Baker City’s second brewery, the Bull Ridge Brewpub that I first blogged about nearly a year ago, is now officially brewing beer! I noticed the updates on their Facebook page (here and here) which read:

WE ARE OFFICIAL!!!!! We have been granted the Authority to Operate by the OLCC, and with our other licensing in place, we are officially TODAY a Brewery Public House!! Walter will start brewing next Tuesday in anticipation of our first beer that will be made available to our friends attending the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally! Walter will be brewing up a Hells Canyon Road Rash Ale and Hells Canyon Chrome. We can’t wait!!  [May 17]

Mmmmmmmmm…..the smell of beer brewing! Walter has been brewing in the brewhouse all day today and the smell is in the air! Until our 7bbl system arrives later this summer, he is using a smaller set-up just so we can get started! ~Cheers!!  [May 24]

I shot off a message to the Brewpub and owner Julie Blank got back to me to confirm that they are indeed officially brewing and those first two batches will be for the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally which takes place from June 8-11. Head Brewer Walter Bourque is also working on a lighter beer that sounds to be appropriate for summer.

Also take note of the detail in the May 24 update—they don’t have their 7bbl brewing system in yet, so they’re brewing on something considerably smaller (and it’s important to note that because of the smaller system, the beer will be limited to what they currently have on hand—they don’t yet have the capacity (or time) to do otherwise). This interests me greatly, because in my mind I’m envisioning something like a 10 or 15 gallon (home)brewing setup—which would surely make them one of the smallest official breweries out there. Once I find out for sure I’ll post the update.

In the meantime if you’re in or around Baker City, stop on in and check out the beer!