As if you didn’t already know—you profoundly educated local beer drinker, you—Bend, Oregon has 23 breweries in a town of roughly 81,000 inhabitants. Saving you the math, this means Bend has more craft breweries per capita than any other city in the United States and holds the crown as “Beer Town USA.” One of the city’s esteemed establishments is Silver Moon Brewing, which started as Bend’s first brew shop and evolved into the city’s third brewery and tasting room (and the only brewery that doubled as a speakeasy). Current owners Tyler Reichert, Matt Barrett and James Watts took over the brewery in 2013, breathing new life into the historical Bend beer stop, including branding “which signifies the new lunar phase in Silver Moon’s journey.”
With nearly three dozen rotating beers (including their staple offerings and their “Icon Series,” which celebrates “the companies, destinations and organizations of Central Oregon that define” the brewery), Silver Moon’s Hop Nob India Pale Ale is a standout among the selection. Built on Columbus, Cascade and Centennial hops (the three C’s of Northwest brewing), sweet and toasted malts balance the scales of this hyper-hopped aromatic ale. Obvious citrus sticks out, with floral and spiced notes to back it, both on the nose and palate, finishing round but sessionable and clean.
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