It’s going to be cool (low 50s) and rainy and windy on Friday… so can I recommend staying indoors but in the company of oh, booths of 33 breweries, 6 cideries, 15 wineries, and 10 distilleries? In particular, I really enjoy visiting the wine booths because this festival is also a competition for them with medals, and you can already see the resulting medal winners for what wine here to help guide your tasting!

Oh, and I shouldn’t exclude 6 booths of chocolatiers, a Tour de Cheese opportunity with artisan cheeses from Jacobs Creamery (usually you can only find Lisa’s cheeses at the Farmers Market, and only a few of her cheeses are once in a while at Whole Foods or a few local stores and restaurants).

Plus a chance to browse various booths (there are more than 50 booths) including artisan bottle openers to kilts to fun or classy hats and a balloon artist to gourmet foodstuffs like

• Salami and Meats from The Beautiful Pig
  
• Several oil and vinegar vendors (I love tasting the different flavors and getting new recipe ideas from the booths!)
• Shrubs from Sage and Sea Farms, as Saveur Magazine raved as a pick  of their Sage and Sea Farms grapefruit shrub “Mouthwateringly tart and insanely delicious, this grapefruit shrub, or drinking vinegar, makes a hell of a margarita.“
• The delicious jellies of Kelly’s Jelly and more recipe ideas… For instance, a couple years ago she shared this idea of delicious combo of Olympic Provisions Sweetheart Ham with Kelly’s Habanero Pepper Jelly Glaze
  
• Mom’s Booze Balls.  Yum.
• Hand-crafted, small batch marshmallows from Lil Miss Marshmallow that include Peanut Butter, Peppermint, Cinnamon Sugar, Chai Latte Spice and more flavored marshmallows
• And more!

There will also be live music in the evenings, demonstrations on a Culinary Stage every hour on the hour from 1-6 pm varying from talking about home brewing to highlighting artisan vendors to pairing chocolate and spirits.

What is this indoor location? It’s the Spring Beer and Wine Festival at the Oregon Convention Center, this weekend from April 3 & 4, 2015 starting at 12:00pm – 10:00pm both days. It’s hard to believe that this festival has been so successful at it’s indoor summer festival vibe that this is it’s 21st year!

Admission is $8.00 (tickets are on sale here, you can also purchase at the door), plus if you plan to optionally sample beer you need to buy a beer glass (beer is only available in a festival glass or mug). You can purchase a plastic tasting mug or go for the fancy glass with the gold rim… (I admit to having several of these from previous festival years as you can see… the screenshots from the TV are this year’s glasses it seems). They have some packages that include admission, 10 tokens, and a glass as well for a small savings. Purchasing in advance also gives you express entry with no waiting in line and $2.00 off parking at the Oregon Convention Center.

Tasting tokens ($1 each token, generally you need 4 tokens to get a full mug).  Cider, mead, and wineries may sell samples in tiny plastic cups or have their own glasses for sale or will serve their product in any of the festival glasses. Cocktails and distilled spirits come in their own glasses. Sharing samples is permitted).

Minors accompanied by an adult are permitted until 9:00pm both days, and children 12 & under are free. Plus, on Friday, the first 500 people to enter get in for FREE!

For a little bit more on the history and where the Fest may be going in the future, check out this great writeup in the Oregon Beer Growler by Kris.

What are you doing this weekend?

Disclosure: I have a media pass for the Spring Beer and Wine Fest 2015, but I have attended the festival multiple times in the past, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.