The Patient Angler has its own beer—a collaboration pale ale with Deschutes Brewery. Here's what's actually in the glass and how the partnership came together.
The Patient Angler has its own beer. It's a collaboration with Deschutes Brewery, built around our name, and it's become one of the more requested beers among the fishing crowd here in Central Oregon. There's a decent chance you've already run into it without realizing our shop had anything to do with it.
How the collaboration came together Deschutes Brewery and The Patient Angler have both been doing business in Bend for a long time, and a lot of the same people who show up at our counter for flies end up at Deschutes afterward. At some point that overlap turned into an actual project: Deschutes' brewers put together a beer built around our name, and we ended up with a pale ale worth asking for by name.
Peter's recipe Deschutes didn't just slap our logo on an existing beer—they brought Peter Bowers into the brewhouse to help shape the actual recipe. He sat in on test batches, weighed in on how much hop character versus malt backbone felt right for something you'd actually want after a full day of wading, and kept nudging it toward brighter and more citrus-forward rather than bitter. Deschutes ran a few different versions past him before landing on this one, and out of everything they had him taste, the pale ale is the one Peter liked best—which is exactly why it's the one that stuck.
What's in the glass The Patient Angler Pale Ale is an American Pale Ale, 5% ABV and 40 IBU—sessionable enough to have a second one without regretting the drive home. The hop bill leans bright and citrusy up front, backed by a light malt character that keeps the whole thing easy to drink rather than heavy or syrupy. It's built more for after a full day of wading than for sipping slowly and analyzing—drinkable is the whole point, which tracks with why it was Peter's favorite of the bunch. It's also picked up a solid following on Untappd, rating almost 4 out of 5 across more than 500 check-ins.
Where to find it The Patient Angler Pale Ale is a summer seasonal that's been part of Deschutes' lineup for seven years now, typically showing up around May or June. It's available in Bend when it's in stock—a seasonal release rather than something that's always around, so the easiest way to find out is to just go in and ask for it.
Stop by first If you're headed to the river or out to East Lake, come see us first—we'll get you set up with the right flies for the day. Then go track down a Patient Angler Pale Ale and toast whatever you managed to fool into eating a fly.
