It’s not like we need an excuse to drink beer, but here’s one that you can use if you want to take a week off of work and visit as many breweries as you can.
During American Craft Beer Week, which runs from May 15-21, you can earn prizes, including a trip to the 25th Great American Beer Festival by visiting breweries.
The first thing you need to do is get a Great American Beer Tour passport. During the week, visit as many breweries as you can and ask them to stamp your passport. According to the Brewers Association, you don’t even have to buy a beer to get a stamp.
You get one point for every stamp, unless the brewer is a member of the Brewers Association (here's a list) then you get two points. If you’re a member of the American Homebrewers Association, you automatically get three points.
So what’s the point to all these points?
Collect 10 points and you’ll get a pair of Great American Beer Tour pint glasses as well as a certificate showing that you were a “2006 Local Tour Finisher� in the tour.
Collect 25 points and you get a Great American Beer Tour polo shirt embroidered with the logo and the words “2006 Regional Tour Finisher�
Collect 35 or more points and you’ll get the pint glasses, and the polo.
Collect the most points of any entrant in the 2006 Great American Beer Tour and you’ll win a trip for two to the 25th Great American Beer Festival held in Denver, CO September 28-30, 2006.
For more information, rules and all that sort of thing, visit http://www.beertown.org/events/acbw/gabt.html