There is something irresistible about the combination of beer and ribs.  Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks this is true.

A local bar called North 45 Pub has decided to do a weekly beer/rib event.  Every Thursday from 6-9 the pub fires up the smoker and invites a different local brewery to pour some samples to compliment the meaty goodness.  Fortunately for me, this pub is merely five minutes from my apartment.  Beer and ribs?  I’m there.

This week’s brewery was 10 Barrel Brewing Company out of Bend, Oregon.  The boys from the brewery were pouring only 3 brews, but the information they were dispensing more than made up for the lack of different flavors.

I was treated to a sample of Code 24 Pale Ale, Apocalypse IPA and Sinister Black Ale.  Each brew was accompanied by a ton of information regarding hop varieties, recipe histories and other informative tidbits only available from the brewers themselves.

The Sinister Black, a traditionally brewed, non-traditional styled beer (the brewer’s exact words) was my favorite beer; It pours black, but features the body of a much lighter colored beer with the flavor of a robust porter.  Sinister has been featured at my local watering hole for several months now, but will be featured on nitro at the 10 Barrel brewpub in Bend!  The brewpub isn’t opened yet, but the promise of a velvety and cream laced Sinister is more than enough to lure me to make the drive to Bend.

Until the pub opens its doors, I’ll have to make myself with discovering the tasty wares of other local breweries at North 45 and gorging on a couple more racks of ribs.