Last Friday, I got an invite by 10 Barrel Brewing to come early to the “Last Blockbuster” block party the brewery was throwing with, well, the last Blockbuster video store located here in Bend. 10 Barrel teamed up with the store and released a special beer for the occasion, The Last Blockbuster, and hosted the Friday night blockparty with pours of the beer, food trucks, movie showings.

We showed up early and got VIP wristbands for free beer. Even though we were nearly an hour before the official start time, people were already showing up, which we took to mean it was going to get busy, fast. Even so, we got pours of the beer ahead of the crowd and visited with some of the 10 Barrel folks to chat about the beer, the concept behind the collaboration, and more.

The beer itself is a version of the brewery’s Sinistor Black Ale, only with added red licorice. Brewer Jimmy Seifrit told me for the 20-barrel batch he added 68 pounds of red licorice to the conditioning tank, or about 3.4 pounds per barrel. I’ll have a separate review of the beer—they sent us home with three bottles—but suffice to say, there was a red licorice candy flavor in the finish. And no diacetyl (buttered popcorn), which is the flavor/aroma component that first came to mind when I heard about pairing a beer with video store movies.

Overall, the block party was a fun concept that incorporated the businesses that shared the lot—Blockbuster (of course), Papa Murphy’s Pizza, and Images Salon—which seemed to be a nice community boost. Papa Murphy’s had a pizza cart out front, providing food, and the other businesses were participating in giveaways. There was even a small film crew taking shots for a documentary being produced, also called “The Last Blockbuster.” So it really was a community event, and of course it helped that it was built around the momentum already in place from the publicity that the Blockbuster store itself has garnered in recent weeks.

In fact, by the time 6:30 rolled around (the official start time), there was already a substantial crowd and a line for beer. We took our leave shortly thereafter to avoid the crowd; I don’t know ultimately how packed the party got that night, but I know the venue, located on a busy intersection with limited parking, would get crazy. So I did appreciate the early invite and complimentary beer to at least be able to try it.

I believe the beer itself is only available for a short time (if it hasn’t sold out yet) at Blockbuster, and at the 10 Barrel pubs here in Bend. I’ll have a review of it soon.