A special thanks goes out to Hopworks for their prize donations for the Best Damn Hoppy Beer and People Choice competitions. Hopworks sent 3 T-Shirts, 1 Biking Jersey, a couple of hats and swag. Next time you need a beer, please think of our sponsors.
Just 9 days left until Hop Madness. Have you purchased your tickets yet? 
Here’s a great article over at Brewpublic where they break down 25 great West Coast IPA’s that you should try for International IPA Day
As some of you are quite aware, we are making a big push this year on getting the word out about Hop Madness 2012
. Last month at the NHC in Bellevue we distributed nearly 1000 postcards advertising the event and now we’re making the push with getting posters up. We are trying to get them up in Home Brewing shops, Beer Bars, Breweries and Brew Pubs. The only problem is that we can only reach so many of these establishments ourselves and that’s where you come in. We’re asking the Hop Madness community to print out a poster and each time you go to one of these establishment, we want you to ask the management if you can put up a poster advertising the event. We know there’s still a lot of people out there that don’t know about Hop Madness and we really want to reach those people this year. Here’s a link to a printable PDF version of the 2012 Hop Madness Poster.
In addition look for us to be handing out Hop Madness info at the Portland International Beer Fest this weekend and at the Oregon Brewers Festival the following week.
40 Days until Hop Madness. Remember to buy your tickets early!!!!!!
Tickets for Hopmadness 2012 are on sale right now. Please head over to the Purchase Tickets page to pick yours up. Tickets are $10/person or $18/family and will be available online until August 24th. After that you will have to purchase them onsite at the increased rate of $13/person or $21/family. Get them now and be prepared, don’t be like the handful of people that had to pay the higher rate onsite last year!!!!!!
New this year due to the economy, if you have had an economic hardship and would like to participate in Hopmadness but you can’t afford it, please contact me using the contact form and we can work something out.
Finally look for a lot more Hopmadness related posts to pop up over the next few weeks. 47 days left to go and things are going to ramp up fast.
Since the National Hombrewing Conference is in our backyard this year I’m going to be advertising Hopmadness as much as possible . Here’s what the postcard flyers look like. If you see me at the NHC be sure to stop by, say hi and share a beer. You’ll also be able to find these flyers at the Oregon Brew Crew booth on Club night and at the Brew Brothers and Homebrewstuff.com booths in the vendor area.
We have a new award that’s going to be added to the Peoples Choice and the Best Damn Hoppy beer contests. It’s called the Best Damn Brewing system and will be awarded to the person that has what the judges determine to be the best brewing system being used at Hop Madness.
This is last minute so we’re not quite sure what the prize is going to be, but we’re trying to make it worth your while.
Just a quick reminder about tickets. Friday is the last day to purchase Hop Madness tickets online and they will quit being sold at 11:59pm PST. Tickets at the event are $13 per person vs the $10 per person online, so save yourself a few bucks…….
So what are you waiting for? Purchase tickets now!
Below are a series of pictures showing the area that we will be brewing at during Hop Madness. Rogue uses this area to brew their beers on the farm and it should be more then suitable for our needs. There is water and power and we’ll be providing hops earlier in the day. So all you’ll need to bring is your brewing equipment, malt and yeast.
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!!!!
So while my Photoshop skills aren’t the greatest, here’s a map showing how we want to set up Hop Madness 2011 at the Rogue Hop farm. The first thing you notice is that south of the Bed n’ Breakfast House is a giant half-circle area of grass. This is where the main event is going to happen. The colors on the map correspond to the following activities:
Hop Street is an area we’re creating this year to avoid the “sprawl, and distance” that people have complained about in the past. Back at the park we used to stay at all of the clubs would set up in their own area away from each other and you would have to hike all over the park to be social with everyone. This year we want everyone to set up their easy-ups, lawnchairs and kegs/tap-boxes in the Hop Street area. This will not only make it easier and faster for people to get their samples and votes in for the Peoples Choice award but will hopefully promote more socialization.
Keep your eye out for a post in the next few hours detailing what the brewing facility looks like.
Just a little more then one day left until Hop Madness.
