It’s no secret that Bend’s Silver Moon Brewing has been building a 30-barrel production brewery in the nearby town of Redmond—I’ve written about it before, here—but there hadn’t been official word on the new facility and their plans for it, until now. In conjunction with their Grand Opening and One Beard to Rule Them All event, Silver Moon has issued the first press release that talks about the expansion.

Here it is in full:

Silver Moon Brewing, a longstanding craft brewery based in Bend, Oregon, announces that the doors will soon open on a new, 15,000-square foot brewery, just north of its current facility in the neighboring town of Redmond. A Grand Opening, featuring the annual One Beard to Rule Them All event, will take place in the new brewery the night of November 20th. All friends, fans and supporters are encouraged to join. The new location supports the company’s goals to reach the growing market of craft consumers in the current territories of Oregon and Washington, and future territories of California and Idaho.

Silver Moon’s newest creation, “IPA 97” will lead the charge for growth in all regions, and was just named “Best IPA in Bend” among a field of fellow Bend breweries at a recent 80th Anniversary event at Bend’s iconic Pine Tavern Restaurant, dubbed the “PT80”. Matt Barrett, President and Co-Owner of Silver Moon said “needless to say, in a field of some fantastic craft beers here in Central Oregon we were thrilled to take top honors at the Pine Tavern last month. The blind tasting format was a great way for judges to really focus on picking a true stand-out beer, and not simply align with brands they are most familiar with. It’s a terrific beer, we felt pretty good about it going in to the event.”

The third oldest brewery in Bend, Silver Moon Brewing was acquired by Matt Barrett and James Watts just over two years ago. Their goal was to elevate the brand, increase production and continue the string of awards the brewery has enjoyed over its many years in the industry. The pair have focused on innovative marketing and messaging, while preserving the history and local roots of the company. “The local craft beer community in Central Oregon spans well beyond the Bend City limits,” said Watts. “We have some great friends at fellow breweries in Sisters, Sun River and Redmond, so the move to Redmond positions us nicely in a nearby community that is rapidly gaining the respect of craft beer lovers. Our Bend presence won’t go away, that will always be worldwide headquarters for Silver Moon.”

More big news for Silver Moon Brewing will follow in January, as the brewery provides specifics to the market around the launch of canned products. Award winners IPA 97 and Get Sum Pale Ale, along with another new brand Chapter 2 Session Ale, will be offered in 12 ounce 6-pack format. This new package will be on shelves and available in the first quarter of 2016. Other favorites such as Snake Bite Porter, VooDoo Dog India Session Red and a collection of Seasonals and Alpha Project specialties will continue in the current 22 ounce bottle format. The company will close 2015 at approximately 2,100 barrels produced, and can immediately increase production by an additional 6,000 barrels when the new facility comes online in December. Barrel-aged beers and a new venture into Sours will follow in 2016 as well.

That IPA 97 is a really nice beer, created by head brewer Jeff Schauland earlier this year, and I was one of the judges at the Pine Tavern restaurant’s PT80 event that ultimately selected IPA 97 as the winning beer in a blind judging.

It’s also important to note that the original Bend brewery and restaurant/tap room is not closing or going anywhere; it will still be the primary outlet for Silver Moon’s beers and the 10-barrel system they currently have will likely be used for specialty brews and recipe development.

The Grand Opening and One Beard to Rule Them All coming up on the 20th is going to be a big night, with a portion of the proceeds going to the St. Charles Foundation to aid in prostate cancer prevention and research, and in addition to live music there will be:

• Best real and fake beard competition
  
• Best real and fake mustache competition
  
• $4,000 in prizes & cash for winners!
  
• raffle prizes
  
• games
  
• announcement of our Home Brew Contest Winner!
  
• Maui Wowie, a local fan-favorite imperial IPA

And if you don’t want to or cannot drive to Redmond, The Bend Trolley will be providing free shuttle rides between the Bend and Redmond breweries. Register and reserve your shuttle ride here.

It’s going to be a big night so make sure to join Silver Moon Brewing at their new production brewery on Friday, November 20!