Baker County Tourism / Submitted photoBarley Brown's Beer in Baker City has won eight medals at the past two Great American Beer Festivals in Denver.

BAKER CITY —

The hipsters have spoken.

Earlier this month, Barley Brown’s Pallet Jack IPA won a month-long blind taste test of Oregon IPAs at Portland’s Hawthorne Hophouse. The big-city win earned Barley Brown’s Beer, based in Baker City, the title of Oregon’s Best IPA and, more importantly, a handle at the Hophouse for the next year.

The victory confirms what beer lovers on the east side of the Cascades have known for the past few years: Barley Brown’s is making some of the best beers in the state.

“It’s never been about winning awards,” says Tori Brown, Barley Brown’s marketing director and daughter of brewery founder Tyler Brown. “Over the past few years, we’ve become more and more well-known.”

In business since 1998, Barley Brown’s started as a small brewpub with a four-barrel brewing system that made just enough beer to keep the locals happy. That beer was good, though, and eventually Tyler Brown started trucking his product to other parts of the state.

Venerable Portland taphouses like the Horse Brass, Apex Bar and Belmont Station began reserving tap handles for Brown’s beers and demand skyrocketed. Brother Jon’s and the Platypus Pub were earlier converts here in Bend.

Looking to grow, the brewery bought an old Safeway across the street from the original pub and in 2013 opened Barley Brown’s Taphouse, a modern industrial space that houses a 20-barrel brewing system. The expansion came just in time, as Barley Brown’s won four medals, including two golds, at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, where it was named Small Brewery of the Year.

The word was out. And the brewery followed that performance up with four more medals — and two more golds — last year.

“We hadn’t even opened the taphouse when we sent those beers in,” says Tori Brown, whose brewery is now making about 360 barrels of beer per month, up from approximately 20 per month when it was just the brewpub. “That brought a lot of people — and media — in.”

Rightfully so. As a proud member of the beer paparazzi, I’ve been itching to make a trip to Baker City for the past few years. I recently made the 460-mile round-trip jaunt, and I don’t think this is the sample tray talking: It’s well worth the drive.

First of all, and I don’t think this is too beer-geeky, swing by both the taphouse and the brewpub, each of which has its own vibe and beers. The taphouse, a 21-and-over establishment, has a sleek industrial feel, similar to Crux or GoodLife in Bend. This is the place that sees beer tourists and boasts bartenders who can talk about GABF medals and single-batch experimentation. Sample trays rule the day.

At the taphouse, my favorite brews were the Cerveza Negra Caliente, a winter jalapeño ale; Breakfast Stout, brewed with locally roasted coffee; and, even though you can get it just about anywhere Barley Brown’s distributes, Pallet Jack IPA. It really is the best IPA in the state.

The original brewpub across the street is a completely different experience, and that’s a good thing. The birthplace of Barley Brown’s, the pub has more of a local feel, reminiscent of Deschutes Brewery’s downtown pub before its expansion. I sat at the bar and ate my Death Burger — two patties with ham, swiss, secret sauce, and fried onion straws — and had a beer, Point Blank Red, that wasn’t available at the taphouse. Next to me a group of pals ending the workday with pints of Bud Light, which the Browns keep on tap for locals that haven’t made the jump to microbrews but enjoy a friendly bar. (You can also have food from the pub delivered to the taphouse.)

It’s the best of both worlds, located just a few hours from Bend — to the east, not the west.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, beastes@bendbulletin.com