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!

Collage, AKA Conflux No.1, the Deschutes/Hair of the Dog collaboration beer. It comes in 12-ounce bottles and costs $11 per bottle(!). I’ll be drinking one, and putting the other two away for awhile.

Back in November of ’08 I wrote about this:

Dry, bitter, dark, pure unsweetened chocolate. Everything about the beer screams “chocolate” but don’t look for a candy bar flavor—it’s the real thing. Lighter than I’d expect—I expected a full body, it’s more medium. Long, dry, chocolate finish—very nice.

Long, drawn-out bitter character—almost like it’s bittered with chocolate instead of hops, as Paul noted. I think the name is totally apt, this is indulgence in the extreme and a superb sipping beer. One I quite enjoyed.

Now, three and a half years later, I’d have to say the chocolate has mellowed and smoothed out quite a lot, fairly decadent, and it’s (probably) a bit drier. It’s held up incredibly well so if you can find a bottle of this floating around I’d say now is a good time to drink it.

A couple other notable beers that I remember this weekend:

BridgePort Stumptown Tart: I enjoyed this on draft at the Broken Top Bottle Shop, this year’s three-berry version,

Fort George Roses on Roses XVIth Chapel: This five-year anniversary ale—a Double Belgian IPA aged in Four Roses Bourbon barrels—is frankly amazing. One of the best Belgian-style IPAs (not the same as the “White IPA” which is the Belgian-style Witbier/IPA fusion) that I’ve had. Buy up a bunch of this before it’s gone.

But why do people decide to start a blog (Okay, so not all “blogs” are personal. Many breweries have recognized the value of social media in modern society)? One thing seems true of most blogs: they are easy to start. All you need is a a computer and a rudimentary understanding of the Internet to initiate your meanderings. The difficulty resides in keeping up with content and reaching an audience. What draws folks to your site? And, what makes you think people want to read what you write?

Your mission as a craft beverage blogger reading this post, should you choose to accept it, is to compose a post on the topic of “What Drives Beer Bloggers.” There are no rigid guidelines about how to write about this topic but we’d certainly love to hear about the history behind your blog, your purpose in creating it, its evolution, and/or what your goals in keeping it going.

This is a topic that resonates with me as I’ve been thinking really hard lately about what this blog is, and what I hope to accomplish with it, and how I can turn this “beer blogging thing” into something lucrative enough to do full time. But before you think it’s all about the money, some context:

I’ve been writing this blog since 2004 (making it, as Jeff Alworth has pointed out, the longest-running American beer blog) and for that entire time it for all intents and purposes might as well have been a hobby blog (for as little as it earns). I never started out thinking, I can make money on this. Yes, I’ve been running Google Ads for a long time, but at best it really has only ever paid for hosting fees for the website (i.e., minimal). And yes, I get freebies because of the blog: beer samples, media passes for the (occasional) festivals I attend, occasional perks like a free night’s stay in Silverton for the Oregon Garden Brewfest later this month. The ad revenue and freebies are enough to allow me to write off my beer expenses on my tax returns—and trust me, I spend more than I make, so it’s still a bit of a loss.

Now, though, I would absolutely love to be able to do this, for lack of a better term (because it’s still “blogging” after all), professionally. Maybe not via the blog directly, but using it as a launchpad for writing or something else in the beer world—or maybe something online entirely new (what with social media, and mobile apps, and ebooks—who knows?). So I’m trying to figure that part out.

But here’s the thing: even having said that, I will still blog about beer, because I love doing it. And because of the community I’ve become a part of: a network of other bloggers and beer writers and brewers that having this blog has opened up to me. And because I love beer, and I’m a blogger, so why not blog about beer?

To answer Angelo’s questions I quoted above, frankly the most-searched post to this site comes from searching “best cheap beer”—so clearly the big draw (as with anything online, I suspect) is writing from a practical perspective, the kinds of things most people are interested in. No, that’s not the only search bringing people here, but it’s a consistent one. And for what makes me think people want to read what I write—well, except for a few examples (like Apocalypse Beer) where I actually do think people want to read what I write about, for the most part I just don’t worry about that. I don’t. I personally enjoy writing about it, and that’s what counts for me.

(Though—because it’s the internet, there’s always an audience, no matter how small, who will be interested in what we write, no matter how obscure. The old long tail, you know.)

So I’m a bit of a purist, when it comes to my own blog, but I’m not opposed to making money off of it either—the catch, of course, is figuring out a way to make money off of it, keep doing what I love, and staying true with it. So that’s what drives me.

But I’ll still blog about beer even if none of that pans out. I don’t think I can’t not at this point.

Craft brewers saw volume rise 13 percent, with a 15 percent increase in retail sales from 2010 to 2011, representing a total barrel increase of 1.3 million.

In 2011, craft brewers represented 5.68 percent of volume of the U.S. beer market, up from 4.97 in 2010, with production reaching 11,468,152 barrels. Additionally, the BA estimates the actual dollar sales figure from craft brewers in 2011 was $8.7 billion, up from $7.6 billion in 2010. Increased retails sales represented 9.1 percent of the $95.5 billion dollar U.S. beer market.

And as Jeff notes, the Brewers Association isn’t even including every craft brewer (like the Craft Brew Alliance which is Widmer, Kona, and Red Hook which to my mind are definitely craft brewers) so these numbers—including that 5%—are probably even higher. And this at a time when overall beer volume dropped 1.32%—which really means that “Big Beer” volume dropped.

There were some closings in 2011: 37 of them. But there were 250 new breweries opened, with an overall BA count of 1989 breweries in 2011. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve already broken 2000 for 2012; here in Central Oregon there are two opening this year (Crux Fermentation Project and Sunriver Brewing) and one already brewing (The Ale Apothecary).

Nowhere to go but up!

House Bill 1422, which is the raising of the alcohol limit, has completely cleared their state House of Representative and has moved on to the Senate, which in most ways is half the battle (it still has to clear the Senate and then not get vetoed by the Governor). In fact it passed on the 1st, survived a Motion to Reconsider, and was sent to the Senate just two days ago, on the 6th.

There is also a “backup bill” in the Senate, SB 2878, which proposes the same thing though is still waiting to be voted on. That may happen today.

For some more detail, there’s a decent writeup in the Picayune Item, a local Mississippi newspaper, that offers some additional background (and try to not cringe too badly at “Indian Pale Ale”).

Let’s hope HB 1422 passes through the Senate without any trouble and gets signed into law! In fact I’ll drink a strong beer tonight to toast Mississippi.

Angelo has crafted a thoughtful introduction to this topic—go read it—and asks,

But why do people decide to start a blog (Okay, so not all “blogs” are personal. Many breweries have recognized the value of social media in modern society)? One thing seems true of most blogs: they are easy to start. All you need is a a computer and a rudimentary understanding of the Internet to initiate your meanderings. The difficulty resides in keeping up with content and reaching an audience. What draws folks to your site? And, what makes you think people want to read what you write?

Your mission as a craft beverage blogger reading this post, should you choose to accept it, is to compose a post on the topic of “What Drives Beer Bloggers.” There are no rigid guidelines about how to write about this topic but we’d certainly love to hear about the history behind your blog, your purpose in creating it, its evolution, and/or what your goals in keeping it going.

The Session #62 takes place on Friday, April 6. To participate, write a post on this topic and link it back to the original Brewpublic Session post, or post a link to it on Brewpublic directly in the comments.

Bend drinking water wins best tasting award

Bend’s water was awarded first prize at the Annual Best Tasting Water Contest held by the Pacific Northwest’s Cascade to Coast subsection of the American Water Works Association.

The water sample from the City of Bend, taken from the City’s surface water source springs, won first place this year with a score of 95 out of 120 points. A number of factors contribute to the taste of tap water, including its source, treatment process, pipes and reservoirs. Judges, after a blind taste test, rated water samples based on odor, flavor, and aftertaste. Bend’s water was described as “clean, crisp, and grassy,” with a “nice aftertaste.”

The four judges included a brewery owner, a winemaker, a water analysis systems company official, and a former National Football League fullback. Thirteen water utilities submitted samples to compete for the title on Feb. 16, 2012, in Eugene. Contestants followed strict guidelines for collecting and storing water samples. This was the fifth year of the competition.

As winner of this year’s contest, the City of Bend is eligible to compete for the Pacific Northwest Section title of Best Tasting Water May 2-4 in Yakima, WA.

Apparently it really is the water!

Here are the details from the comments:

Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café will be opening our Ale Café in early February!!! (Bottle Shop coming soon thereafter!)

The Ale Café will offer a rotating 12 tap selection of craft and specialty beer, along with wine and other beverages, to be paired with delicious, healthy food, such as smoked meats, panini sandwiches, appetizers, soups, salads, as well as awesome vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options (whipped up by Chef Bethlyn Rider). We’ll also have chilled single bottle and canned beer you can purchase from our coolers to drink at Broken Top Bottle Shop or take to-go. We won’t charge you a corking fee on the bottled and canned beer you buy to drink here. And, you can buy your to-go beer as single bottles or cans, mixed-and-matched in any number, 6-packs, and 12-packs. Come on by in early February and taste some great draught beer, have some scrumptious food, and pick up some beer to go!

COMING SOON… the Bottle Shop!!

The Ale Café portion of Broken Top Bottle Shop is only the beginning!! We’ll soon be expanding into the suite next door in order to offer you over 700 varieties of single bottle and canned beer in our retail Bottle Shop. Only Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Café will offer this unique combination of tasty food, a variety of draught craft and specialty beer, and a grand selection of bottled and canned beer for on- and off-site consumption.

After visiting on Saturday, I have to say I’m fairly impressed with the overall plan they have laid out for the new venture and the enthusiasm the new owners are bringing to the shop/beer bar. On the one hand, the space was already set up as a beer bar, so they’ve kept much of that the same, with some repainting, a new foot rail running along the bottom of the bar, more artwork for the walls, and so on.

On the other hand, they are revamping the kitchen—adding some equipment, reorganizing for efficiency—and have added an impressive smoker/grill/roaster that will sit on a corner of the patio and offer a whole new level of food than was available before. The menu is going to be vastly expanded, and yes, there will be a focus on vegetarian/vegan options (something that—in general—Bend is largely lacking).

And of course, the expanded bottle shop is going to be the biggest change: Broken Top will be gradually moving into the space next door, which previously hosted a wine shop and tasting room, and will be able to offer over 700 different beers (as noted above)—this is going to be huge and once fully realized, may well be the largest single selection in Central Oregon. (The Brew Shop currently has at least 500 different beers, and while I don’t know specific numbers both Whole Foods and Newport Avenue Market in Bend have fantastic beer selections as well.)

They plan to be open by this weekend (yes, the first weekend in February) though that will only be for the beer bar portion. They will be open seven days a week, from 11am to until 10pm, maintaining largely the same hours as the Abbey Pub (though the Abbey was closed on Sundays).

After meeting and chatting with the owners I can say I’m fairly excited to see the new place open: they are extremely nice and accommodating, and their enthusiasm for Bend and beer is infectious. I’m looking forward to heading over there (hopefully this weekend!) and sampling the new menu while drinking some really good beer.

In the meantime, there are many other good beer blogs that I highly recommend also.