If you could have a beer every day for the next year, what would you drink?

One lucky beer enthusiast will have to choose when the winner of Visit Bend’s new Beer For A Year Sweepstakes is announced this summer.

Officials with the city’s tourism promotion agency unveiled the sweepstakes Tuesday at Visit Bend’s board meeting and discussed how the local brewing industry has drawn visitors to Bend and generated national press coverage.

“There have been a minimum of 50 publications around the country that have written about the Bend Ale Trail and Bend’s extraordinary craft beer industry in the past six months,” said Doug La Placa, CEO and president of Visit Bend. “It is a media frenzy that I have not seen in my five years of Bend tourism.”

Starting May 1, La Placa said locals and tourists age 21 and older can purchase $10 raffle tickets for their chance to win approximately $2,500 in gift cards to a collection of Bend breweries — equivalent to the purchase of one beer plus tip for every day of the year.

The winner is scheduled to be announced in July at the Fermentation Celebration, an event focused on the craft brewing culture and industry in Central Oregon, he said.

La Placa said raffle proceeds will go toward the Central Oregon Brewers Guild, a business advocacy organization founded in February.

Visit Bend came up with the sweepstakes to generate more national media attention on the craft brewing culture, provide a fun, interactive way for locals and tourists to support Bend’s craft beer industry and promote the new Fermentation Celebration, he said.

To tap into the bubbling beer interest and promote Bend’s brewing industry even more, Visit Bend also plans an upgrade to the ale trail, launching Bend Ale Trail, Version 2.0.

“To a large degree, we’ve been a one-trick pony, and that trick has been outdoor recreation,” La Placa said. “To diversify the tourism offerings in Bend, Visit Bend started the ale trail.”

In the past 12 months, more than 3,000 people have completed the entire Bend Ale Trail, which started in 2010, and an estimated 20,000 have done a portion, La Placa said.

The revamped trail will feature a new map with two additional breweries and a virtual check-in option so trailgoers with smartphones or iPads can obtain a virtual passport stamp at each brewery, he said. New ale trail merchandise — such as T-shirts with the slogans “man vs. beer” and “girl vs. beer” — and logos from the 10 ale trail breweries will also be available.

On the Web

For more information about the Beer For A Year Sweepstakes and the Bend Ale Trail, including the newest map, visit www.bendaletrail.com.