Oregon’s ale trail offers a bounty of brewery treasures. Here’s the perfect start to your sudsy itinerary.

Brewery Adventure

BEND, OREGON — With so many breweries nestled in one cozy town, Bend’s Ale Trail invites exploration — and the city’s official Ale Trail map and app will help you do just that, pointing you to 15 particularly tempting breweries.

Of course, doing them all in one weekend is a recipe for regret. Whether you opt for one brewery or several, the perfect sudsy itinerary starts at Bend’s Crux Fermentation Project. Founded by Larry Sidor, Dave Wilson and Paul Ever, the five-year-old brewery is a local favorite — and a visitor favorite, too, if you can find it.

Crux is in Bend’s gritty Old Ironworks district, down a road that appears to be under construction, closed and/or private. All of which may be true, but you’re welcome to drive down it anyway. Grab a parking spot outside the industrialchic greyish-green building and head inside — or out to the welcoming patio with its twinkle lights, fire pits and epic sunset views.

Inside, you’ll find more than 20 Crux beers on tap — experimental brews, hoppy IPAs and barrel-aged “Banished” beers — plus an array of terrific bar bites. Also wine — a nice Acrobat pinot gris ($8 by the glass) from the Willamette Valley, for example — a boon to those of us who love beer lovers, but are not so fond of the foamy stuff ourselves.

Faced with 20 possibilities, it’s tough to make choices, especially when five of those brews showcase such tempting experimental hops. The Creamsicle Experimental IPA (7.6 percent ABV, 60 IBU), for example, is made with tangerine-scented Experimental 06297 hops from Washington. The Show Me the Money IPA (ditto on both the alcohol and bitterness units) uses Cashmere hops — and they will give you the full backstory on the elevation at which those hops were grown (1,700 feet in Idaho) and how.

Don’t miss the bar bites, which range from a bacon-stuffed Grilled Cheesy and a Stout Chili Mac and Cheese made with Crux’s beer cheese, to the Black and Tan Pretzel, sprinkled with smoked sea salt and accompanied by that spicy beer cheese in full molten, dippable glory.

Details: Open from 4-9 p.m. Mondays, 11:30 a.m.10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. 50 S.W. Division St., Bend; www.cruxfermentation.com.

JACKIE BURRELL/STAFF PHOTOS There are 17 breweries along Bend, Oregon’s official Ale Trail, including local fave, Crux Fermentation Project, which specializes in hoppy experimental IPAs, accompanied by some terrific bar bites, including a Black and Tan Pretzel topped with smoked...