This year we had a great time celebrating the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and ‘ol Saint Patrick, while tasting beers all over Bend, Oregon. What St. Patrick’s day would be complete without the lifting of Lenten restriction? With over nine breweries Bend could possibly be the perfect town to celebrate the occasion west of the Mississippi!

We began the day’s festivities with a Deschutes Red Chair at Mt. Bachelor. There is something about being so close to the actual “Red Chair” lift that makes you crave the sweet/bitter awesomeness!  After one down we hit the lift and proceeded to have one of the best days on the hill yet! The powder was deep, and the snow kept falling.  Apparently, there were hidden pots of gold scattered across the mountain. We had no luck finding any, though.  My childhood friend, David, was visiting from South Carolina, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day to bring him up.

After a few good runs, we headed back down the mountain and straight to Boneyard Beer.  We got a hint the day before when filling a growler of Armored Fist, that they would be debuting Sug Knite in their tasting room. Sug Knite apparently has an ABV of 13% and will literally hang you over the balcony and shake your socks off! Not only was it potent, but oh so very rich and tasty! While at Boneyard we had the luck of witnessing the first growler of Sug Knite ever sold! It really was like finding a pot of gold. At first there was some debate over letting so much of the precious darkness escape to a single pair of hands, but then we heard the OK from the brewers in the back warehouse. In celebration we managed to get another taster (limited to 1) and took a picture to capture this piece of beer history.

The crew at Boneyard were great, and I highly recommend you visit the brewery on Wednesdays for $6 growlers! Plus, the atmosphere is great, and allows for a quick taste or two, or three… After the thorough beating by Sug Knite we headed home to prepare for the evening. Little did we know we would be back for one more round of Sug Knite before hitting some other spots in Bend.