NorthWest Crossing Resident Plans to Start Up New Brewery

According to a recent article published in The Bulletin, Bend will soon be welcoming it's 11th brewery - Below Grade Brewing.

The article follows:

11 breweries and counting: Below Grade plans to start small in Bend
By David Holley / The Bulletin

Published: September 16. 2010 4:00AM PST
Yet another brewer has taken his first steps toward opening Central Oregon’s 11th commercial brewery.

Dean Wise has applied for a brewery-public house permit from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, as well as required federal permits, under the name Below Grade Brewing. Wise’s plan is to keep Below Grade small as he tests the market “to see if people will buy it on a regular basis — to see if it’s worthy.”

Wise has been a home brewer for 18 years.

Below Grade would be Bend’s ninth brewery. The region’s other two breweries are in Redmond and Sisters.

Initially, Wise plans to brew in his NorthWest Crossing home. For the first six to 12 months, he plans to brew three or four batches of beer at a time, bottling the product for retail sale and possibly selling kegs to bars.

He hopes to have his first batch ready for sale about a month after he receives state and federal approval, which is as soon as is legally allowed, he said. Federal approval can take 95 days or longer, Wise said. He has been waiting for five weeks, but has a meeting with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau today.

For Wise, who is a project manager for the J.L. Ward Co., brewing is about quality. He thinks his first retail beers could be two different India Pale Ales and an Old Ale — a dark, full-bodied beer like Deschutes Brewery’s Jubelale.

“I will focus on the craft of brewing beer in small batches, using only the highest-quality ingredients available,” he wrote onhis company website, which is intermittently accessible during construction. “The best ingredients make the best beer.”

The naming of his brewery, Below Grade, was three-pronged. It’s an inside joke among Wise and friends. It refers to his basement, where he brews beer. And it’s meant to be a bit self-deprecating.

“I think, hopefully, it might be an ironic name,” Wise said.

Friday Fun at NorthWest Crossing

NorthWest Crossing is a great place to visit any day of the week, but this Friday (9/3) is extra special. Not only are we hosting the last Munch N Movies showing of the season in Compass Park (with the classic Wizard of Oz), but we are also participating in the wonderful First Friday Art Walk. Two more reasons to visit NorthWest Crossing!

BICA Gallery will have two talented Oregon artists on display:

Scott Conary is an accomplished artist who lives and creates in Portland, Oregon. His paintings explore the realms of landscapes, figurative and still life. For Scott, the

paint is the sub

ject as much as any image that might emerge. Playing within this tension between image and surface, he looks to build a presence, a solidity which shows in his distinct style.

Lisa Copenhagen Wachs is a self-employed graphic designer and fine artist. She has worked

and lived in Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Taos, New Mexico before settling in Bend, Oregon in 1992. Lisa paints primarily in oils

and works in mixed media collage/assemblage. The surrounding abundance of wildlife and nature around her studio, continue to be an inspiration for her artwork.

Come visit NorthWest Crossing. You never know what surprises await you.

Community Garden Featured in Bend, Oregon Newspaper

Today's Bend Bulletin featured the new NorthWest Crossing Community Garden in its "At Home" section. The garden, which was founded last May, features more than 50 garden plots which are all being "grown" by NWX residents and businesses. Photo is also from the Bulletin.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the article that give a little more information on the garden:

The garden features 59 raised, 5-by-10-foot cedar planting beds with drip irrigation and is enclosed by an 8-foot-high wire fence. The beds have built-in seats around the perimeter, so sitting while weeding and tending the garden is convenient and comfortable. A water feature and a birdhouse, surrounded by blooming flowers, adds to the peaceful atmosphere, and the two picnic tables in the shade invite people to sit and enjoy the setting.

The community garden was built and is owned by West Bend Property Co., the developer of NorthWest Crossing, and is being managed by the Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener program. The NorthWest Crossing garden is one of two community gardens in Bend managed by OSU Master Gardeners. The garden at Hollinshead Park in northeast Bend has operated for more than two decades.

For the full article, visit The Bulletin's Web site.

Munch N Movies Line Up Announced

We proudly host Munch N Movies in Compass Park each summer, and we are excited to announce a great Movie Line-Up for 2010! Family-friendly movies on an impressive 40x20' screen, food vendors, pre-movie entertainment and more! Is there a better way to spend a Central Oregon summer evening?

August 13: Cloudy w/ a Chance of Meatballs

August 20: Monsters vs Aliens

August 27: UP

September 3: Wizard of Oz

See you there!

summer has sprung

One of the things that clearly marks summer for me is the sound of giggles and roars from the neighborhood kids as I sit outside on my patio as the sun sets. It is so reminiscent of my childhood and the fond memories I have of playing Capture the Flag and Kick the Can late into the evenings of July and August. Kids truly have abandon as they run circles around the yard or in the park and squeal as their sibling or friend intercepts them with a friendly tickle or "tag, you're it!" I just love it! Then as quickly as they come out to play, they disappear into their homes to settle into bed, and the calm, serene peacefulness of the beautiful central Oregon nights takes over. Bliss.

BUILDER magazine Features NorthWest Crossing

We were so pleased to be featured in a recent issue of BUILDER magazine, a national trade publication that provides information to the home building industry. The article, entitled “Tree-Lined Green: NorthWest Crossing in Bend, Ore. Takes sustainability beyond building green”, covered many of the features of the place we call home such as retention of mature trees, community design and more.

BUILDER magazine is a monthly magazine published by Hanley Wood Business Media. It was launched in 1979. It reports on construction industry related technologies, economics, management, business opportunities, architectural design, and sales and marketing. It mainly focuses on builders, contractors and more. www.builderonline.com

One heck of a Hullabaloo!

Hullabaloo week at NorthWest Crossing was fabulous! It started with the neighborhood summer concert series "Twilight Tunes" at Compass Park, then the USA Cycling Junior Road National Crit races, and ended with a rockin' concert by Jonatha Brooke. The NorthWest Crossing residents really provided a warm welcome and rolled out the red carpet for the Junior racers and their families, in addition to 1000s of visitors who descended upon NorthWest Crossing Drive for the third annual street festival that is now an official kick off to summer! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the sunshine, the warm weather, the summer season and the community!