The Bend Ale Trail is putting this contest on, which is very cool—and to be clear, the beer that you’ll win is from the Central Oregon breweries on the Ale Trail. So you will have to come here to enjoy it (oh darn, right?).
There’s no need to pinch yourself, because it’s no dream. The Beer for a Year sweepstakes kicks off on May 8, 2012, and one lucky winner will take home a collection of gift certificates totaling approximately $2,400 for Bend’s craft breweries along the Bend Ale Trail.
Beer fans will be able to purchase raffle tickets for $10 each online here or at the Bend Visitor Center in downtown Bend starting May 8. Each ticket serves as one entry into a sweepstakes drawing, and the grand prize winner will be drawn at the inaugural Fermentation Celebration event July 12, 2012 at the Old Mill District. The total retail value of the gift certificates is the approximate equivalent of one free beer, plus tip, every day of the year. Certificates will be redeemable only by the winner, and will be valid for 12 months beginning in July 2012.
All proceeds from the “Beer for a Year Sweepstakes” will go to the Central Oregon chapter of the Oregon Brewers Guild. The winner is not required to be present to win. You must be at least 21 years of age to win.
This is a fantastic contest and yes, I’ll be buying a raffle ticket or two!
Central Oregon Beer Week continues, with more great events lined up for today, Wednesday the 23rd. Unfortunately though, the Wanderlust Backstage Beer Tour didn’t get enough numbers to make it a go, so they were not able to do that tour this time around, which is a shame because that sounded really cool.
Specials
Bend Ale Trail special all week long
Anyone who completes the Bend Ale Trail during the Week will get a special, limited edition Bend Ale Trail koozie!
Specials at Cascade West
Cascade West will have 12 of their 32 tap handles dedicated to the local breweries and sell drafts for $3.00 all week open to close (11am to midnight).
Beer Cocktails & Small Plate Menu at 10 Below
10 Below Restaurant in the Oxford Hotel boasts 6 taps, always stocked with Central Oregon’s finest brews. They will be serving Beer Cocktails and will also have a Small Plate menu, paired with local beer. The menu and beer cocktails will be available May 21- May 26 after 4 pm, in the lounge in the bottom floor of the Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend.
Local brewery draft specials at Amalia’s
Amalia’s will feature all their draft beers for $2 a pint, including Deshutes Brewery Twlight Ale, Ninkasi Spring Reign, and more!
Events
Cascade Lakes Tasting at Whole Foods
Join Whole Foods for a tasting featuring beers from one of Central Oregon’s oldest breweries, Redmond’s Cascade Lakes Brewing, from 3 to 5pm.
Phat Matt’s Tasting at The Wine Shop
Join Phat Matt’s for a beer tasting at The Wine Shop downtown, from 4:30 to 8, to taste some of the great beers from one of Central Oregon’s newest breweries! They will be pouring their Red Ale, IPA, and the new Kolsch.
Brew Werks Beer Dinner
Chef Rudy has worked out an outstanding menu for Old Mill Brew Wërks first ever beer-pairing meal. It’s a five course, hand-crafted menu of items chosen to work in cohort with the excellence of Brew Wërks Brewing’s current lineup of beer. Brewmaster Michael McMahon will be on-hand to field questions and comments about his recent creations and the next steps in the life of this little brewery in Bend. The event is set for Wednesday, May 23 from 6:30-8:30. To reserve a spot at this limited engagement, please call the pub at 541-633-7670. Cost is $50 per person for the full five courses plus the beer (of course!).
And of course if you want to participate (even if it’s a tasting, beer specials, or something else you might otherwise think is minor), feel free to submit an event anytime!
Since getting this whole Central Oregon Beer Week started, there’s been good attention paid from various media sources, which is awesome. Here’s a roundup of what I know about (so far):
Cascade Business News: They published a good article about both the Beer Week and the Central Oregon Brewers Guild (including a listing of some of the Week’s events).
Beer O’Clock radio: I was on Lisa Morrison’s excellent radio show last Saturday, talking about the Beer Week. That was fun!
Bend Bulletin: They posted a couple ofshort articles highlighting the week and pointing to the site.
NewsChannel 21: Our local station did a story yesterday in which I spoke briefly (though I’m not finding it online).
The Source Weekly: They posted a full-page ad for the week as well as highlighting the Week in their weekly picks.
Bend Ale Trail special all week long
Anyone who completes the Bend Ale Trail during the Week will get a special, limited edition Bend Ale Trail koozie!
Specials at Cascade West
Cascade West will have 12 of their 32 tap handles dedicated to the local breweries and sell drafts for $3.00 all week open to close (11am to midnight).
Beer Cocktails & Small Plate Menu at 10 Below
10 Below Restaurant in the Oxford Hotel boasts 6 taps, always stocked with Central Oregon’s finest brews. They will be serving Beer Cocktails and will also have a Small Plate menu, paired with local beer. The menu and beer cocktails will be available May 21- May 26 after 4 pm, in the lounge in the bottom floor of the Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend.
$2 local microbrew pints all day at Common Table
Common Table in downtown Bend will be offering a selection of local micro brews for only $2 for a great chilled pint mug all day long on Tuesday! There will also happy hour food options for only $5 each 4 to 6 pm.
Events
Special Limited-release Keg at Old St. Francis School
Join McMenamins Old St. Francis School for a limited-release keg of double dry hopped Badger IRA, starting at 11, and lasting until the keg is tapped! Get there early to make sure you try some of this special beer!
Phat Matt’s Tasting at Whole Foods
Join Whole Foods for a tasting featuring beers from one of Central Oregon’s newest breweries, Redmond’s Phat Matt’s Brewing, from 3 to 5pm.
Three Creeks tasting at The Wine Shop
Join Three Creeks Brewmaster Patio (Pat O’Shea) for a pouring and “meet and greet” at The Wine Shop and Beer Tasting Bar, Tuesday from 6 to 8pm.
GoodLife tasting at The Platypus Pub
From 6 to 8pm The Brew Shop and Platypus Pub is hosting a tasting with GoodLife Brewing, one of Bend’s newest breweries!
And of course if you want to participate (even if it’s a tasting, beer specials, or something else you might otherwise think is minor), feel free to submit an event anytime!
As I’d mentioned previously, my wife and I took a day trip over to Corvallis on Saturday to visit some of the local breweries and check out the growing beer scene. It turns out that Corvallis is a relatively easy jaunt that works well for day trips, being about a 2.5 hour drive away (joining the ranks of other less-than-3-hour trips like Eugene, Hood River, and Oakridge), so I can easily see more trips in the future.
Block 15 Brewery was the primary brewery I was interested in visiting for this trip (though we were lucky to also visit Flat Tail and Oregon Trail, which will be their own blog posts), so I’d emailed ahead to owner/founder Nick Arzner to find out if he would be around and if I could get a tour of the brewery and famed barrel room(s). Nick is out of the country right now but was kind enough to email back and get me in touch with Erik Salmi, who also works in the brewery, to make arrangements for that tour.
We got to town around 12:45, just in time for lunch, so headed straight to Block 15 at 1:00 to check in with Erik and grab a bite to eat (plus beer, of course!).
The Bend Ale Trail is putting this contest on, which is very cool—and to be clear, the beer that you’ll win is from the Central Oregon breweries on the Ale Trail. So you will have to come here to enjoy it (oh darn, right?).
As I’d 
