Sisters, Oregon 24-hour Beercation
Sisters, Oregon punches above its weight class for a small Central Oregon town that encompasses only 1.87 square miles of land. Nestled between the High Desert and the Cascades Range, Sisters takes its name from the nearby three peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc (Faith, Hope, and Charity.) The town is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area and is just a 30 minute drive from the city of Bend, but with an identity all its own. Unlike Bend’s increasing size, new developments and luxury living opportunities, Sisters is a more artsy community with an Old West theme and 1880s facades, boardwalks, art galleries, storefronts and small businesses.
Sisters is home to numerous vacation homes, the Five Pine lodge, and the Sisters Ranger District Office. For a small town, Sisters boasts a vibrant scene, owing to its proximity to the Deschutes National Forest and the Hoodoo Ski Resort among many other snow parks. Hiking, biking and horse riding trails extend through the town and into the forest, hills, valleys, and desert which can lead to dry conditions in the summer and snowy mountain lodge terrain in the winters.
On a recent trip hosted by Visit Central Oregon I spent 24 hours in Sisters and was amazed at all of the attractions, food, drink, arts, and scenery that I was able to take in simply by walking through town. There are more than a few worthy beer destinations, with their own unique flavors and flair that you won’t find anywhere else in the state.
During the booming 2010’s many hotels purported to offer craft beer experiences from beers in the lobby to packed gift bags of cans in your room after check-in, but none of them go harder than the Ski Inn Taphouse & Hotel still does today. Located on the central main drag through town, the Ski Inn is one part public house beer bar and restaurant, and a second part modern and slightly upscale lodge for the weary.
The Ski Inn Restaurant was built in 1972 and is considered a classic Sisters, Oregon business landmark. But in 2013 an 150 year old ponderosa tree crashed into the building. After 8 years, the Yozamp family who owned the building, reopened it as the new Ski Inn Taphouse Hotel with six boutique-hotel rooms and a few design flourishes that nod to Sisters’ Old West vibe. Across the front of the building a shared deck is open to all six rooms, with a fantastic view of the town and the comings and goings.
The taphouse part of the business is designed to be a crowd-pleaser, with a full food menu of popular gastropub-style food and 16 rotating craft beer taps. The atmosphere is contemporary rustic like the rest of the remodel, and operates with both a family-friendly and as a sports bar with 8 large screen TVs inside and a covered patio with big open up doors for excellent people viewing.
273 W Hood Ave, Sisters, OR 97759
They make a different kind of brew at Sisters Coffee, but when you need to power up or just take a break from the booze this is the place to go. Sisters Coffee has the claim to fame of being the first independent coffee roaster in Central Oregon when they launched in 1989 from a small wood cabin making 5lb batches of beans at a time. Within 6 months they had invested in a much larger roaster, and today they make 500,000 lbs a year and operate cafes in Sisters, Bend, and Portland. The Sisters Coffee homebase in Sisters, Oregon is now in a 2-story Old West inspired storefront, and inside is a gorgeous wood-laden lodge with cozy fireplaces and seating and a full menu of pastries, breakfast dishes, and all the coffee and tea drinks your heart desires.
171 East Main Street Sisters, Oregon 97759
The Barn is the only food truck pod in Sisters, built around a two floor barn that serves as the indoor/outdoor taphouse and seating area and community hub. From the outside The Barn looks like an old wild west era fortress, with a wood exterior and walls surrounding an outdoor garden with decorative sculptures and bubbling fountain around which 5 food trucks offer Mexican, vegan dishes, pub food, pizza, and southern BBQ.
The indoor taproom is a tight family friendly beer happy, with room to spread out on an intimate upstairs loft for groups, and an enclosed winter patio for escaping from the elements outdoors when its not quite beer garden weather. The bar has an alternating list of craft beer, cider & kombucha filling the taps. But they also curate a selection of domestic & imported wines that focus on organic and biodynamic practices with low or no intervention, and a craft cocktail menu with house made syrups & tonics, fresh juices, & quality spirits.
To keep the community engaged, The Barn hosts regular live music, pop-ups, breweries, wineries, cideries, even markets and rotating visual arts and performances.
721 S Desperado Ct, Sisters, OR 97759
Three Creeks Brewing is the oldest, and now the only brewery in Sisters, Oregon after Funky Fauna Artisan Ales decided to recently relocate to Bend. Founded in 2008 at first as a brewpub on the edge of town, Three Creeks Brewing has quietly amassed awards and expansions into a regional brand that reached the height of their acclaim in 2020 when they were named Brewery Group of the Year at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival®. After opening a second location with a production facility and outdoor space Three Creeks founded the Sisters Fresh Hop Festival, one of the largest beer fests in Oregon. More recently in 2024 Three Creeks Brewing was sold to an experienced restaurateur who has scaled back production to focus on the core brewpub business where the brewery originally made their name. The production brewery is now closed, but the the Three Creeks Brewing brewpub is still consistently one of the most popular places in town with the atmosphere of a mountain lodge and a diverse beer list for old school and contemporary tastes with a large filling food menu.
523 East Highway 20, Sisters, Oregon
Both beer bar, summer beer garden, and south Asian eatery rolled into one, the High Camp Taphouse fuses food, drink and culture like no other place in Oregon. Husband and wife owners Pema and Nurbu opened a food truck in Bend called Himalayan Bites in 2016, but when the opportunity came up to take over a former taphouse in Sisters came up they jumped on the opportunity. Pema and Nurbu are married immigrants from the Himalayas. Pema grew up cooking with her mother both at home and various inns and restaurants. Nurbu had never cooked before as it is not customary of men to do so in Nepal. Now Nurbu loves cooking, and has become the primary chef at the taphouse. The taphouse is a way for the couple to share their culture and give back at the same time. The Sherpa’s founded a charity called the Elevate Nepal Initiative, that is funded in part by the taphouse. The charity helps impoverished lower-caste communities in Tihali Nepal to pay for things like school supplies for the children, and necessary utilities like the recent installation of two 250’ ft wells for clean drinking water that Pema helped build himself.
High Camp Taphouse boasts the largest beer selection in Ashland, with 20 drafts pouring a pretty wide assortment with an emphasis on Bend and Portland as one would expect. Though Pema and Nurbu didn’t know much about craft beer before moving to central Oregon, Nurbu especially is especially into it now and they pay attention to how beers go with their hearty simple cooking that showcases south Asia flavors and American pub favorites. Try the Momo (Tibetan Dumplings) stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, onion, garlic, ginger, served with salad & sauce. Or the Sabzi Bhat (Coconut Curry) a vegan Nepali style vegetable and tofu curry with coconut milk and Himalayan spices. Or if you want something more familiar, try their Himalayan-inspired fries seasoned with tomato sauce, herbs and homemade cheese sauce, or the onion rings dipped in garbanzo bean batter, herbs & spices, and served with dipping sauces.