A Jägermeister and Chowder Festival Is Happening Next Month. No, Really.

Jelisa Castrodale
·3 min read
Chowdermeister
Chowdermeister

Courtesy of Chowdermeister

On an otherwise uneventful Tuesday night in July, writer Jake Browne logged on to Twitter and chose violence. "What's the worst food/drink pairing," he asked. "I'll throw an all-you-can-eat/drink festival of the winner in 39 days if 1000 people vote?" The four food-and-beverage combinations were truly horrendous: eggs and red wine; chowder and Jägermeister; pickles and banana daiquiris; and olives and butterscotch.

Chowder and Jägermeister picked up an overwhelming 75 percent of the over 1,700 votes that were cast, and Browne stayed true to his word. On Saturday, October 16, Chowdermeister, the first (and please, let it be the only) Jägermeister and chowder festival is being held at Sloan's Lake in Denver.

Early-bird tickets for the event are already on sale, and $25 bucks gets you "samples of various chowders and Jägermeister cocktails created by Denver's best chefs and bartenders." There is also a $50 ticket that includes the chowder and Jäger, as well as access to the venue's Fizz Garden, which comes with unlimited samples of beer and hard seltzer.

And, for those who want to go as hard as they can, there's also a $250 VIP ticket, which includes Fizz Garden entry, a private raw bar, a Chowdermeister t-shirt, and assorted swag from the event's sponsors.

"I saw Jake's tweet threatening to throw a chowder and Jägermeister festival if his poll reached 1,000 responses. I felt it was my duty to the world to make Chowdermeister a reality," Josh Scherer, the host of Mythical Kitchen and Chowdermeister's head judge, said in a statement. "Against all odds, and against God herself, I've spent years cultivating an audience uniquely suited to the combination of party liquor and dairy-based soup, and they came through. So, here we find ourselves, ready to unleash botanical-infused, lactose-tolerant hell on the city of Denver. I'm sorry. Or you're welcome. I'm not really sure anymore."

Although it's gag-inducing to combine Jägermeister and chowder in the same sentence, let alone inside one's digestive tract,, the event is being held for a good cause. Chowdermeister has pledged its support to The Gathering Place, a Denver-based non-profit that offers a number of resources to people experiencing homelessness.

"Community has always been at the core of who we are and what we stand for," Matt Diehm, the Regional VP of Mast-Jägermeister US Central, said. "That's why we are thrilled to be a part of the first-ever ChowderMeister competition that is supporting The Gathering Place."

So if you happen to be in the Denver area on October 16 and want to demonstrate how much you hate yourself while supporting a fantastic cause, make your way to Chowdermeister. Scherer will be there. Top Chef alum Carrie Baird will be, too. And so will the festival's mascot, which has been described as a "terrifying half-clam, half-buck" that alternately squirts either Jägermeister or clam juice out of its open palms. Have fun!