Highlights from our visit to the Bend Ale Trail

Happy Anniversary, Kaleb! 3 years together and if there’s one thing we know, it’s the fact that we LOVE beer. So! It was time to hop in our car and trek on down to Beer Town USA. No really, that’s what it’s called. Bend, OR has more breweries per capita than any other city in Oregon and it even has its very own Bend Ale Trail.
This place was made for us!

A mere 5.5-hour drive South and we had made it! We checked into the cutest riverfront cottage, right on the Deschutes River and started our weekend! Because we were on one side of the river and the breweries were on the other side, we found our way under the river by way of the Colorado Avenue pedestrian bridge.

Immersion Brewing

A few steps later and we were at Immersion Brewing. Now I kid you not when I say this is the prettiest brewery I’ve ever stepped foot in. A brewery, pretty? Yes. Weird, I know, but it’s true. The big tanks, the blue bulb lights, and soft string lights. Interior design on point.

Now if you’re hungry, please get the chicken sandwich. If you’re thirsty, you best be ordering a beer. If you’re not thirsty? Well, you’re still going to need to order a beer.
Because this place knows what they’re doing when it comes to beer.

If you want to try your own hand at brewing, this would be the place. Immersion Brewing is Bend’s first and only Brew-It-Yourself Pub. Matt reached out to us and let us know that classes are taught daily. He promised that he takes a more hands-off approach to teaching his classes. He will NOT interrupt your process, he WILL let you do you, but he will also explain to you what you’re doing. Sounds perfect to me!

Immersion Brewery: It’s damn beautiful and they have great beer. Get after it.

Crux Fermentation Project

From here, walk out the front door, take a left and walk up the street.
Here you will find, Crux Fermentation Project.

If you’re like me, (and most humans) then you love happy hour. Why not get your beer and snacks at a cheaper price? But here’s the thing…Crux doesn’t do Happy Hour.

Instead, they have Sundowner Hour which is a waaaaay cooler concept.

Gotcha!

Sundowner Hour changes every day, as it is 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after sunset. Awesome.

While at Crux, I had the pleasure of asking the bartender for a “Sugar Daddy’. I’m pretty sure they named it that just so they can laugh at their customers. Either way, it’s good. They have their beer menu here arranged from lightest to heaviest. Super user-friendly!
Feeling snacky? Ask for the pretzel. No regrets.

Avid Cider Co. 

Two breweries down, snacks and beers in our tummies. You know what that means. It’s time for dessert. Now if you’re in Beertown USA and you want dessert, you should probably do what we did and go to Avid Cider Co. (previously known as Atlas Cider Co.) because hard cider matters too. 
Also located on the same road as Immersion and Crux. 

Is it beer? No.
Is it dessert? Why not.
Bonus: they have pinball and other various games to make you feel young again.

Now, what to order: Apricot cider.
Sounds gross, right? Right.
Is it gross? Absolutely Not!
I do not like apricots, they remind me of my childhood when I would visit my grandma in eastern Washington. She loved the hell out of dried apricots. Thus, never have I ever enjoyed apricots.
However, 20 years later I have learnt that you just need to add alcohol to apricots to enjoy them.
Apricot Cider; problem solved.