The Bend Ale Trail, Crater Lake, And The Oregon Food Scene



"I went to brush something off my cheek, and it was the floor."
-Raymond Chandler 

Have a gander at this:

There is a little town in Oregon called Bend.  The main attraction here is something known as "The Bend Ale Trail".  This is a brewery pilgrimage that lists 17 local breweries, all within pretty close proximity to one another.  When you look up the trail online (Bend Ale Trail), you are given a complete rundown on how one should go about hitting all the breweries, where to get your official "Ale Trail Passport", along with pertinent information like cab companies, eating locations, places to stay, etc.

"VINI, VIDI, VICI", my friends.....well, 7 out of 17 isn't too shabby (1 wasn't even open to the public and another other was in Sisters Oregon).  Besides, some of the ale trail breweries just didn't capture my interest... (cough, cough) Deschutes and McMenamins...

The ale trail pilgrimage begins with picking up your passport at the Bend Visitor Center, or printing online.  When you have made it to each brewery, they give you a stamp to show you have been there.  Once you have collected all the brewery stamps, you return to the visitor's center to collect a "prize" of some sort at the end.  As if copious amount of beer and the experience isn't prize enough, right?

It is said that one can tackle the entire trail in a single day.  We are choosing to divide it a little.  No sense in going buck juicy wild here.  Besides, pacing myself has never been my strong suit.

Keep reading so we can get to the real nitty-gritty and start talking beer, brewery reviews, food, and FUN!


Each place mentioned is clearly something you should know about, otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it.

Labor Day Weekend 2014- Leaving from Seattle WA., stopping in Portland OR.:

Portland (Food and fun)

The Meadow
(Website)

We first stopped at The Meadow to see what marvels they had.  A shop that specializes mainly in salt, salt blocks, artisan bitters, and chocolate had to be explored.  What we found was a cornucopia of awesome stuff.  I have never come across such large slabs of pink salt made into blocks for cooking on, cutting, serving, you name it.  They had goblets made of pure salt block, shot glasses, plates, bowls, and all sorts of cool things.  An entire wall was dedicated to many, and I do mean MANY, different types or salts, seasoned salts, smoked salts.  Mind blowing....
While there, we sampled a wide range of bitters.  (K) settled on a ginger infused bitter that would be good for jazzing up water, tea, and other drinks.  I sampled a little of their chocolate offerings, and was again amazed at another gigantic wall devoted entirely to local chocolates.
We settled on a small salt slab as pictured below for trying grilling/serving on.  Apparently, salt has wonderful heat retention properties.  But as a warning, do not let your food sit too long, it will inherit the salt from the block and could become "over seasoned".

Laurelhurst Market Butcher Shop
(Website)

Laurelhurst Market proved to be the perfect lunch spot.  Thanks to (K)'s super-sleuth find, I was in hog heaven!  We both ordered the charcuterie plates, which were loaded (for $8!) with selections of butcher-selected options from the case that day.  We are talking pates, terrines of chicken liver, heart, deli meats, delicious mustards, and pickled onions and cucumbers.  This was no joke.  Easily one of the best and most memorable lunches I have had.

Salt & Straw
(Website)

Salt and straw, a local, fresh ice cream and sweets shop was our second stop of the day.  It's a little funny, but this time around we literally had our dessert first, and it was most excellent.  This was one of, if not the primary reason for sticking around Portland during our pass through.  As advertised, they had a small stock of Bone Marrow and Bourbon Smoked Cherry ice cream.  I must say to those out there who are skeptical and afraid of such flavor combinations, this was a home run.  No marrow-flavor so to speak of, but a nice mellow smoky and cherry taste.  Strike that, a fair amount of smokiness to it, but not so much that you felt like you where sucking on a campfire log.  The big find was a coconut ice cream for (K) that made the experience all the better.  I didn't give it a try, but she assures me, from the view point of someone who is unable to enjoy such a simple pleasure that ice cream is due to dairy allergies, it was enough to make you see sound and hear color!

Traveling from Portland OR. To Bend OR.

Mount Hood

Bend (Ale Trail, food, more fun)
This is a comprehensive list of the places, or at least ales/ciders we discovered while doing the trail.  We were able to knock off 7 breweries in 1 day and 1 evening.  I remain steadfast in the belief that if we had not stopped for pizza Saturday afternoon (which had some ill effects on us all), we would have soldiered on to conquer at least 3 more for a round number of 10 breweries.

Worthy Brewing Co.

Worthy Brewing first came to my attention when I sampled their "Dark Muse" bourbon aged stout at the Seattle International beerfest.  This was by far their best offering, and perhaps the only one of interest to myself.  I am not an IPA fan.  In fact, I hate IPA's like poison.  They tend to wreck my stomach long before I get very far with them. 
While at the brewery, and since this was the only one we were doing Friday night, I decided to go with the 6 glass flight.  Much to my disappointment, no Dark Muse was available.  Instead, it was a small tap selection of reds and IPA's.  It made for a tough go at things.  I can honestly say I barely made it through the whole flight.  Wanting to get the IPA's out of the way, my guts where like two bears fighting after the imperial IPA hit.  I had to throw in the towel on the last sample.  It just wasn't working for me.
Here was the lineup I was fed:
-Lights Out Stout (the only decent brew to be had this night)
-Eastside Pale Ale
-Imperial IPA
-Farm Out Saison
-Eruption
-Easy Day Kolsch

Rat Hole Brewing

Rat Hole was an interesting stop, and was not entirely what I had pictured.  Their menu features southwestern food flare that caught our attention (being originally from New Mexico and all).  The whole time we were planning the trip, I was looking forward to this brewery most of all.  They advertise a hazelnut porter that sounded right up my alley.  I regret to say, it was fine, but nothing to write home about.
Brews tasted:
-Haystack Hazelnut Porter (a bit flat and boring.  Riddled with disappointment)
-Fence Post Porter
-Rotational Red

Good Life Brewing

This was a one off that we hadn't planned on hitting, but was close by.  The place was jammed with people, so you would expect big taste returns.  It was forgettable.  At this point we were only two breweries into it, but my palate was beginning to become hop-flooded.
The hooch we had:
-29'er Brown Ale (boring, but browns are tricky)
-Scottish Heart (not bad, but I've had better)
-Pass Stout (dry with a little chocolate to it)

Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.

 

This was actually the last brewery we had before stopping for pizza.  I really wish I could remember what their ales where like, but I feel as though I just tossed them back in an effort to move along.  It pains me to be so bland in my reports of these places, but there was nothing really speaking to me.  Thus far, except for 1 brewery (that I will get to), I didn't find that one single beer that made the heavens open and angels sing for me.  Again, I will get to the one and only spot that did.
Beer line up at this stop:
-20" Brown
-Monkey Face Porter
-Riverside Red

Crux Fermentation Project

Crux had a cool vibe to it.  Music bumping, indoor/outdoor seating, people and dogs swinging in for a pint, and Tattoos (tasteful ones) as far as the eye could see.  They had some tasty offerings.  Service was a bit spotty, but to their credit, they were pretty busy.
Ferments we sampled:
-Better Off Red
-Peated Scotch Ale
-Scotch Ale

Boneyard Beer

Ok, so this was really the first brewery we hit on Saturday.  This was the best, and has grown to be my new favorite brewery.  I say this because even their IPA's tasted good!  And we know how I hate those things.  But let me tell you, their "Suge Knite", a stout aged two years in bourbon barrels blew me right out of my shoes.  no kidding, this is probably the best beer I have tasted to date.  I kick myself for not purchasing a growler and getting a fill before leaving.  This brew was amazing.  Chocolaty, a hint of sweetness,  and the bourbon punch was done perfectly.  This was nearly the perfect beer, at least for me.  Their other offerings were pretty stellar too.  The IPA's were not in your face with bitter hoppy flavors thankfully.
What we tried:
-Hop Venom
-Notorious
-Backbone
-Suge Knite (13% ABV and the absolute best.  I still dream of it...)

Boneyard Beer, I salute you.

Silver Moon Brewing

Our second stop this day was again not very notable.  They were just opening up and getting things together, but the bartender seemed like a nice chap.  Unfortunately we arrived too early for their seasonal brews.  I was looking forward to trying their version of the pumpkin porter.  Again, nice stuff, good effort, nothing to write home about.
Trials:
-Snake Bite Porter
-Dark Side Stout
-Voodoo Dog
-Wild Cider (for (K))
-Apricot Cider (again for (K))

Barrio
(Website)

We had high hopes for Barrio.  A cool little joint that seemed like the food was "happening".  I will say, while the selection wasn't mind blowing, the foods we did order were pretty tasty, just not filling enough.  (K) settled on dates with roast duck, which came tapas size on two skewers, with a tasty looking drizzle of a some fruit reduction.  I opted for the Cuban Sliders.  The bread, I thought, was rather interesting.  It was very crumbly in a "two days out on the counter" sort of way.  A little greasy since I am sure they buttered and pressed it, but the flavor was fairly good.  I give the place a 2 1/2 out of 5, just because I was hoping for a burger topped with pork belly, which turned out to be a burger with carnitas, thus opting for the Cuban. 

Our experience in Bend was pretty good overall.  After our brewery hop, we stopped for some very tasty pizza, where (K) claimed to have the best gluten free crust of all.  This, coupled with a gut full of brew made for an evening of bloated and sick-feeling misery.  Something was clearly "rotten in Denmark" to quote Hamlet.  I stand by my claim that it was the pizza because I was not the only death-warmed-over feeling person, even though I did consume the most beer samples.  I think next time I will plan accordingly for a decent breakfast, then perhaps snack stuff like chips and salsas along the way.  No meals until we have completed the trail and are ready to hunker down.

Traveling from Bend OR. To Crater Lake Or.

Crater Lake

Located in central-Oregon, Crater Lake is best known for its incredible water clarity and deep blue color.  Once gaining entrance to the national park, winding roads take you a scenic 20 or so minute drive up to the very rim of the caldera.  From there, you are able to walk (which would be a real long like) or drive the 33 mile rim of Crater Lake.  There are many viewpoints are along the rim for stopping at, and really do offer something unique and different about each scenic location.  I won't bore you with descriptions of how amazing this place is.  This time I will let the photos do all the talking. Suffice to say, if given the opportunity to gaze upon natures magnificence here, do so.  You will not regret it.

Eat Well, Live Well.

-Chris