Tetherow’s Sixth Annual Brewery Smackdown Crowns New Champion

Boneyard and Wild Ride Defeat Reigning Titleholders Crux and Silver Moon

Tetherow’s sixth annual Brewery Smackdown on Feb. 7 featured fierce competition between four of Central Oregon’s most beloved breweries. Boneyard Brewing of Bend, Ore. and Wild Ride Brewing of Redmond, Ore. narrowly defeated reigning champions Crux Fermentation Project and Silver Moon Brewing, also of Bend, Ore., with a single vote in the last round.

The Brewery Smackdown is one of Tetherow’s most popular events of the year, with guests receiving dishes prepared by the resort’s culinary team and two blind beer tasters per round provided by participating breweries. Over the course of five rounds, it’s up to guests, brewers and distributors to crown a winner. This year’s menu featured food from local purveyors including Rogue Creamery, Aloha Produce, Pacific Seafood, Market of Choice, Local Culture, S&P Provisions and Laird Superfood Coffee.

To kick off the night, the Tetherow culinary team served a delectable cheese platter of smoked and aged cheeses, cooked fruit, crackers and homemade bread. Torn between the accompanying beverages, guests worked hard to choose which flavors complemented the cheese dish best. Voting didn’t get any easier as the night progressed, with the second and third course featuring seared scallops with a yam potato blini and duck and Morel pâté with beet sauerkraut, respectively. Throughout the night, guests were delighted to mingle with other beer aficionados, sharing their thoughts on the creative pairings. The fourth round, a sous vide lamb chop with sunchoke purée, was a crowd pleaser and had guests quiet with mouths watering. Unlike previous years where winners were made clear within the first several rounds, this year’s competition was a close race, with both teams tied until the very last round. The final course was a heavenly dessert trio of chocolate espresso mousse, ganache brownies and hoppy caramel chocolates.

Boneyard and Wild Ride ended with a one-vote victory in the dessert round, giving them the edge and an overall victory over Crux and Silver Moon, who in previous years, crushed the competition with landslide victories. This was the first year that Boneyard and Wild Ride participated in the pairing challenge and each team brought forth their best beers and guests waffled over their votes. This win over the long-time champions marked a monumental changing of the guards.