are often advertised by Smokey Bear, who always looked a little sinister to me, as if he was the one always associated with such destruction. The burnt out remains were quite desolate, particularly when placed next to perfectly functioning and lush vegetation, triggering the imagination into seeing what was once there before the fire had taken hold.
About two hours into our journey, we stopped for lunch at Sisters, Oregon. Very much a town that has been done up for the tourists, with neat painted wooden buildings all displaying the stars and stripes, the highlight here was our stop at the Sno Cap Drive In. As Tux told us, every little town has a burger joint and this was a place to experience a real slice of Americana. The burgers are usually cheap and good, and this was certainly the case here, where we opted for the simple cheeseburger with tomatoes, lettuce and pickle. I also opted for a Marionberry Milkshake, made from a local berry not too dissimilar to a raspberry. It was thick, gloopy and refreshing, and although our burgers did take a while to come, they were definitely worth the wait. Plus, we didn't really mind as the sun was shining, we had a picnic bench and we could look over at the picturesque town as we waited.
Bend was only about an hour away from here and we arrived just in time, checking in before heading over to the brewery. Wolfie's foot was still giving him bother, meaning it was more of a hobble than a walk, but at least we got to see a little of the town along the way. The brewery was about a half mile from where we were staying on the other side of the river, and as it was Memorial Day, there were a number of families and kids tubing on the water. In the distance we saw three chimney stacks, assumedly from a former factory, the middle of which was proudly displaying the American flag. It was something you could see from across the town. Upon arrival at the brewery, we picked up our visitor passes from the main shop and bar, and joined another twelve people who had also booked the tour. It lasted for about forty-five minutes and we got to visit most of the important parts of the brewery, following the process from beginning to end. The chap running the tour knew his stuff, although I did have to correct him on the accurate pronunciation of 'Burton-on-Trent', the town in Staffordshire famous for its beer. It was interesting observing all of the specialist German equipment they had had installed, and it was this engineering that particularly interested Tux, while it was clear that it was a relaxed place to work due to all of the quirky signs which were displayed across the building. The highlight for me was probably the bottling line, even though we didn't get to see it in operation because it was a national holiday. I had never been in such a place before, which is what made it interesting for me, while I did think the tour was conducted exceptionally well. We even saw a sculpture of a metal dog made out of various brewing equipment. At the end of the tour there was also an art gallery dedicated to the labels of their festive winter ale, Jubel Ale. They have been doing this since they first started brewing in 1988 so there was quite a collection of unique artwork on the walls, which made for a fascinating plotted history.
Of course the highlight of any brewery tour is the beer tasting, and we were permitted to have samples of any four beers from their modest tap room at the end. Unfortunately, this is all we were allowed to have, but we were told about their brewpub in the centre of town, along with the Bend Ale Trail, which for us turned into something of a disaster. Bend is one of the fastest growing cities on the West Coast and is something of a retirement town due to its favourable climate, but it also has a great range of breweries, far more than we had anticipated. Indeed, there are twelve in the heart of town and a further three nearby, and the local tourist board has created an ale trail where if you visit all fifteen and turn up at the tourist information centre, then you can claim a prize. All you need to do it buy a beer and get the associated brochure stamped when you do. Well, what kind of excuse did we need, particularly as Tux needed to head back to the hotel room early to do some work. So after a brief discussion with our tour guide and one of the nice barmaids behind the bar, we picked up our ale trail leaflet and headed back over the bridge into the heart of town, which was ten minutes away in the opposite direction from our hotel. However, as we had headed over to Deschutes initially, we had noticed one craft beer bar so we decided to stop off there first. Creatively called 'craft kitchen and brewery', here we had a taster tray of six different beers as we looked over a car park towards some new builds on the edge of the city centre. It was quite heavily raining by this point so it was good to do this just to stay dry.
It was around 5pm by this point, but with Wolfie's foot, we knew we couldn't go far so we planned a route to cover the main bars that were in the city centre. As we walked into the centre, we ambled past a playing field in which there was a small tent set up with three flags outside. There were a number of seats, with a sign proclaiming they were doing a continuous reading of the name, age and town of every soldier killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As the names were read out, a drum beat sounded, making for quite a sombre spectacle, although it was a shame that there was only really us to hear it. This was Memorial Day after all, so it was quite surprising, but it was a good memory to those who had died in those wars.
Our next bar was the Old Saint Francis, another McMenamins similar to the one we had tried in Portland the previous day. They had some similar beers to the other place, but there was enough to try here to rustle up another taster tray, meaning we were already on to sixteen beers by the time we left. We had planned to have food at the Deschutes Taproom as we were told they served some good stuff, and this is indeed what we did, although in hindsight it was probably a mistake. By the by, we headed deeper into the city centre and past the Tower Theatre, built in three months in 1940 and probably never changing since. Along the way, we also spotted signs for the Bend Beer Chase, highlighting just how much an obsession beer is in this rather small town. We called off at the Bend Brewing Company shortly afterwards but we were starting to feel the strain, definitely sampling another taster tray but struggling to get through it. Our last stop was therefore the Deschutes Brewery Taproom which from memory was great, although we were all beered out by this point. It was here we got some food, probably about three hours too late as it was 9:30pm and we hadn't eaten anything since lunch. I had a tasty Ruben sandwich which was quite strong on the pickle, but I don't think I was hungry enough to eat all of it so I left a fair chunk. Part of the problem was that we had shared nachos in the Bend Brewing Company place and it had kind of spoiled our appetite. The Bend place was particularly good as it was a long thin bar with benches, and surprisingly busy considering everyone assumedly had work the next day. It was a pleasant environment to be though, with really friendly staff.
The stumble back to the hotel was about fifteen minutes and as we walked, we resolved ourselves to come back and try the other breweries. Wolfie and I could easily spend three or four days here and now we know another fur from the city (who we met later at BLFC) then I think we could very easily go on a craft beer tour of the area. The city, even though it's a long way from anywhere, was vibrant with excellent bars and a good scene, so much so that we even started thinking about moving there. It was also just a pleasant place to be, and as we got back to the hotel and crashed just after 10pm, we thanked Tux for bring us here, to a place that before the trip we had never even heard about.
As is so often the case in the US, the scenery on the drive was stunning, with twisty roads winding through a valley alongside a river of crystal clear water. The mountains provided a breathtaking backdrop, while Tux's knowledge of the local botany was particuarly insightful, particularly when the trees changed from pine to spruce over the main ridge, which demarked areas of high and low rainfall due to the topography. Most of the scenery we could only see from the car window but we stopped where we could - largely in laybys and parking spaces - to take as many unobstructed pictures as possible. There were quite a number of lakes, created through various damming projects of the 1950s and 60s, which made for a tranquil setting, particularly in the late Spring sun. The thing that was most striking though was the juxtaposition of the lush green trees alongside the barren rocky cliff faces, which when mixed with the beauty of the scenery made for a picture postcard scene.
Further into our drive, atop one of the major ridges, we experienced a rather eerie scene as we saw the jagged remains of trees which had been burnt out from a forest fire. Such fires are rather common and do occur naturally, but a number of them are caused by man, and there are many signs littered by the roadside highlighting the fire risk that day. These are often advertised by Smokey Bear, who always looked a little sinister to me, as if he was the one always associated with such destruction. The burnt out remains were quite desolate, particularly when placed next to perfectly functioning and lush vegetation, triggering the imagination into seeing what was once there before the fire had taken hold.
About two hours into our journey, we stopped for lunch at Sisters, Oregon. Very much a town that has been done up for the tourists, with neat painted wooden buildings all displaying the stars and stripes, the highlight here was our stop at the Sno Cap Drive In. As Tux told us, every little town has a burger joint and this was a place to experience a real slice of Americana. The burgers are usually cheap and good, and this was certainly the case here, where we opted for the simple cheeseburger with tomatoes, lettuce and pickle. I also opted for a Marionberry Milkshake, made from a local berry not too dissimilar to a raspberry. It was thick, gloopy and refreshing, and although our burgers did take a while to come, they were definitely worth the wait. Plus, we didn't really mind as the sun was shining, we had a picnic bench and we could look over at the picturesque town as we waited.
Bend was only about an hour away from here and we arrived just in time, checking in before heading over to the brewery. Wolfie's foot was still giving him bother, meaning it was more of a hobble than a walk, but at least we got to see a little of the town along the way. The brewery was about a half mile from where we were staying on the other side of the river, and as it was Memorial Day, there were a number of families and kids tubing on the water. In the distance we saw three chimney stacks, assumedly from a former factory, the middle of which was proudly displaying the American flag. It was something you could see from across the town. Upon arrival at the brewery, we picked up our visitor passes from the main shop and bar, and joined another twelve people who had also booked the tour. It lasted for about forty-five minutes and we got to visit most of the important parts of the brewery, following the process from beginning to end. The chap running the tour knew his stuff, although I did have to correct him on the accurate pronunciation of 'Burton-on-Trent', the town in Staffordshire famous for its beer. It was interesting observing all of the specialist German equipment they had had installed, and it was this engineering that particularly interested Tux, while it was clear that it was a relaxed place to work due to all of the quirky signs which were displayed across the building. The highlight for me was probably the bottling line, even though we didn't get to see it in operation because it was a national holiday. I had never been in such a place before, which is what made it interesting for me, while I did think the tour was conducted exceptionally well. We even saw a sculpture of a metal dog made out of various brewing equipment. At the end of the tour there was also an art gallery dedicated to the labels of their festive winter ale, Jubel Ale. They have been doing this since they first started brewing in 1988 so there was quite a collection of unique artwork on the walls, which made for a fascinating plotted history.
Of course the highlight of any brewery tour is the beer tasting, and we were permitted to have samples of any four beers from their modest tap room at the end. Unfortunately, this is all we were allowed to have, but we were told about their brewpub in the centre of town, along with the Bend Ale Trail, which for us turned into something of a disaster. Bend is one of the fastest growing cities on the West Coast and is something of a retirement town due to its favourable climate, but it also has a great range of breweries, far more than we had anticipated. Indeed, there are twelve in the heart of town and a further three nearby, and the local tourist board has created an ale trail where if you visit all fifteen and turn up at the tourist information centre, then you can claim a prize. All you need to do it buy a beer and get the associated brochure stamped when you do. Well, what kind of excuse did we need, particularly as Tux needed to head back to the hotel room early to do some work. So after a brief discussion with our tour guide and one of the nice barmaids behind the bar, we picked up our ale trail leaflet and headed back over the bridge into the heart of town, which was ten minutes away in the opposite direction from our hotel. However, as we had headed over to Deschutes initially, we had noticed one craft beer bar so we decided to stop off there first. Creatively called 'craft kitchen and brewery', here we had a taster tray of six different beers as we looked over a car park towards some new builds on the edge of the city centre. It was quite heavily raining by this point so it was good to do this just to stay dry.
It was around 5pm by this point, but with Wolfie's foot, we knew we couldn't go far so we planned a route to cover the main bars that were in the city centre. As we walked into the centre, we ambled past a playing field in which there was a small tent set up with three flags outside. There were a number of seats, with a sign proclaiming they were doing a continuous reading of the name, age and town of every soldier killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As the names were read out, a drum beat sounded, making for quite a sombre spectacle, although it was a shame that there was only really us to hear it. This was Memorial Day after all, so it was quite surprising, but it was a good memory to those who had died in those wars.
Our next bar was the Old Saint Francis, another McMenamins similar to the one we had tried in Portland the previous day. They had some similar beers to the other place, but there was enough to try here to rustle up another taster tray, meaning we were already on to sixteen beers by the time we left. We had planned to have food at the Deschutes Taproom as we were told they served some good stuff, and this is indeed what we did, although in hindsight it was probably a mistake. By the by, we headed deeper into the city centre and past the Tower Theatre, built in three months in 1940 and probably never changing since. Along the way, we also spotted signs for the Bend Beer Chase, highlighting just how much an obsession beer is in this rather small town. We called off at the Bend Brewing Company shortly afterwards but we were starting to feel the strain, definitely sampling another taster tray but struggling to get through it. Our last stop was therefore the Deschutes Brewery Taproom which from memory was great, although we were all beered out by this point. It was here we got some food, probably about three hours too late as it was 9:30pm and we hadn't eaten anything since lunch. I had a tasty Ruben sandwich which was quite strong on the pickle, but I don't think I was hungry enough to eat all of it so I left a fair chunk. Part of the problem was that we had shared nachos in the Bend Brewing Company place and it had kind of spoiled our appetite. The Bend place was particularly good as it was a long thin bar with benches, and surprisingly busy considering everyone assumedly had work the next day. It was a pleasant environment to be though, with really friendly staff.
The stumble back to the hotel was about fifteen minutes and as we walked, we resolved ourselves to come back and try the other breweries. Wolfie and I could easily spend three or four days here and now we know another fur from the city (who we met later at BLFC) then I think we could very easily go on a craft beer tour of the area. The city, even though it's a long way from anywhere, was vibrant with excellent bars and a good scene, so much so that we even started thinking about moving there. It was also just a pleasant place to be, and as we got back to the hotel and crashed just after 10pm, we thanked Tux for bring us here, to a place that before the trip we had never even heard about.
