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!

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.
• BREWS & BANDS at Broken Top Bottle Shop featuring Deschutes Brewery
  From 5 to 7pm come meet Brewer John “Abe” Abraham from Deschutes Brewery and enjoy some wonderful beer while listening to the live tunes and splendid voice of local favorite Greg Botsford!
• Cascade Lakes Tasting at the Summit Saloon
  Join Cascade Lakes Brewery at The Summit Saloon for special brews and some Cascade Lakes sausages from 6 to 8pm.
• 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!

• 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.
• Good Morning Central Oregon: Garrett Wales of 10 Barrel Brewing appeared on the local morning show to talk about the Central Oregon Brewers Guild and the Beer Week.

I’ll update if there are any more. Some nice local traction for sure!

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.
• $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.
• BREWS & BANDS at Broken Top Bottle Shop featuring 10 Barrel Brewing
  From 5 to 7pm come meet Jimmy Seifrit, Brewmaster at 10 Barrel Brewing Co., drink and discuss his delicious creations, and enjoy great tunes, live, by local favorite Matt Murphy.
• 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!

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!).

Continue reading “Block 15 Brewery” »

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.

Events

• GoodLife tasting at Whole Foods
  Join Whole Foods for a tasting of GoodLife Brewing’s beers from 3 to 5pm.
• Meet the Brewer and Tour Bend Brewing
  Join Bend Brewing Company from 4 to 6pm for an open-house to meet Brewer, Ian Larkin. They will offer ½-priced appetizers during this time and live music from Mark Ransom from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
• BREWS & BANDS at Broken Top Bottle Shop featuring Below Grade Brewing
  From 5 to 7pm, come meet Dean Wise, Head Brewer and Managing Member at the new Below Grade Brewing! Chat with him, and taste some of his amazing beers while enjoying live music by Brad Jones (aka Keez), who you probably know as keyboardist for local jam band The Mostest, and as a solo artist, who the Source Weekly says, “could play a rave, your birthday party or with Justin Timberlake.”
• Scholarship BrewFest & Basket Raffle
  Come to Common Table from 6 to 8pm to help kick off Central Oregon Beer Week with a sampling of local brews while supporting the Bend Youth Collective’s 2012 Urban Immersion Trip to Washington, D.C. Admission is $15 and includes food and 2 drink tickets. Premium Raffle Baskets will be available from the likes of Atelier 6000, Altrec, and others. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20.

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!

Overall it was a fun experience to call in and talk beer, and I definitely have to thank Lisa for having me!

(And you should listen to the rest of the show regularly too.)

The main plan was to visit Block 15 Brewery, with a possible stop at Flat Tail Brewing as well; I had emailed ahead of time to Block 15 and was able to get the tour (their barrel program is indeed amazing!), and we were just going to see what are time looked like for the rest.

It turned out to be a great trip: not only Block 15, but we checked out Les Caves as well (Block 15′s next-door Belgium-inspired beer bar), then stopped in to Flat Tail for the sampler tray and appetizers, and then made it over to Oregon Trail Brewery, Corvallis’ oldest brewery (since 1987) for a bonus stop! These three breweries are all within a couple of blocks of each other in downtown, easy walking between them.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting my notes and reviews of each. And if you haven’t been to Corvallis lately, what are you waiting for?

Deschutes Brewery (Bend): Tonight at the Bend Pub is the second of their Collage beer dinners, from 6 to 9pm. This is a six-course meal paired not only with the collaboration Collage beer (co-brewed with Hair of the Dog), but also the four constituent beers that were blended to product Collage: The Dissident, The Stoic, Fred, and Adam. Cost is $85 per ticket (with partial proceeds benefiting NeighborImpact of Central Oregon), and last I checked there were still 19 tickets left—though the ticketing closed at noon. Perhaps if you call Deschutes at (541) 382-9242 you can get one of those remaining tickets.

APEX Beer Bar (Portland) is having a party for their 2nd anniversary this weekend, starting tonight and lasting through tomorrow! New School has more details here, and it sounds like it’s going to be quite a party; tonight from 5 to 9 there will be a number of sour and unusual beers, and tomorrow: “It’s our second anniversary celebration, all day and into the night from 11:30AM to 2:30 AM.  I won’t tell you what I’m going to put on the tap, but if you remember last year’s anniversary, you know that it’s a lineup that’s not to be missed. I’ll be tapping between 30 and 50 rare beers that I’ve been working for the past two years to get for this event. In addition, it’ll be the worldwide debut of a beer I’m very excited about. Last year I asked my friend Peter Kruger, brewmaster at Bear Republic, if he’d be interested in making me a beer to commemorate our second anniversary. He graciously agreed to do so and I gave him  a few suggestions about what I liked best in my favorite double IPAs. He went to work on a recipe and the result is what he called the hoppiest beer they’ve ever made, Double Apex, a 10.1% Double IPA. An imperial version of their delicious Apex IPA. I can’t wait to taste it!”

Continue reading “Oregon Beer News, 05/18/2012” »