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bend ale trail

Tapped Out: The Bend Ale Trail

Bend, Oregon is one of our favorite towns from 2013 and one we consider to be almost perfect.  They have everything we look for in a city.  A vibrant downtown, great farmers markets, an endless array of outdoor activities, lovely campgrounds, great eateries and loads of great beer.

The city is jam packed with craft breweries; 11 of them and growing!  They claim to have more breweries per capita than any other city in Oregon and even garnered the title ofBeer Town USA because it ‘s you versus beer in Bend”.  Which we absolutely took as a challenge!

bend ale trail

The clever marketing people of Bend came up with what has to be our favorite tourist activity yet, The Bend Ale Trail.

You stop into the visitor’s center to pick up a passport or download the app on your smart phone and the drinking commences.  With each brewery stop you get a stamp on your passport and once you have visited all 11, you get one of these nifty little sili pints (although its not a real pint, more of a taster).

The part that made this so challenging for us is that we had to make it happen within two days!  Even for us, it was a lot of beer tastings!

Now, of course there are other crafty was to get around the Ale Trail.  We looked into some of the tour companies who will do the navigating for you…pedicab, Bend Brew Bus, Cowboy Carriage Company or our favorite the Cycle Pub of Bend (a bicycle made for 16 people).  Unfortunately, they were all booked solid!  (note to self, book ahead on next visit)  At first the idea of hoofing it to each brewery seemed daunting…then we quickly realized we needed the break in between!

bend ale trail

So, two days and eleven breweries later, it was the only time in our life that we truly felt defeated.  We considered hitting up the brewery in Sisters for the additional bonus stamp and prize but we were officially tapped out!  We had sipped and savored as much as our taste buds could handle.

I bet you’re wondering if it was worth it and if there were any smack you in the face amazing brews?  The answer is yes and yes!  When I said it was our favorite tourist activity yet, I wasn’t exaggerating.  We got to know a lot about bend, the people and walked our way through most of the town.  Of course there was one stand out brewery that had us wishing they mass produced.  Crux brews were like nothing else we’ve had and even though we don’t generally stock up on anything, we bought as much as we thought we could store and afford!

Have you been to Bend?  Did you take on the ale trail?  Tell us all about it in the comments below.

Hello there! I honestly don’t know what to say, so I am going to tell you a bunch of random facts instead. I'm a fish eating vegetarian who hates spiders and loves snakes. I almost never took vacations growing up. I wanted to be Pippi Longstocking (still do). I misspell about every other word I write and still struggle with grammar. I love splurging on a good high tea (which is really hard to find these days). And whatever you do, don’t tell me I can’t do something, because then I'll HAVE to do it!

Comments (31)

  • This puts Bend on our map then, thanks for the suggestion and thanks for inspiring us to go fulltime as well.

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  • Aaron W

    Hey Wynss met Jason in Florence at Thousand Trails during a video shoot. We live in Bend and we are at 16 breweries with 7 more in the works. I enjoy most of the brews in our town and usually do the samplers just so I can sample from IPA’s to the robust dark brews.

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  • We LOVE Bend as well and are so grateful to have friends who live there (and in Sisters too). Great, great music scene, lots of culture and tons of beer. We’ll be heading back there this fall to hang out with our crazy friends (one works for the Parks dept)…funny thing is, we met all of the Bend folks while on a music cruise a few years ago (Cayamo) and they’ve become some of out closest and dearest friends.

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  • Brent

    Nikki and Jason are on to something with Crux Fermentation Project. Great Beer, good food and great yard for your dog.

    My wife and I did the Ale trail on our bikes over two days. Very easy to do if you drink the less potent beers. The neat thing is trying some of the beers that aren’t bottled or canned. Deschutes has a Bitter in town that is dynamite.

    Finally, my favorite part about Bend’s beer scene is the growler fill stations in the gas stations. Awesome for camping. Fill two and head for the mountains!

    Get to Bend! You’ll be glad you did.

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  • Mary. Van

    Have not done Bend but visited many in Portland and Hood. Does Bend have the largest number of craft breweries in the US?

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    • It’s difficult to say who has the largest number of craft breweries because there’s new ones opening up in beer towns all over! I know Bend calls itself “BeerTown USA” but who really knows if they’re #1 “per capita” or not. One things for sure we’ll keep searching and tasting all the way across the USA!

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  • I’m so glad you enjoyed our city!! I did the Ale Trail as my last indulgence when my doctor said to give up gluten. Three days and a distended belly later, was it worth it? Absolutely. Deschutes Brewery makes a tasty gluten free beer, and Bend has new cider companies in the mix too. Let me know if you ever roll back through – we can raise a glass together. Jodie Barram, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Bend

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    • Jodie
      We would be honored to share a pint with you. We too have friends who are Gluten intolerant and love beer…thank goodness for micro breweries who listen to their customers! Bend is such a wonderful city, it’s one of those places that kinda makes us consider settling down. Keep up the great work, as you can tell from the comments in this post (and our other Bend Post https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/best-of-bend-oregon) a lot of other travelers agree that Bend is almost perfect.
      Thank you for taking the time to reach out and say hello.

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  • Nice write up! By the way, we in Bend have a LOT more than 11 breweries. That is just the number on the Bend Ale Trail, for which a brewery has to be in business for at least a year. Late this year a couple more were added and we’ve had a good 6 or so open in the last 6 months; all in Bend. There are several more in the nearby surrounding area. We are over 20 in Bend and the total is almost anybody’s guess anymore since it changes so frequently.

    Cheers! Hope you can make it back sometime.

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    • Mark,
      All the more reason to come back 🙂 Thanks for the update. We also want to float the river using a blow up mattress (with a case of beer on board of course) like we saw several of the locals doing. What a great place.

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  • We enjoyed the month of September in Bend . Doing the Ale Trail was great… I think my favorites were 10 Barrel, Crux Fermentation and of course McMenamins. Loved all the great hiking and tons of things to do. See you on the road in the future. Hans and Lisa

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    • Hans you’ve nailed it, Bend is such a wonderful place we can’t wait to go back. Hope we can run into you guys again…but it’s going to be difficult to top our last chance meeting with its javelina’s and snow capped cacti in Tucson!

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  • Todd Britton

    Haven’t been to Bend…yet. Sounds great though. I notice that you’re in Louisville, KY. If you have time and inclination, we enjoyed both the Mammoth Caves national park and even more, the Bourbon Trail. Your Ale Trail and current location sparked my memory. Even if you’re not a Bourbon fan…yet, its a fun trek. Enjoy and good luck with the new RV!

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  • Irene Petree

    I loved Bend! I visited there several years ago and absolutely love the area. I was with a group of friends and we didn’t know about the Ale Trail; I would have been sampling if I’d known about it! Gives me something to look forward to if/when I can get back there! Great pictures as usual you two!

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  • Pam

    Are you camped out in Bend? Was this fun within walking distance of the RV park?

    We don’t drink and drive so it’s always a special treat when can find an RV park that allows us to walk to the drinks and then back to the RV.

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    • We visited Bend in early Summer 2013. Unfortunately the ale trail is 30 minutes from the campground so you’ll be forced to drive if you want to taste on draught. We just drank a bit in the early part of the day, then enjoyed the city for several hours while we “sobered” up. Trust me there’s more than enough to see and do while you wait for that buzz to slip away.
      If you don’t want to drink and drive in the same day just go in and buy a bottle or two to go, then party back at the campground.

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  • Sounds like my kind of town! I’ve never been to Bend, but have had several beers from the area. It’s on our list for next year.

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  • Stella MacDonald

    We’ve been to Bend but know nothing about the Ale trail….something to look forward to when we head south! Thanks for all the great tips and lists of places to go.

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  • I love microbreweries! I’ll bet y’all had fun doing all 11 of them in two days! Woohoo…
    Now we have a good reason to visit Bend, OR. Looks like a very friendly place too.

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    • Bend is AWESOME! It’s on our top “settle down” list…if that ever happens 🙂

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  • We were in Bend in August. I was really looking forward to it but unfortunately morning sickness hit hard. I spent the majority of our time there curled up in bed. The Ale Trail sounds fun though and as usual great pics!

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  • We loved Bend! Definitely one of our favorite stops from our trip. Congratulations on your new Fleetwood adventure by the way – I can’t wait to here all about it! Are you still planning to travel to Florida? Would love to see you if you make it to the panhandle!

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    • Jen we’re hoping to hit FL…at least the panhandle in 2014. We want to come visit you in Grayton Beach for sure. We’ll be updating our map and schedule soon.

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  • My town LOVE IT ! I’m a second generation girl but I did take a 20 year break but moved home again in 1994 : )

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  • “Have I been to Bend?” ….yup – one amazing place – stopped there on my own RV journey on the way to the coast. “ale trail?…yup – tried to get to them all but failed – just another reason to go back 🙂 sadly had to come off the road when the funds ran out 🙁 but Bend stands out as one of those places that I can see relocating to one day

    http://bunkhousetales.com/?p=1982

    and Crux was outstanding

    http://bunkhousetales.com/?p=2014

    amazing country

    http://bunkhousetales.com/?p=2043

    enjoy your journey – wish I was still out there !!

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  • Brenda

    Ah, Bend! I grew up in Oregon (other side of the mountain from Bend). Now I live in FL. NOT the same :-(. Glad you’re enjoying the state of my birth. It’s definitely the place to go for micro-breweries.

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    • Irene Petree

      Sorry, Brenda! I lived in S. Florida for 17 years! Hot, flat, and humid! You’re right – it sure isn’t the same as Bend, OR. I loved the wide open spaces with the mountains on the horizon. I absolutely loved the High Desert Museum – would love to go back! And I’ll check out the micro breweries when I do!

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