Submitted photos Features of the new Bend Ale Trail App. The app is in the final phases of testing and will be launched soon on iOS and Android platforms.

The Bend Ale Trail will be getting a revamp in the next couple of weeks, including an updated smartphone application and two new breweries.

Doug La Placa, CEO of Visit Bend, the tourism promotion agency that came up with the Ale Trail, said at the agency’s board meeting Tuesday that the update would expand the map to include Sunriver Brewing Co. and Wild Ride Brewing in Redmond.

He added that the release, which is expected to occur in about two weeks, will be available for iOS and Android platforms.

“It’s been completely redesigned, and it’s far more user-friendly,” La Placa said.

The application initially came out in February 2011, making Visit Bend the first tourism promotion agency in the region to offer a smartphone application, according to The Bulletin’s archives. The app, which came out eight months after the Ale Trailmade its debut, helped the trail become a local sensation. To date, almost 17,000 people have completed the trail, which contains 14 breweries.

“More and more we’re seeing people using the app over the physical maps,” La Placa said.

However, Nate Wyeth, marketing director for Visit Bend, said there’s still room for improvement. The existing app offers a mix of features ranging from an Ale Trail quiz to a list of taxi companies, in addition to the interactive map at the app’s centerpiece.

Wyeth said the scattershot approach works against the app. Though very few features will be cut during the update, he said, the interface will be much more streamlined for users.

“The last one was mediocre at doing a lot of different things,” Wyeth said. “This one’s focused on doing a few things well.”

La Placa said the new app would feature more detailed information on the breweries themselves and a more usable map interface. Wyeth added there would be a passport system where users can check in at different breweries, similar to the popular beer app Untappd.

For the two breweries being added, it’s a chance to bring areas that are off the beaten path of Central Oregon’s beer scene onto the trail. Both new breweries are outside Bend’s city limits. By contrast, one brewery on the existing app — Three Creeks Brewing in Sisters — is outside Bend.

“People should get out of Bend to see some great breweries if they get a chance,” said Brian Mitchell, co-owner of Wild Ride Brewing.

The Redmond brewery was founded last May, with a taproom in downtown Redmond serviced by a collection of food trucks. Still, Mitchell said being on the Ale Trail should help raise the brewery’s profile.

“We’ve always been big fans of the Ale Trail,” Mitchell said. “So for us to qualify for that is exciting.”

At Sunriver Brewing Co., sales director Ryan Duley said becoming part of the Ale Trail is a natural fit, because a lot of visitors assumed that it was already on the passport.

“We had quite a few people come in and try to get a stamp anyway,” Duley said. “And we started having fun with it and using our address stamp.”

—Reporter: 541-617-7818,

shamway@bendbulletin.com