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WESTPORT, Conn. If youre 21 or older, you can spend an afternoon tasting a variety of specialty beers on Westports Veterans Green during the first Biergarten on the Green.
During the event, scheduled for Oct. 27 from 1 to 4 p.m., beer fans will be able to sample dozens of craft and micro brews from local, national and international breweries, including Westports Beaver Beer and Compo Hill Brewery.
These are not your every day, mass produced beers, said Lee De Monico, spokesperson for the Westport Downtown Merchants Association, which is organizing the biergarten. We wanted to offer the opportunity to sample beers that maybe new to some people.
There are currently 15 breweries set to participate in the event, but De Monico said she expects more to sign up. Participating breweries include Shock Top, Sierra Nevada, Narragansett, the Milford-based Weed Beer and Merchant du Vin, an importer of specialty beers from Scotland, England, Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
There are some real beer experts in our area and they won't be disappointed by what will be poured at the biergarten, De Monico said.
In addition to the beer itself, celebrity chef and cookbook author Ian Knauer, whos co-hosting the event, will be on site dishing up beer-infused food for visitors. A German Oompah band will also perform and each visitor will receive a complimentary German-inspired boxed lunch and tasting mug, De Monico added.
The Biergarten on the Green is one of the many special events planned as part of the first annual Downtown Westport Foodie Fest, a three-day celebration of food and drink in the downtown area.
The festival is a culmination between the Downtown Merchants Association, CT Bites and the Westport Sunrise Rotary, which kicks-off the festival with its annual wine tasting event on Oct. 26. The wine tasting, now in its 23rd year, will feature wines from around the world.
Other highlights of the Foodie Fest include a cooking demonstration and lunch at Da Pietros Restaurant, a sushi rolling lesson for kids at Matsu Sushi, happy hour at the Spotted Horse, a champagne tasting event at Luxe Modern Wine & Cocktails, a family fiesta at Villa del Sol and a food/film event organized by the Westport Cinema Initiative.
All events are ticketed. Proceeds benefit the Connecticut Food Bank, Homes with Hope/Gillespie Center food pantry and other local nonprofits. The Foodie Fest will run Oct. 26 to 28. For a full schedule of events and tickets, visit the Foodie Fest website.
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