Get ready to raise a pint and toast all things craft beer for the 15th annual Bend Brewfest, scheduled for August 10-12 (12pm –11pm) at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend.
Traditionally held the third weekend of August in Bend’s Old Mill District, this year’s event was moved up a week to avoid the highly anticipated solar eclipse, which will pass over Central Oregon on August 21.
The Bend Brewfest showcases some of the most innovative breweries in the country, large and small. West Coast heavyweights Deschutes, Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada will once again be at the Bend Brewfest, as will regional favorites like Crux, pFriem, Fremont and Hopworks Urban Brewery. Craft beer aficionados will have the chance to sample some of the Pacific Northwest’s smaller standouts such as Sedition Brewing of The Dalles, Oregon; Ashtown Brewing from Longview, Washington and Incline Cider Company of Auburn, Washington. Overall, more than 200 beers, ciders and wine will be showcased during the festival.
One of the yearly highlights at the Bend Brewfest is its X-Tap program. Essentially a specialty beer festival within the Bend Brewfest itself, the X-Tap program is reserved for small batch and experimental beers. The X-Taps are where festival goers can indulge in big barrel-aged beers like Anderson Valley’s Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Aged Salted Caramel Porter or Deschutes Brewery’s Black Butte XXVII, both of which will be on tap at this year’s Brewfest.
The 2017 X-Tap program includes a number of hard-to-find sour and farmhouse ales, such as pFriem’s Kumquat Farmhouse Ale, Buoy’s Benedict Cumberbatch and Boneyard’s Gooze Cruze. Approximately fourty breweries and cider houses are participating in this year’s X-Tap program.
When visitors drink beer at the Bend Brewfest, they’re helping the community. This year’s charity beneficiaries will be the Deschutes River Conservancy, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon, NeighborImpact and the Bend Fire Community Assistance Program.
More than 1,000 volunteers power the Brewfest. To be become a volunteer, visit the website and sign up for a four-hour shift. In addition to having a great time while helping several great causes, you’ll receive a T-shirt, mug and tasting tokens.