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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Blogger Giveaway: Oregon Garden Brewers Dinner

The Oregon Garden is an 80-acre botanical garden in Silverton, an hour south of Portland. In it you can find a water maze, an oak grove with a 400-year-old specimen, and Oregon's only Frank Lloyd Wright home--among other beguiling features. I was unaware of all of this. Every year for the past seven it has also the home of a beer festival, a fact that also escaped my notice (as so many things outside Portland do). You may have seen it on some of the blogs (see here and here) a sure sign that Chris Crabb is on the case.


That beer fest will enjoy its eighth iteration on April 27 and 28. Let us first detail some of the basic facts before getting to the transactional business. Per Chris's press release:
This year's event will take place April 27 and April 28 from noon to 11 p.m. each day at The Oregon Garden's J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Pavilion, 879 W Main St. The festival will feature more than 90 handcrafted beers and ciders from 45 different breweries spanning from Silverton's backyard to across the Atlantic.
There's live music, something called connoisseur tasting at 2pm on Friday and package deals at the Oregon Garden Resort that includes rooms and fest tickets. All info (except, frustratingly, a beer list) is at the website.

Now, relevant to our purposes, I'm giving away one ticket to the brewer's dinner happening the Thursday night before the fest, April 26th. The back story and notice of disclosure is this: I was offered a Very Special Invitation* to attend the brewers dinner on the house. Sally thought she might like to go--actually, she was the one who lobbied me to go to the event at all, even knowing that I have no time for such things now--so we bought an extra ticket to the brewer's dinner, a $40 value. And then she realized she had a conflict. So now I have a bonus ticket to the shindig, which features, among other things, one course with a saison from Gigantic. It's six courses long, and the Fest dangles this additional lure: "After dinner, head into the Fireside Lounge to mingle with the featured brewers and redeem your dinner ticket for drink and food specials at the bar." Will Van Havig, Ben Love, Dave Logsdon, Rob and/or Kurt Widmer, Tom Bleigh and others be there? Who can say? You'll have to come and find out.

There is exactly one caveat: you must go to the event. Indeed, I have to let Chris know who the person is so she can let them in, since my name's on the ticket. So no blowing me off unless you want to bring down my lightning bolts of fury. (Oh, I suppose there are other things like having to be 21--the usual legal issues.)

In the (I hope very likely) event that more than one person would like to cash in on this giveaway, I'll make a tiny contest of it. In comments, tell me why you want to go. Special but not exclusive preference to those who plan to attend the fest as well--but I'm capricious and willing to be won over by engaging entreaties. I will announce a winner at noon tomorrow.

___________________
*I have no idea if it was special or not, never mind very special. A little dramatic touch.

11 comments:

  1. Pick me because I will support the fest by buying yet another ticket to the dinner for my husband!

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  2. I would love to go to this dinner I am an aspiring beer blogger and would love to network at this dinner and meet with the brewers. I'd love to go thank you for your consideration.

    -Joseph
    www.buffalotheorybrewing.com

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  3. I'd love to go! I'm already planning to attend on Saturday with friends who live nearby. I've never been to this event before and am also only just learning of it.

    Thanks!

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  4. I live in silverton, i go to the brewfest every year!! I am going Firday night , and i am volunteering Sat night! My week would be perfect if i could go to the dinner too!!

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  5. Hey Jeff, and everyone else, check it. Beer list.
    http://oregongardenbrewfest.blogspot.com/2012/04/beer-list.html

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  6. Simple: I love beer, I love to eat, and I love the Oregon Gardens.

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  7. Me! I'm volunteering four hours on Saturday and enjoying with friends at night. I like food and beer and am too poor to go otherwise.

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  8. I am a teacher who teaches in the Willamette Valley. Turner, OR (home of Gilgamesh Brewing) to be exact. I was inspired by one of the brewers at Breakside who, at Zwicklemania explained to us that he used to be a teacher and is now brewing excellent, adventurous brews. Now I am seriously contemplating a 5-10 year plan of learning to brew and starting a unique, Breakside-like brewery in my good-beer starved hometown of Spokane, WA. Being able to connect with some of the best brewers around would be a great start for me!

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  9. Keep 'em comin! I'm loving the appeals but won't love making the choice.

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  10. Great idea, Jeff. Are you getting requests via email too? I hope you go for someone who has some volunteer time at the fest. That shows commitment.

    Where are the creative pitches? Tell Jeff about how that rash just cleared up and you are ready to eat in public again. Tell him you gecko just died from eating too much Jarlsberg and you really need a pick-me-up.

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  11. Three hours to decision time. My mom has actually weighed in to lobby for one of the commenters, so I'd call the competition fierce. I'll let you know by noon.

    Nicole, no emails.

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