‘Bend Beer’ author discusses big 10 Barrel sale

Winston Churchill once said “history will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.”

But for the man who just published a book on Bend’s beer history, history hasn’t been too kind to Jon Abernathy this week.

That’s because the sale of 10 Barrel Brewing Co. to Anheuser-Busch happened two weeks after his book hit shelves on Oct. 21.

It’s another major chapter in Bend’s beer history, but not in time to make the first edition of his book.

“In between the time I turned in the manuscript to now, there have been other developments,” Abernathy said Friday night, “Just nothing as big as this.”

“Bend Beer: A History of Brewing in Central Oregon” spans nearly a century of beer creation, distribution and consumption in Central Oregon.

Abernathy did most of his research at the Des Chutes Historical Museum in Bend. On Friday night, the museum was filled to the brim with beer aficionados looking to get their hands on a copy, with Abernathy’s signature.

But in between signature requests, Abernathy was talking about the brewery sale that’s still the talk of the town.

“One of the first things I heard was somebody telling me that my book was already invalidated,” he laughed.

“It was a very business-savvy move by the Cox brothers,” Abernethy said of the controversial sale. “It gets them in more stores, more shelves and more tap handles.”

The book has been on shelves for about two weeks, and is available for purchase at the museum, as well as other bookstores in the Bend area. It’s also available for download on Kindle.

And despite the history book quickly dating itself, Abernathy says it provides a great future path.

“Well, I just look at it this way — it’s just an opportunity to have a second edition,” he said.