“The Kids” have been in St. Louis for a while but have never had the opportunity to do any sightseeing. Since the Deschutes Brewery team was in town for Base Camp Week, we decided to put on the sunscreen and take the camera out on the town to learn about a few famous landmarks that makes St. Louis so special.

As a brewer at Deschutes Brewery, I’m often amazed by the array of assignments a workweek can entail.

For example, a random sampling could reveal a day like this:

We descended into the malt room with apprehension and dust masks. How long was this going to take? It was time for a deep clean of our malt room, a three-story nightmare with décor part dungeon/part warehouse. Here, malt is stored and transported to different areas of the brewery which creates endless dust that settles on and saturates everything. No piece of machinery, wall or floor surface is spared from this seemingly permanent residue from brews past. This is basic grunt work, hands and knees floor scrubbing, vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, no degree or experience necessary. Yet it was a team effort with everyone pitching in from Brewmasters to interns. Four hours later we ran out of pizza and had funny coughs. This is part of being a brewer.

photo caption: Brewer Brent Baughman hates dust and Summer Shandy's

A random sampling could also reveal a day like this:

To celebrate our 25th Anniversary and in honor of our two flagship beers, we’re hosting a Black Butte to Mirror Pond Bike Ride on Saturday, June 22nd, 2013. Honestly, this is one ride you shouldn’t miss! We’ll start at Black Butte Ranch and wind our way along the dirt roads behind Sisters until we reach Mirror Pond at Drake Park in downtown Bend. Register for the ride here.

Last Friday we had the privilege of watching the powerful and talented Laura Gibson perform at our pub in Bend. Laura’s performance was the last stop on our monthly First Friday Art Walk and she helped us kick off the release of our well-loved Twilight Summer Ale. Laura’s roots run deep in our own backyard: she spent this past February at Caldera in the mountains of Central Oregon, writing and reflecting on her work. Last summer we traveled with her out to Smith Rock to record the third installment of Deschutes River Recordings, a unique partnership between Northwest musicians and the Deschutes River Conservancy to create songs by the river, for the river. We were thrilled to welcome her back to Bend to perform the latest from her album La Grande (aptly named after a small town in Eastern Oregon).

In the third installment of Deschutes River Recordings we traveled to Smith Rock, a mecca for rock climbers and adventurists alike, with singer and songwriter Laura Gibson.

This week we released the second episode of Deschutes River Recordings, featuring Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley. Eric performed “Up on Cripple Creek” right along the Metolius River, a tributary of the Deschutes, located not far from our home base in Bend, Oregon.

Eric, a native Oregonian and Portland resident, has always had close ties to the river. Tucked away in Oregon’s southeast corner is the Donner und Blitzen River, the inspiration for his band’s name. German soldiers crossed the remote river during a thunderstorm and aptly named it Donner und Blitzen (thunder and lightning). Before his success, Eric bounced around different rehearsal spaces, staying with friends, and was, as he describes, “basically homeless.” Often, he found himself wandering along the banks of the Willamette River in Portland, which inspired the story for “Black River Killer” off the album Furr. The catchy ballad recounts a murderer’s journey from the Sunset Strip up to Oregon. In another song off the band’s latest album American Goldwing, Eric croons, “I’m weary from this river, it flows far, but never nearer to my home,” challenging the notion of the river as place of respite.

Do you ever seek out the river (or lake or ocean) to relax and unwind? Join us to celebrate our partnership with the Deschutes River Conservancy by snapping a photo of your favorite body of water. Upload the photo to Instagram with the hashtag #fortheriver.

Over the last six months we’ve been working hard to create the Deschutes River Recordings, a unique partnership between musician and cause. We’re dedicated to keeping the Deschutes River healthy and clean and to supporting independent music in the Northwest, so this summer we invited Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats, Laura Gibson, and Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper to Central Oregon to perform river-inspired songs along our beloved waterway.

We’re incredibly proud of this collaboration and we’re thrilled to present you with the first in the Deschutes River Recording series: Eric D. Johnson performing “Ballad of Easy Rider.” The original song, performed by The Byrds and written by Roger McGuillan and Bob Dylan, is upbeat and lighthearted, but Eric slows way down on his epic ballad. Contemplative and almost spiritual, this song echoes our deep connection and respect for the river.

We're bringing our Base Camp shenanigans to the Twin Cities for an amazing week of specialty beer tastings, beer and food pairings, and appearances by Woody, our giant beer barrel on wheels. Deschutes brewers, ambassadors and fanatics will be on hand to provide some in-the-trenches insight into our courageously crafted brews.