Wild Ride Brewing Opens Tap Room in Prineville

(Photo | Courtesy of Wild Ride Brewing)

Fans of Wild Ride Brewing now have not one, but two places in Central Oregon to enjoy a pint of beer.

On May 25, Wild Ride Brewing opened its second Tap Room and Brewery in Prineville. Wild Ride’s first Tap Room and Brewery welcomed beer enthusiasts in 2014.

Owner and general manager Brian Mitchell said he and his team were searching for the right location to expand their business. “We’re excited to be part of the Prineville community, and we look forward to providing a fun, casual hangout for the community to enjoy,” Mitchell said.

In 2011, several friends decided they wanted to open a brewery in Redmond. After more than two years of crafting their business plan, bringing together its ownership group, finding a location, completing the build-out, and a million other things needed to open a brewery and tap room, Wild Ride Brewing opened in downtown Redmond in May of 2014.

“In our brewery, we pride ourselves on brewing the highest quality and most consistent beer possible, with a focus on variety that allows us to hopefully provide a style for any craft beer drinker,” Mitchell said.

Both the Redmond and Prineville tap rooms were designed so guests can watch the brewing process and have indoor and outdoor seating and food trucks. Wild Catch, Stone Pine Pizza, Burger Love and Andale are the food trucks at the Prineville location.

“We have an amazing team that works hard to provide the highest quality beer to enjoy, as well as an environment in our family-friendly Tap Rooms,” Mitchell said.

While Wild Ride’s management has always looked for growth opportunities, Mitchell said the company has historically invested in growing its brewery operation with the addition of fermentation vessels, the purchase of both a bottling and canning machine, a centrifuge, and now a 5BBL pilot brewhouse in Prineville.

“The opportunity to expand with a second Tap Room location certainly had a lot of appeal to us though, and it was very important to find the community we felt supported our Wild Ride brand well,” Mitchell said. “We felt the community of Prineville always supported Wild Ride from both a distribution perspective and also visiting our Tap Room in Redmond.”

Mitchell said there is a great deal of interest and support for craft beer in Prineville, with a strong foundation from other locations including Crooked Roots Brewing, Sons of Beer, Club Pioneer, Dillon’s Grill and The Corral.

While Mitchell said he and his team will never say never to an idea or the right opportunity, they don’t expect to be expanding further within Central Oregon.

“The idea of a third location or beyond is certainly conceivable, but it would most likely happen outside of Central Oregon,” he said.