We have been to Deschutes Portland Pub a few times, and even had the chance to go behind the scenes to see their brewing operations. The Portland Pub is a relatively small brewery that basically produces the beer consumed onsite. Our trip to Bend gave us the opportunity to visit the main Deschutes Brewery. As you are aware, we love the brewery tours. You'd think you've seen one brewery, you've seen them all. But that's false! Each brewery has different arrangements and philosophies They also vary on size and volume, and have different tour guides. Even some of our repeat tours are different because the breweries increase in size or upgrade equipment.
But back to Deschutes... the first picture shows the brewing kettles (we love stainless steel). To avoid getting particles stuck in seams, each kettle is fabricated in one giant piece. This caused a challenge to Deschutes - how to get these kettles over the Cascades and into Bend. With some careful transportation and temporary closing of highways, they made it. Here are some other interesting facts:
The Deschutes tour took us past their lab where they cultivate and test their yeast strains. Deschutes sets out to make English style ales so they do add minerals to their water to match the type of water that occurs naturally in England.
Every bottle of Deschutes beer comes from this line.
The best part of any tour is of course the tasting. We were lucky enough to get to try several of their seasonal brews, including Hope in the Dark, but of their year round selections our favorites are Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Green Lakes Organic Ale, and Obsidian Stout.
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