“Your Vacation Is Our Life”

Washington Post’s Bend, Ore., the city you’ll love to hate

We Bendites love that article. It has made its rounds time and time again here in Bend because, well, it makes us feel special. And because it’s true! We really wanted to pull some of the Bend allure into our wedding for all of our out-of-town guests. And honestly, a big part of that is beer. We want to showcase what we consider two of Bend’s best brews (but there are oh so many other yummy options!).

Boneyard Beer RPM IPA

This is Mr. O’s absolute favorite. I’m not too much of an IPA fan, but even I dig this one. It’s delicious. Added bonus: Boneyard Beer is our next-door neighbor. They don’t bottle yet (maybe someday?), so it’s nice to have the option to walk over and fill a growler if we’d like. Plus, every single restaurant in Bend serves it. They know better than to leave it off of their tap list.

From the website: “Brewed using 6 different NW varieties of hops at over 2.5 pounds per barrel, RPM IPA focuses on extreme hoppiness rather that bitterness. It’s golden to copper in color with a complex malt profile that will not overshadow the hops. Our flagship, RPM IPA, will satisfy any opinionated hop forward IPA consumer.”

Picture via Seattle PI’s Beer Blotter

McMenamin’s Ruby Ale

This one is my choice. It is the girl beer of all girl beers. Light pink in color, with raspberry notes (I definitely think grapefruit, but I guess I can’t argue with the brewers!), this beer is a super easy drinker, and again, it’s pink. Sold!

From the website: “One of our most popular standards, we still make Ruby with the same aims we had when brewing the first batch back in March 1986: To create an ale light, crisp and refreshingly fruity. Great Western Premium 2-row and 42 pounds of Oregon-grown and processed raspberry puree is used to craft every colorful batch. Simple but delicious. Taste the original!”

Picture via McMenamins

These two will be our “featured drinks” of sorts. Due to venue restrictions, we won’t be serving hard liquor, and Mr. O and I aren’t huge wine people (although we’ll still be offering plenty of it at the wedding). We want to celebrate a little bit of Bend culture, and figured that by featuring two of Bend’s best and most famous brews as our signature drinks, we will be accomplishing that. We’ve talked a little bit about offering up some beer cocktails (maybe a radler, shandy, or something else? Any ideas?), which we think could add a fun element to the beer. At the end of the day, though, these two can totally stand alone.

How did you incorporate some hometown lovto your wedding?

• alcohol
• vida

Miss Orca

Related Posts

A Pretentious Palette

E-Pics Round One: An Engagement Session Bust

Our Whale-Sized Appetites (And How We’re Going to Satisfy Them)

Engagement Pictures Round Two: Redemption!