The Cascade Lakes Brewpub has gone non-profit. Proceeds from beer sales are now distributed to a variety of local non-profits. The brewery, founded in nearby Redmond in 1994, offers year-round beers, including Blonde Bombshell, Hazy IPA Lotus Pils, Salted Carmel Porter, and a few rotating specialties. Last year the brewery won an award for its “This” IPA. The menu changes for winter and summer, offering cajun mussels and clams, and shrimp and grits in the summer. A few Asian fusion dishes have also been added, including a bao bun stuffed with miso-glazed pork belly. It’s a favorite stop for those coming down from Mount Bachelor; a gondola sits out front to invite skiers and others in. By summer 2023, Cascade Lakes Brewpub will open a location on Bend’s eastside at 27th and Reed Market to accommodate new neighborhood development. 

Tucked inside the Century Center on Bend’s Westside sits GoodLife’s expansive brewing and distilling facility. Its tasting room is airy and inviting, with garage doors opening onto a courtyard. Its house-smoked brisket grilled cheese sandwiches are swoon-worthy with tender meat, and tangy barbecue sauce playing against the sharp cheese on Texas toast. It begs for one of GoodLife’s approachable beers like the popular “Sweet As” IPA. The Biergarten that often hosts concerts and young families has been moved to the other side of the building with an expansive lawn and picnic tables, a food truck, and a beer truck so diners can order without walking around to the tasting room. The Lucky’s Woodsman truck is also available for gourmet-style burgers and camping entree kits to take away on an outdoor adventure.

The embodiment of Bend’s fun-loving outdoor lifestyle, the front patio of the Boss Rambler Beer Club is typically overflowing onto the sidewalk with laughing beer lovers who have stopped there after a day skiing or dirt-biking near Mt. Bachelor. Boss Rambler’s tropical-noted IPAs land in pints alongside mellow summer lagers, fruited beers, and boozy slushies. This summer, Blue Eyes Burger is parked next to the building, bringing its classic, just-plain-good smash burgers, and fries. Other food choices are available at the Lot food carts located a block off Galveston.

The Brasserie at Monkless Belgian Ales offers stunning views of Bend’s Old Mill and the Deschutes River from its heated deck, while some visitors enjoy Belgian-style ales at the monastery-like bar inside. The move here is to opt for Monkless specialty beers like the small-batch Dark Habits: This Belgian dark strong is aged for four months in pinot noir barrels, with added cherries that provide a subtle fruity bite. Bring a group of friends or meet new ones at Bend-sourced wood slab Ponderosa pine tables, while enjoying a pot of steamed mussels, a pork schnitzel plate, farro risotto, and more.

Approaching the patio of Immersion Brewing in the rustic Box Factory near the Old Mill District, it’s evident from the welcoming ambiance that this is a family-owned brewpub. A windowed garage door extends the high-ceiling indoor dining room to join a lively outdoor patio. Voted Oregon’s 2020 Small Craft Brewery of the Year at the Oregon Beer Awards, Immersion offers fun IPAs like the Hazy E, a pineapple-forward Northeast IPA, as well as sours and stouts. The excellent beer goes well with Immersion’s family kitchen, which serves made-to-order basic pub food like blackened steelhead BLTs.

Visitors who walk down the stairs to the Cellar from the downtown sidewalk are transported to a traditional English pub. The small space includes a bar, a few tables, a small library, and a classic “snug” — a room found in most English and Irish public houses where one can drink with a bit of privacy. The English pub vibes extend to Porter Brewing’s cask-conditioned ales, served by hand-pumping imported beer engines rather than taps. A charcuterie board, sausage bites, and pretzels are available along with Vi’s scratch-made pies, including Scottish Meat Pie and Chicken Pot Pie. 

For more than 30 years, this lively, rustic downtown staple has helped define the craft beer scene in Bend and America. Its vast array of experimental and seasonal brews is the real draw here, and they are well-paired with classic pub dishes, like poutine and pizza. Deschutes is the go-to place for thick, juicy Central Oregon beef burgers. Eat and drink in the large dining room at an intimate fireside table, or in the covered and heated outdoor space. The upstairs has recently been converted to a game room with darts, vintage video games, and shuffleboard.

At the end of a back street near the Old Mill district, the Crux Fermentation Project is housed in an old transmission repair plant. Visitors can grab a pint and some pub grub inside the glowing copper taproom or hang out on the park-like lawn with yard games for adults and kids and fire pits. Food trucks include El Sancho tacos, the Tin Pig known for its well-seasoned fried chicken that’s worth a special trip, a pizza cart, and the Shaka shave ice truck. The Crux kitchen menu will be changing as soon as its new Portland Pub is established. During the daily “Sundowner hour,” breathtaking views of the Cascade Mountains come with discounts on 20-plus taps.

Boneyard has long been a favorite Bend brewery with hoppy ales like RPM, and a few sour and hazy beers. The clean, modern lines of the pub’s indoor/outdoor space juxtapose a motorcycle bar atmosphere complete with a dark bar lounge with high-backed vinyl booths. Boneyard offers five types of wings and fresh salads, but the piece de resistance is the Royale with Cheese. Pulp Fiction fans might recognize the reference where this cheese-in-the-middle burger got its name. 

Bevel Brewing is in the midtown industrial area tucked behind the DIY Cave, where visitors learn how to weld and woodwork. The tasting room and patio share the space with the 9th Street food pod, which includes house-made pickles at Nosh Street Food; or Mexican fare at Tacos El Nava; the Slider Company offers sandwiches and a breakfast poutine special; Bleu Rooster’s global-inspired family cuisine, including pomme-frites with garlic and mushroom dust and truffle aioli with subtle flavors that beg for a beer to go with it. The tasting room offers flights, pints, a wide range of ales, and a few off-kilter options like barleywines. Bevel places small tasting glasses in holes of a decorated frisbee for those who want to compare the IPAs before filling a growler to take home.

Spider City Brewing Company is the only women-owned-and-operated brewery in Bend, located in a 3,000-square-foot building in an industrial area just east of the railroad tracks. Bins of wheat and hops sit on shelves beside the beer taps, pouring experimental ales and fruit-forward kettle sours. There are plenty of long tables indoors and out. Two food trucks offer grub to go with the beer. One is the Wagyu Burger joint, the only place serving pure Wagyu beef from the local 2Sisters Ranch, and IndoDaddy with an Indonesian fusion menu including Lumpia, Banh Mi Sliders, Nasi Goreng, and peanutty chicken or tofu sate. 

The Worthy Brewery and Pub, located on Bend’s eastside, is hard to miss with its large outdoor area, airy brewpub, and a three-story giant “Hopservatory”— a reflective telescope with a retractable roof. Inside, diners find well-crafted IPAs and creative one-off seasonal ales. Along with basic pub fare, creative entrees include Korean-marinated steak tacos and wood-fired pizzas topped with Oregon pears or white beer cheese sauce. Thursday through Sunday, on clear nights, patrons can ascend the spiral staircase and stargaze with a beer in hand.

Craft Kitchen moved its tasting room and restaurant from the Old Mill to its brewery location, hidden in the backstreets of northeast Bend. Although the kitchen is now in a food truck, it’s maintained the Craft touch with barbecue and Southern cuisine like Po’ Boys, Sandos, a Cubano. It’s hard to choose between the southern fried chicken, gluten-free spicy sweet honey jalapeno cornbread, the fruitwood smoked brisket, or the fresh sweet potato tacos with lavender salt. It all pairs well with Craft Kitchen’s beers like the Juice is Loose Hazy IPA. For fun, Saturday night is comedy night, where Craft brings in national and local talent. Or, come Wednesday for open mic night.