Received: Several beers in time for Thanksgiving

Received: Several beers in time for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you! This week I received not one but three different beer packages just in time for the holiday! I’ll be drinking one or more of them today and this weekend. Here’s what arrived: The 2014 edition of The Abyss, from Deschutes Brewery. This year’s batch of Kris … Continue reading

First look (and taste) of Bend’s Monkless Belgian Ales

First look (and taste) of Bend’s Monkless Belgian Ales

Monday I had a chance to meet with Kirk Meckem and Todd Clement of Bend’s newest brewery, Monkless Belgian Ales, find out a bit about their plans, and taste a couple of their beers. I wrote a short introductory piece about them two weeks ago, which outlined the basics: one-barrel brew system, … Continue reading

Received: Deschutes Brewery Zarabanda

Received: Deschutes Brewery Zarabanda

This past week I received the latest collaboration brew from Deschutes Brewery: Zarabanda! (Technically there is no exclamation point in the name but it feels like there should be.) It is styled as a uniquely-spiced saison, is 6.7% abv, and is apparently available year-round. Here’s the Brewery’s description: We looked … Continue reading

Reviews: Colorado Native IPL, Whole Wheat Bock from AC Golden

Reviews: Colorado Native IPL, Whole Wheat Bock from AC Golden

So this year I got onto the AC Golden Brewing media/marketing list, and they’ve sent me two beers so far to sample: Colorado Native IPL and 100% Whole Wheat Bock. AC Golden is a specialty arm of MillerCoors, and as such their beers are for the most part generally only … Continue reading

Received: BlackWatch Cream Porter

Received: BlackWatch Cream Porter

These two bottles came just in time for the weekend: Portland Brewing’s BlackWatch Cream Porter, their winter seasonal release. This is a “classic porter” that comes in at 5.3% abv, which you can read more about from head brewer Ryan Pappe here. I posted a review from a four-pack earlier … Continue reading

Monkless Belgian Ales: Bend’s newest brewery

Monkless Belgian Ales: Bend’s newest brewery

Later this month, Bend’s newest brewery is set to start selling its beer: Monkless Belgian Ales. Founded by partners Kirk Meckem and Todd Clement, they just got their brewery licensed and plan to brew only Belgian-styled ales on a one-barrel system. Kirk Meckem reached out to me to let me know … Continue reading

The Session #93: Beer Travel

The Session #93: Beer Travel

This past Friday was the first one of November, and for timely beer bloggers everywhere (which I am not in recent months, at least as far as getting these posts out on time), it was the collaborative beer blogging day for The Session. This month’s Session was hosted by Brian … Continue reading

On Anheuser-Busch buying 10 Barrel

On Anheuser-Busch buying 10 Barrel

I had been working on a long post on the buyout of Bend’s 10 Barrel Brewing by Anheuser-Busch but ultimately I think there’s been quite a lot written on all sides by people already that I feel like it would be redundant. However I’m the Bend Beer guy, and everyone … Continue reading

10 Barrel Brewing sold to Anheuser-Busch

Huge news to hit the craft beer world in Oregon today: Anheuser-Busch InBev is acquiring Bend’s own 10 Barrel Brewing! This news came as a big surprise to the craft beer community, local and otherwise, and the (predictable) backlash is already raging on social media. Here’s the video that the … Continue reading

Received: 100% Whole Wheat Bock

Received: 100% Whole Wheat Bock

I have received a number of beers lately, not sure if it’s the season for them or what. The latest limited-release beer from AC Golden Brewing arrived today: 100% Whole Wheat Bock. You will recall that AC Golden is a subsidiary of MillerCoors, and is their small-batch specialty division known … Continue reading