Recently, Elysian Brewing hosted a virtual tasting of its new Juice Dust IPA, the “juicy” variant in the Space Dust IPA family. Ahead of the tasting, the company sent out tasting kits which included the beer (a six pack plus an extra can each of Juice Dust and Space Dust) and a shirt, all packed in a Yeti Loadout Gobox 15 gear case, branded with Elysian’s Juice Dust logo. You might remember that I’d received cans of Juice Dust after it had just come out; this media kit supplemented these cans and more. Frankly, it reminded me of some of the Shock Top media kits I’d received a decade ago, as fa ..read more

Double Mountain Brewery doesn’t just brew beer, but also crafts a variety of ciders, and recently the company announced its seasonal cider lineup for 2024. Seven ciders are featured, three of which are new this year (and Double Mountain sent me a bottle of the new Harrison to sample). The brewery focuses on distinctive apple varietals and Old World styles of cider across its offerings, and most of the ciders are on the dry side. The Harrison cider sent to me, for instance, has only 0.09% residual sugar; it’s also fairly strong with 8% ABV. Here’s the full press release with each cider listed ..read more

A new beer-ticking digital passport has launched for the town of Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast, the Tap and Brew Trail. Created by Explore Lincoln City, this new passport is out in time for National Beer Day (according to the press release), and features nine locations to start, where you can check in on the app. It joins the ranks of other similar “ale trail” passport programs like the Bend Ale Trail, and highlights the beer scene in Lincoln City, which is home to three breweries as well as a taphouse for Gilgamesh Brewing out of Salem. One omission I noticed right away, however, is that o ..read more

My latest article for The Bulletin covers an unusual style rarely seen in these parts: German-style Leichtbier (“light beer”), one I got to delve a bit into with Van Henion Brewing which released its version of Leichtbier recently. The beer is a collaboration, brewed with hop supplier Hollingbery and Son Hops and grower Virgil Gamache Farms (both companies are based in Yakima, Washington). Leichtbier, literally German for “light beer,” traces its roots to German pale lagers such as Helles and pilsner lagers. Light versions of these beers were historically brewed to be served to factory and fi ..read more

There are two upcoming beer events from Grand Craft Beer to check out, taking place in Bend and Portland. The first is The World On Tap, which celebrates “worldwide beer styles” on Saturday, April 6 at the On Tap food cart lot and taphouse in Bend; look for beer styles such as Japanese rice lager, German hefeweizen, and others at this a la carte event. The next one up is the return of the Baker’s Dozen Fest to Culmination Brewing in Portland, featuring coffee, beer, and doughnuts—13 of each in a specialty pairing fest taking place on Saturday, May 11. Tickets for this event are available onlin ..read more

The newest packaged beer to join the year-round lineup from GoodLife Brewing is Wave Park Hazy IPA, named for the wave channel of the nearby Bend Whitewater Park. The beer is 6.7% ABV with 65 IBUs, available on draft and in 12-ounce cans; the brewery recently provided me with a six-pack to review. Wave Park’s description is: Living nestled among the mountains, all intrepid surfers always yearn for the rhythmic embrace of the sea’s waves. With unwavering determination, you search to discover an untouched marvel: a surging river, its crystalline waters mimicking the ocean’s heartbeat. As the su ..read more

I recently received cans of the latest seasonal specialty whipped up by Public Coast Brewing, Benny’s Maple Oat-Stack Stout. It was released on draft and in cans last month, and the description that went out with the press release says: Benny’s Maple Oat-Stack Stout, with a 7.5% ABV, is a “catch-and-release” special release, which will be available while supplies last at the brewhouse. A full-bodied oatmeal stout, it offers a creamy mouthfeel and sweet maple biscuit aroma. It draws upon four kinds of malt — chocolate malt, oat malt, Prinz Malt and biscuit malt — as well as Ceylon cinnamon and ..read more

Deschutes Brewery announced today a new addition to its non-alcoholic beer lineup in the form of Fresh Squeezed NA IPA—the alcohol-free version of its flagship Fresh Squeezed. It joins Black Butte NA, and it’s the first NA beer to be made entirely in-house; previously, the brewery’s non-alcoholic beers were crafted in Colorado at Sustainable Beverage Technologies with the company’s BrewVo® technology. Deschutes is still utilizing BrewVo, but it’s now local, in that the company installed the system at the brewery in Bend, in partnership with SBT. With this and additional equipment in place, Des ..read more

The latest beer to come from Double Mountain Brewery of Hood River has an unusual style designation—Bavarian IPA. Bier Wulf is the newest seasonal release from the brewery, combining the characteristics of an American IPA with German malt and hops to give it Bavarian flair. Bier Wulf is 5.8% ABV with 37 IBUs, and the brewery sent me a bottle to review. Here’s the press release with further details: Double Mountain is proud to announce it’s newest seasonal release, Bier Wulf Bavarian IPA, which is crisp, refreshing, and easy to tip back. Bier Wulf is a testament to the Bavarian IPA style- but ..read more

My latest article for The Bulletin, which came out last week on Leap Day (the bonus day!), features Immersion Brewing and two recent specialty stouts released by the brewery: Meraki and Onism. Both are blended, barrel-aged stouts, with Meraki a blend of stout and barleywine and Onism a blend of several stouts. Immersion Brewing Co. released two specialty barrel-aged beers this month, both imperial-strength blended stouts aged in bourbon barrels. Since it’s the tail end of Stout Month, I couldn’t resist the lure of highlighting two more stouts to finish the month with a flourish. Immersion is ..read more