I’m late with this news which came out a month ago (December is a busy blogging month for this site), but the date and location for the 2013 Beer Bloggers Conference (the American version) were announced: Boston, from July 26 through 28. From the Location page:

We are extremely excited to be bringing the Beer Bloggers Conference to Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is, in some ways, the home of the craft beer explosion thanks to the Boston Beer Company, which introduced the Sam Adams Boston Lager to the world way back in 1985. Now, 27 years later, attendees of the Beer Bloggers Conference will have a chance to visit the Boston Beer Company, listen to founder Jim Koch, and drink great beers while enjoying a fantastic dinner at the brewery.

And yet the story is more complicated. The first licensed brewer in Massachusetts, way back in 1986, was Harpoon Brewery. So to make sure we are giving you the full experience, we’ll visit Harpoon Brewery for the other conference dinner, which will take place in their brand new beer hall.

In addition to our normal Friday afternoon through Sunday noon conference content in Boston, we have arranged a pre-conference excursion to Portland, Maine. You’ll fly or bus into Portland on Thursday for a Thursday late afternoon beer and cheese pairing reception at Cabot Creamery, followed by dinner at Sebago Brewing, and an evening pub crawl in downtown Portland. The next morning, we’ll bus back to Boston and stop en route in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a beer-pairing lunch at Portsmouth Brewery. What a great way to see three great beer cities in one trip. There is an extra cost of $50 for this pre-conference excursion for Citizen Bloggers ($100 for all others), which includes reception, dinner, lunch, and bus transport from Portland to Boston.

As usual, cost is $95 for “citizen” beer bloggers (like myself), $195 for industry beer bloggers, and $295 for everyone else. The conference itself is taking place at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel (where they’ve secured a deal on rooms, as well).

The agenda is fairly barebones so far but what they have looks pretty terrific.

Ironically, however, it’s taking place at the same time as the Oregon Brewers Festival this year; I do love the OBF but if it’s in the cards to get to Boston (which I have no idea at all yet), then OBF will have to wait a year.