As any homebrewer knows, it’s easy to drink and love craft beer — but much harder to make it.
That’s why at Immersion Brewing in Bend — a full-scale brewpub with food and 30 beers on tap — there’s also an one-of-a-kind brew-it-yourself experience that lets you brew and take home your very own Oregon craft beer. No equipment set-up or cleanup necessary.
After you book a time slot (come on your own or with friends; a party of four is ideal), choose from one of the 30 beer recipes available — everything from holiday ales and porters to IPAs and lighter lagers.
Then, “just measure the ingredients, start the boil and start to make the beer,” says Sean Lampe, a longtime homebrewer who in May 2016 launched the 10-barrel brewery with his wife, Amanda Plattner and sister-in-law Rachael Plattner. The brewpub is located in Bend’s Old Mill District, not far from Crux Fermentation Project and other hotspots on the Bend Ale Trail.
Beer takes about two to three weeks to ferment, so on your return trip, the beer will be carbonated and ready for you to bottle into a case of 22-ounce bottles, with your own custom label that you can design in-shop. The whole experience costs between $180 and $220 per kettle (which produces about 5 gallons of beer), depending on what recipe you choose. It’s inclusive of everything, including the ingredients, bottling session and brewer assistance.
Not unlike cooking, “it’s like building a sauce — condensing flavors, adding different hops at different times for different taste profiles,” says Lampe, who taught himself to homebrew while in college in Boulder, Colorado. He and his wife moved to Bend in 2012 to join the burgeoning beer scene, and to share their love of craft brewing with the masses.
“We wanted to focus on the experience, and the fact that anybody can come in and do it,” he says. “It’s the creation of something many people can enjoy.”
For more information about B-I-Y (Brew-It-Yourself) at Immersion Brewing, including the beer list and pricing, click here.
