Mountain Jug Flips Sunriver Beer Landscape

Sunriver is a great example of what's happened to craft beer during the last few years. Not so long ago, you had to drive into Bend to find good beer...there's obviously lots of it there. There was nothing decent in Sunriver. My how things have changed.

I spent a few days marauding around central Oregon last week. Nothing like a short road trip to beer country. I did the obligatory Bend tour...with stops at Boneyard, Good Life, Silver Moon and Worthy. I'll maybe get around to talking about those visits in a day or two. Sunriver is what's on my mind.

They finally have a beer destination in the resort community. The Mountain Jug opened back in March and it's the kind of place you're apt to visit often during any stay in Sunriver. Thankfully, the Jug is not located in the carnival that is Sunriver Village.  Nope. It lives in the Sunriver Business Park, which is just off South Century Drive (as you're headed toward Mt. Bachelor). Good omen.

The proprietor is Mark Cornett. It's a strong beer name. As I sipped a beer and talked to him, he told me his wife, Tonya, convinced him to leave construction and open The Mountain Jug, a combination bottleshop and taproom. Most beer fans know Tonya as the brewmaster at Bend Brewing for many years before moving to 10 Barrel Brewing a short while back. Go figure.

This place is quite charming. It has the look and feel of a log cabin on the inside, with several nooks where you can sip on your beer away from the flow. They have 12 rotating taps, but you won't find anything from Portland or Hood River here. They serve only central Oregon beers here. They were pouring beers from Boneyard, Good Life, Silver Moon, Worthy, Deschutes, Crux, Cascade Lakes and Three Creeks when I happened by. Nothing to hate on the list.

There's more. Keeping with the low key nature of the place, there's a turntable surrounded by boxes of vinyl on one wall. Mark worked his way through some classics while I was sipping on a couple of pints and yakking with some locals. His beer duties were interrupted every 20 minutes or so while he flipped the LP or picked something new. I suggested plugging in an iPod and just letting the turntable run. That drew a laugh and a smile, but I don't think it's happening.

I can help thinking the Mountain Jug is a great idea. There have been so many times over the years when I've wished there was a place to go after a day of skiing, hiking or whatever. There are an almost endless list of outdoor activities to make you thirsty around Sunriver. Now there's a place where you can find great beers on tap and a nice selection of bottles. It was steady, not crowded while I was there. I can see this place being pretty jammed during peak season. I doubt Mark and Tonya will mind.

For anyone wondering, yes they have no food at the Mountain Jug. Like a lot of taprooms these days, you are welcome to bring in your own food or have something delivered. There are family-friendly tables and couches spread around to make things as comfortable as possible. The stereo is not set to play loud, so perish the thought of a rock concert atmosphere.

This place marks quite a change from the status quo of Sunriver. Finding a snooty wine bar or grubby yuppie restaurant hasn't really been a problem. But the rising tide of craft beer has changed the landscape. Now there's a charming, down-to-earth beer joint in town.

You gotta like its odds.

Mission Accomplished in Central Oregon

Last weekend's junket to Central Oregon wasn't strictly a beer trip, but it nonetheless provided me with an opportunity to check up on a few places. Boneyard Beer was the first place I went and you've already read that post, right? Of course. There's more.

Sunriver Brewing
When I heard there was a brewpub opening in Sunriver, it struck me as a no-brainer. In all the years we've been going down there for winter sports and occasional summer fun, there was never a go-to place for good beer in the Village. A local brewpub would change that.

Yeah, the logo is similar to Deschutes

It turns out plans for Sunriver Brewing have been in the works for a couple of years. However, the owners revealed almost nothing (earlier story) about brewing capacity, brewers, beer styles, etc. As I like to say, there are reasons for everything and the reasons for stealth in this case become fairly apparent with a visit.

First, let me just say this is an attractive space...high ceilings, very open, nice bar, comfortable seating inside and out. It's in a great location, right behind the almost always buzzing grocery store. The space is not gigantic, but will certainly suffice in all but the busiest times.

The waiting fermenters...

What you need to know is there is NO brewery here. There are two fermenters occupying an area of the pub and looking quite ornamental. I don't know if this is where they intend to eventually install a brewery. If it is, the brewery will be very small, indeed. It seems to me they would be well-advised to forget about on-site brewing and use the space they have for seating. Outside seating will be implausible for much of the year.

Our very cordial server told me the house beers are being produced in Redmond at the moment. It's a straight-forward list: IPA, Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Stout. They were out of the pale. The others were decent, if not memorable beers. They will surely build the list out as time goes by. There was a nice selection of guest beers, including Hop Venom. That list will almost certainly rotate.

Outdoor seating will be less popular come November

You can view the menu and pricing on the Sunriver Brewing website. Like most brewpubs, this place will appeal to adults and families. It's unlikely to be much of a young adult drinking hangout. Whether they ever make beer here is immaterial. This is a nice addition to the options in Sunriver, which haven't been great over the years.

Little Woody Fest
I have to admit the Little Woody Barrel-Aged Beer and Whiskey Festival was not on my radar screen as the Sunriver trip unfolded. But I immediately planned to drop in when I realized it was happening and the times were convenient.

This was apparently the second rendition of this festival, focused mainly on barrel-aged beers...of which I am a fan. I didn't bother with the whiskey...I'm sure it was fine stuff, just not my bag. The festival was held primarily in the parking lot next to the Deschutes Historical Society building. The Society received a portion of the proceeds from event organizers, which is terrific.

It was a perfect beer drinking day in Bend

Beyond the beer and whiskey, there was live music, food vendors and promotional booths. There was even a sports area where college football was showing on a fairly large TV. Beer people think of everything!

There were apparently 14 breweries here, including Oakshire, Deschutes, Ninkasi, Boneyard, Block 15, Three Creeks, Bend Brewing and others. Most featured two beers. I was surprised to find that every beer required 2-4 tasting tokens. Given the rarity of the beers, I guess it made sense. However, some of these beers were not a great value at 3 or 4 tokens for a four ounce taste. Sorry.

Tasting notes:
Block 15 (Corvallis) brought a fantastic Framboise. It was light, crisp and slightly sour. This is a beer you could drink a lot of on a warm summer day.

Boneyard's Experimental IPA, aged in bourbon barrels for 11 months, was interesting. I was surprised to find it had a touch of sour. Hop aroma and flavor were in the background. I suspect people either loved or hated this beer.

Smiling faces were the order of the day 

Deschutes Plum Line Sour, infected with Brettanomyces and Lambicus and aged in oak casks, was brilliant...light and prefect for a warm day.

Three Creeks brought a tweaked version of its popular Hoodoo Voodoo IPA...called Deja Voodoo. Aged in Pinot Noir barrels for nine months, this beer combined strong oak notes with subtle fruit character. Lost in there somewhere was the hoppy aroma and flavor of standard Hoodoo Voodoo. Not bad, though.

Sometimes it's quite fun to see how the other half lives. This is the first festival I've been to outside Portland...where you could not possibly hold such an event in such a small space. The execution here was mostly pretty good. Check it out next year if you can.

Crux Fermentation Project
The Crux was definitely not on my planned itinerary, but Saturday's trip to Little Woody opened up an opportunity to see other sights. At the festival, I ran into Ezra Johnson (The New School blog). He had come over on the Brewvana bus from Portland and wanted to visit CFP. I tagged along because I had transportation.

Polished copper mash tuns provide a nice visual

If you want to know more about the roots of the Crux Fermentation project, I recommend you take a look at Ezra's post here or Jeff Alworth's post here. Briefly, this place is the brainchild Paul Evers, Dave Wilson and former Deschutes brewmaster, Larry Sidor. It's apparent that a rather large investment went into getting this place opened. It's gorgeous and amazing at the same time.

Nothing quite like a spendy coaster

Each of the beers we tasted was nicely executed. There are clearly a lot of creative juices flowing here and this place will evidently evolve into a much larger brewing operation down the road. If you're headed to the Bend area, plan on visiting the CFP. Be advised this place is not exactly on the well-beaten path. It's located in an industrial area south of downtown and not the easiest place to find without a map or phone GPS.

Coming soon...Eastern Washington road trip and report!

Boneyard Continues to Carve Success Story

A trip to Central Oregon means listening to a little Black Sabbath. Not necessarily in the car. Black Sabbath is one of a bunch of vintage metal bands you're likely to hear on the sound system at Boneyard Brewing in Bend. Such was the case when I visited on Friday.

I had last-visited Boneyard in late December. (Here's a link back to that post if you're interested). The big takeaway from that visit was that Boneyard's popularity was growing faster than the brewery's ability to meet the demand. It's a good problem to have up to a point. They were working on plans to rectify that situation.

Keeping things REAL in the brewery... 

Beer fans may have noticed that Boneyard's RPM IPA is readily available in Portland. One of the reasons is that Boneyard added three 60 bbl fermenters in recent months. They're still working off a 20 bbl brewhouse, but the additional fermentation space has enabled them to bump monthly production from 650 to roughly 1000 barrels.

Co-owner, beerologist and head brewer, Tony Lawrence, says Boneyard is still working on plans to open a 50bbl production brewery in Bend. When we last spoke, Lawrence said he hoped that facility would be open by summer. That obviously hasn't happened, as they continue to operate out of the space on Lake Place in Bend.

A trio of new fermenters (center) have bumped up production

"We're still working on the expansion project," Lawrence said. "The investment required is more than we can manage on our own, so we're working with a bank. I hope we'll have the new space ready to go by next spring. The plan is to hit 20,000 barrels in 2013...obviously dependent on getting the production facility going."

Related to production levels is the retail distribution project. Boneyard bought a canning line and hoped to be distributing RPM in 16 oz cans long ago. Again, keeping the draft channels fully supplied is the priority and the canning program has taken a backseat. But it has not been forgotten or abandoned.

A back-up supply of beer...goes with their sense of humor

"I hope we can start doing some retail distribution in 2013," Lawrence said. "We may be looking at 12 oz cans instead of the 16 oz version because it appears 12 oz cans may be easier for us to get. I realize distributors and retailers may have issues with the various can sizes. We can't worry about that. We'll go with what makes the best sense to us when the time comes."

Something else Lawrence has been working on is dialing the alcohol content of RPM and Hop Venon down to more user-friendly levels. If you wondering, RPM was originally 7.5% ABV, while Hop Venon was 10%. The tasting room board suggested they've made progress. RPM was listed at 7%, Hop Venom at 8.9%.

A stern warning to brewery employees

"The idea in bringing the numbers down was make the beers more drinkable," Lawrence said. "I think less alcohol actually allows for more flavor...and lets people drink more of this beer. Anyway, the tasting room sign isn't exactly right. RPM is right around 6.6% and Hop Venom is probably a little less than 8.9%."

Speaking of the tasting room, they were pouring RPM, Hop Venom, Girl Beer, Diablo Rojo (all typically good) and Femme Fuego, a pepper-infused sour I didn't care for. I was hoping to see Armored Fist, (a terrific imperial Cascadian Ale) or Skunk Ape (a terrific IRA), but neither were present. Oh well. It's all about timing.

Special kegs headed to the Little Woody Fest

The basic takeaway from this visit is that things continue to go well for Boneyard. They are producing and selling more beer than ever. Indeed, they reached  #10 on the OLCC's craft beer production list for June 2012. (These numbers are always several months behind.) Boneyard was #16 in January. Movin' on up!

If the production brewery comes online as planned in the spring, Boneyard will likely be among the top five producers of craft beer in the state by the end of 2013. Not bad for a brewery that is less than three years old and hasn't sacrificed quality as it has increased production. It's also a terrific, down-to-earth place to visit...if you don't mind a little Black Sabbath with your beer.