Lompoc Brewing Black Out Beer Fest and Chowder Challenge

Black Out Beer Fest

The Black Out Beer Fest is for people who love the decadent, dark beers of winter. The event features at least two dozen rotating dark beers – including dark lagers, porters, stouts, coffee beers and black IPAs – from Lompoc and more than 20 guest breweries from around the Northwest (and one from The Netherlands). Admission into the Black Out Beer Fest is free; tasting packages, required to taste the beers, cost $20, which includes a souvenir tasting glass and eight beer tickets. Additional beer tickets are available for $1 apiece. All tasting packages and additional tickets are purchased at the door. The event is for ages 21+.

Chowder Challenge

The Chowder Challenge is a blind tasting of a dozen samples of clam chowders by area restaurants and brewpubs. Attendees receive a tray with a dozen numbered two-ounce samples of chowder, then vote for their favorite; the chowder receiving the most votes is named the People’s Choice Winner. This year’s challengers include Deschutes Brewery (Bend), Ds Brickhouse Pizza, EaT Oyster Bar, Ecliptic Brewing, Farm House Cafe, Le Bistro Montage, Lompoc 5th Quadrant, Paddy’s Bar & Grill, Peter’s Bar & Grill, Renners’s Grill/Hawthorne Hideaway, Skyline Restaurant, and Ways & Means Oyster House.

A tray of all 12 chowder samples costs $15, or $20 for a tray and a Lompoc pint; all tickets are sold at the door. The event also features a beer garden, a raffle with prizes from the participants, and pub food for purchase. Minors are welcome at the family friendly event. All net proceeds are given to the Community Transitional Schooll for homeless children in the Portland area. The Chowder Challenge has taken place 11 times, and Lompoc Brewing has won seven of those; the four upsets were Morrison Hotel (2008), Ice Axe Grill (2013), and Farm House Cafe (2016 & 2018).