On Tuesday, January 17, the 61st annual American Hop Convention comes to Bend, Oregon for the first time. The convention takes place at the Riverhouse on the Deschutes hotel and convention center and runs through Friday, January 20.

Join us for the 2017 American Hop Convention as we journey across the Oregon TR‘ALE’ in beautiful Bend, Oregon. Majestic, snow-capped peaks adorn the high-desert skyline of this former mill town, turned adventure playground. Attendees will enjoy a robust convention program that celebrates the future of the hop industry while honoring our history. Learn the results of hops research projects, share your own oral history, discover how to apply advances in precision agriculture, and hear the insights of industry experts. These are among some of the highlights to look forward to during this year’s gathering! Every great convention includes amazing beer! So, in recognition of Bend’s abundant world-class breweries, we’ll trek down our own version of the Oregon TR‘ALE’ sampling some of Central Oregon’s finest beer.

It’s a fairly specialized conference, though of course there is beer involved and I’d previously mentioned that local breweries brewed up a collaboration IPA special for the conference. Our local Bend Bulletin newspaper published a more detailed look this week:

The American Hop Convention runs Tuesday through Jan. 20 and expects about 500 attendees, said Michelle Palacios, secretary-treasurer of the Oregon Hop Growers Association. Oregon hosts the convention — which primarily draws attendance from the Pacific Northwest but also attracts growers from the Midwest and East — every three years, the last time in Portland, she said.

Conventioneers, in addition to seminars on pest management, hop herbicides and hop aromas in beer, will hear lunch presentations from MillerCoors and Molson Coors executives on Jan. 19 and the following day from Gary Fish, founder of Deschutes Brewery.

Also on tap is an evening reception Jan. 19 at Crux Fermentation Project. And each attendee will receive a 22-ounce bottle of a beer brewed collaboratively for the event by brewers including Robin Johnson, Deschutes Brewery & Public House assistant brewmaster, and Larry Sidor, Crux head brewer, at the Boneyard Beer brewery.

In fact there will be a number of local beer events happening in conjunction with the Convention. Here is what I know thus far:

Crux Fermentation Project announced Friday that they will be showcasing new hops all week long: “With the American Hop Convention coming to town, you knew our brewers we’re going to have fun playing around with some new hop varieties. Starting today, we have 18 experimental beers on tap showcasing these hops. We encourage you to swing by and check them out before they’re gone.”

Crux will also be hosting the reception for convention-goers mentioned in the Bulletin article on Thursday, January 19, at their production brewery in northeast Bend.

Sunriver Brewing is similarly going to be holding a “hoppy beer tap takeover” at their Galveston pub in Bend, according to head brewer Brett Thomas (who I’d interviewed last week for an unrelated article). They have two new IPAs brewed exclusively with both Crosby Hops and Hopsteiner, named Oregon’s Finest Green and Washington’s Finest Green, respectively, as well as a new Session IPA and more.

And on Tuesday the 17th, Sunriver is hosting a Hop Grower’s Appreciation Beer Pairing Dinner at their Galveston pub. It is open to the public and seating is first-come, first-served and runs through the evening; price is $25 per person.

Also on Tuesday, Boneyard Beer will be taking over the taps at Broken Top Bottle Shop to showcase their new Metabolic IPA which was brewed just for the convention. Also on tap will be SkunkApe IRA, Suge Knite Imperial Stout, Hop Venom Double IPA, Boneafide Pale Ale, and Gooze Cruze.

Wild Ride Brewing will be tapping The Oregon Tr’Ale’ IPA at their taproom on Tuesday the 17th for the week.

And of course I will post additional event details through the week as I find out about them.