<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="Marshall Beer by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4824274405/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4824274405_e89c9c3527_b.jpg" alt="Marshall Beer" width="340" height="512" /></a></div>
Ladies and gents, we have a winner!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/TFCgao58LdI/AAAAAAAAB8E/QN1t-YysmmU/s1600/Picture+9.png"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/TFCgao58LdI/AAAAAAAAB8E/QN1t-YysmmU/s640/Picture+9.png" border="0" alt="" width="512" height="398" /></a></div>
I loved this story because it's real. It's relatable. And it's a classic story of that first beer. Plus, it made my tummy do that nervous churn-y thing. I like that in a story. And I loved that he remembered the name of the officer who reprimanded him but, ultimately, let him off the hook.

Enjoy your passes, Michael! Here's to hoping that the beers you'll enjoy this weekend will cause you much less angst than that first one did.

And thanks to all of you for playing - see you all at Wild Brew!
_________________________________________________________________________________

You could rent a jet and go globe-trotting to try 80 of the world's premium beers.

Or, you could buy tickets to the <a href="http://www.wildbrew.org/">Wild Brew, Tulsa's "crawl-in-one" beer tasting, music and food festival</a> at the Exchange Center at Expo Square Saturday, July 31st (just one Saturday from now). The event kicks off at 5pm, with a patron-only hour at 4pm.

<a name="more"></a>Headlining the list of brews this year is the aptly named Wild Brew, a critically acclaimed collaboration Belgian-style IPA by Oklahoma's own <a href="http://www.chocbeer.com/">Choc Beer Company</a> and <a href="http://marshallbrewing.com/index.asp">Marshall Brewing Company</a>. A slew of other Oklahoma beers will be featured at the festival, too, including beers from Choc, Marshall, <a href="http://www.coopaleworks.com/">COOP Ale Works</a> and <a href="http://www.mustangbrewing.com/">Mustang Brewing Company</a>. The Wild Brew festival will also feature beers ranging from Ayinger and Asahi to Young's Double Chocolate Stout. <a href="http://www.wildbrew.org/beer.html">Get the full list of beers right here</a>.

But 80 different beers is a lot to enjoy without some food and music, right? WB's got you covered. Look for more than two dozen local restaurants at Wild Brew, serving up noms ranging from noodle bowls to barbeque. Chow down and drink up to the music of Shelby Eicher, Mark Bruner and The Mid-Life. <a href="http://www.wildbrew.org/restaurants.html">Here's a complete list of Tulsa restaurants you'll see at Wild Brew</a>.

Proceeds of the event benefit the <a href="http://www.suttoncenter.org/">Sutton Avian Research Center</a>. The folks there work to support conservation, education and research on endangered, rare and neglected species of birds and their habitats.

If that's not worth drinking to, I don't know what is.

Tickets to this wildest of T-Town parties are $55 per, a bargain for a night chock full of food, beer and music, with a donation to a worthy cause thrown in for good measure. Tickets have to be purchased in advance, so if you haven't snagged yours yet, you'd better get moving - time's a-wastin'.

So, here's what you do. Go ahead and buy a pair of tickets - one for you, one for a friend or sweetie.

Then, head to the comments section of this post and tell me about <strong>the first time you ever tasted beer</strong>.

Be sure to include all the gory details, because <strong>the best story before Monday at 8pm wins a pair of general admission tickets to Wild Brew</strong>.

See? If you're the winner, and since you'll already have a pair of tickets for yourself, you'll have an extra pair with which to flatter the boss. Or the Joneses. Or the new 21-year-olds in your life. I mean, Lord knows how much I would have enjoyed Wild Brew tickets back during those first few months after I turned 21.

On second thought, don't give these tickets to any new 21-year-olds.

Good luck, everyone. I'll choose my favorite story shortly after the end of the contest, and after I notify the winners, I'll post them here. Cheers!