Retirement community’s IPA brew to help Alzheimer’s Association

BEND, Ore. – Three weeks ago, Joe Reeves peered into the small-batch kettle at Worthy Brewing Company’s east Bend production facility and watched 155 gallons of the Aspen Ridge Retirement Community’s Machine Gun Maggie Imperial IPA boil at a steady clip.

“The whole turnaround on this system is really fast,” said Reeves, who was blown away by the speed and efficiency of Worthy’s system, especially when compared to the system Aspen Ridge’s brew crew uses to make a 10-gallon batch of beer.

Earlier this fall, Aspen Ridge, Worthy and the Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization teamed up to make 300 gallons of Machine Gun Maggie, a potent, hoppy beer (11 percent ABV, 100+ IBUs) that won “Best in Show” at the Deschutes County Fair and several other awards this summer.

They’ll be selling the beer in pints and bottles at Worthy and four other Bend establishments on Tuesday to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.

“What better way to raise money in Bend?” asked Aspen Ridge spokeswoman Shelbie Deuser, who said the facility’s brew crew, staff and parent company, Frontier Management, saw the collaboration as the perfect way to thank the Alzheimer’s Association for all of its help.

In search of an activity that didn’t fit the traditional retirement-community vibe, Aspen Ridge’s managers reached out to the Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization two years ago about setting up a homebrewing demonstration at their Purcell Drive facility. The idea took off and, led by Reeves and a handful of other residents, the Aspen Ridge Brew Crew now makes enough beer to fill 18 six-packs every couple of months.

The program has been copied by at least one other retirement community since then. It has also won enough ribbons – including the fair’s “Best in Show” and two awards from the Oregon State Fair – to fill a wall in a room that serves as the retirement community’s unofficial brewpub.

COHO Vice President Tim Koester, who helped Aspen Ridge start brewing and teaches Central Oregon Community College’s homebrewing courses, said the Worthy collaboration came about because “Aspen Ridge wanted to give back to the Alzheimer’s Association” and thought selling its beer would be a good way to do it.

But that proved to be easier said than done, Koester said, because Oregon Liquor Control Commission regulations bar homebrewers from selling their beer. So a pro-am collaboration – professional brewers using their equipment to make an amateur brewer’s recipe – seemed like the best way to get it done, he said.

Worthy jumped at the opportunity. CEO Chris Hodge said this project marks the third time Worthy has partnered with a nonprofit organization to raise money by making beer.

Worthy isn’t the only local brewery that has teamed up with a nonprofit organization for a collaborative project. Silver Moon Brewing has made custom labels for bottles of its most popular beers for groups like Kids in the Game, the Wildland Firefighters Association and the Deschutes County Search and Rescue Association.

Silver Moon owner James Watts said these groups can then turn around and sell the custom-labeled beers for $10 to $20 apiece – two or three times their normal retail price – at fundraisers and special events that his brewpub is more than willing to host.

“This is Bend’s version of a bake sale,” Watts said Friday.