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I’m spending the week out at our Brewery in Frederick, Maryland in preparation for Savor. Last night, some of the Flying Dog team went out to a wonderful beer dinner at The Reef in Adams Morgan. Eric Warner himself was in attendance and the food was exquisite. We’ll have more on this event later, but the Ahi Tuna Sashimi with Avocado Tempura paired with Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale was unreal. I never thought about making tempura out of avocado but when I get home, I’m totally rocking that shit.

Anyone going to Savor this weekend? Thoughts?

If you haven’t been to TAP and you live in the Atlanta metro area, you need to make plans to go there now. A great time to try it out will be at their Flying Dog Beer Dinner on May 7 at 6:30pm The menu looks great:

Tire Bite Golden Ale
Crayfish, Asparagus, Pickled Ramps and Mache Salad

Classic Pale Ale
Bruschetta of Rosa Bianca Eggplant, Tomatoes and Crispy Prosciutto

Road Dog
Black Sea Bass, Stuffed Morels, Gnocchi and Arrow Tip Spinach

In Heat Wheat
Roasted Duck Breast, Spring Turnips, Logan Mills Grits and Orange Coriander Jus

Old Scratch Amber Lager
Tres Leche, Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream

After the meal
World Beer Cup Gold Award winner, Gonzo Imperial Porter for meditation purposes

$55 per person. Space is limited, so call TAP at 404.347.2220 to make a reservation.

Chicago Sun-Times freelance writer Allecia Vermillion penned a nice article about pairing beer and cheese. The article talks about why beer and cheese pair so well:

Because beer shares a certain commonality of origin with cheese, it’s difficult to make a truly terrible beer and cheese match. Ales and lagers partner willingly with most cheeses while wine’s inherent acidity makes a good cheese pairing more of a challenge.

We at Flying Dog Brewery are starting to have more and more beer dinners on the East coast, and here’s another great-sounding beer dinner on May 27th at Duffy’s on Potomac in Hagerstown, Maryland. It’s only $29 plus tax and tip - a very affordable beer dinner. If you’re looking to see what the hell a beer dinner is all about and have just a little extra cash, this might be right up your alley.

The menu looks tasty, they even have an Exploding Crabcake paired with Old Scratch Amber Lager. How could that possibly be bad?

May 27, 2008
Duffy’s on Potomac
28 S Potomac, Hagerstown, MD

Smoked Duck Martini
Paired with Woody Creek White
with Mixed Greens, Oriental garden vegetables &
a Pancetta vinaigrette

Exploding Crabcake
Paired with Old Scratch Amber Lager
wrapped in phyllo dough lightly fried
with a hazelnut green curry sauce

Thai Beef Skewers
Paired with Snake Dog India Pale Ale
Marinated in a citrus dressing
served with spicy green beans & roasted red potato wedges

Tempura Fried Bananas
Paired with Tire Bite Golden Ale
with a cinnamon nutmeg green tea sauce

$29.00 per person + tax + 20% tip

There’s a cool beer dinner coming up in Atlanta:

Welcome to Lumière. It is the site of our students’ capstone class (Restaurant Rotation) and, as such, is managed by students under the direct supervision of our acclaimed Instructors. May 1 is very special night for all of us. Our menu tonight has been developed and executed by our students. Most of whom took part in a recent recipe contest sponsored by Flying Dog Brewery. We are very proud of each and every one of them and we hope that you enjoy our creations!

You can make a reservation by calling (770) 723-3507 or on line at www.lumiereatlanta.com.

Menu

Passed hor d’ oeuvres
Profiteroles with duxelle filling
Beef Tartar on toast points
Crab Parmesan phyllo triangles
Paired with Flying Dog Snake Dog India Pale Ale and Tire Bite Golden Ale

First Course
Grilled fennel and radico salad with fried brie and apple vinaigrette with grain mustard
Paired with Flying Dog Woody Creek White

Second Course
Petite Filet of Beef Tenderloin, mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots and celeriac with ramps and fava beans
Paired with Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager
Silver Medal Winner at the 2006, 2008 World Beer Cup

Third Course
Orange kissed flourless chocolate cake with Chantilly cream, berry coulis and fresh berries
Paired with Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Gold Medal Winner at the 2008 World Beer Cup

Part 2 of Your Next Beer’s beer and food podcast is online. They get more detailed in this one as the last podcast was more of an overview.

This week we’re looking at specific beer styles and food so you can get some mouth watering ideas of beer meals to make.

Back in January I was lucky enough to represent Flying Dog Brewery at the Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival in Vail. It’s definitely one of the perks of being in the craft beer industry. Friday night was their Brewmasters’ Dinner, and Odell and Lost Abbey beers were featured. I met Tomme Arthur (the man in charge over at Lost Abbey and Pizza Port), and we talked a little bit about the event. I later emailed him and he was kind enough to respond. The menu from the dinner is below, with our email conversation beneath. I shot photos at the event, and you can click on any of them to be directed to a larger image.

Opening Reception - Paired with Odell Double Pilsner and Lost Abbey Lost & Found
Caviar Station
Hot Soup Station
Authentic Rocky Mountain Oysters
Carolina Pulled Pork Sliders

Second Course - paired with Odell IPA and Lost Abbey Ten Commandments

Baja Shrimp Gazpacho with Spicy Tortilla Sticks

Third Course - paired with Odell Imperial Stout and Lost Abbey Veritas 002*

Tenderloin wrapped with Pancetta bacon, served with Star Anise Marinated Quail Breast - served with parsnip puree and chocolate port reduction

*Veritas 002 is blended Sour Ale with Redstone Meadery’s Raspberry Mead

Fourth Course - paired with Odell Extra Special Red and Lost Abbey Veritas 001**

Warm Cambazola cheese in filo with lavender honey and poached pear

** Veritas 001 is blended Strong Ale with cherries

Fifth Course - paired with Odell Doppelbock and Lost Abbey Angel’s Share
Dessert station (chocolate cake, paradiso, chocolate opera torte, tiramisu, white passion, chocolate marquis, ice cream chocolate truffles)

How long did it take to come up with the menu for the beer dinner? How much interaction did you have with each other?

Tomme: We were responsible for selecting beers that we thought would “WOW” the crowd, match the other brewer’s offerings and could work well with food. In this respect, we selected some unique beers that we felt afforded the chefs an excellent opportunity to find matches with our beers. We offered our assistance but as we weren’t at the reviewing of the beers with the chef and Doug Odell, there wasn’t much input from us towards to the food.

Which course/pairing did you think worked best? Why? Are there any changes you would have made in retrospect? I personally thought the pancetta wrapped tenderloin with the chocolate sauce paired wonderfully with the imperial stout and veritas 002, even though they were such different beers. Great to know that the same meal can be paired with a few different styles of beer.

Tomme: I really loved the meal. It was a huge risk reward sort of night. There were so many opportunities to find slam dunks. I really enjoyed the Odell’s Imperial Red Ale with the Phylo. I think the Veritas 002 was great with the Tenderloin. I also think the 001 would have been great with this as well.

It was a large beer dinner (I heard 200 total people) - what were the difficulties in putting something like this together? Was it the largest beer dinner you’ve put on?

Tomme: It was about the biggest dinner I think I have been associated with directly. We have done larger dinners where one of our beers was involved. All in all, it goes down as one of the most ambitious beer dinners I have been associated with. I’d like to thank Chef Mercer for going above the board on this one.

Your Next Beer is a weekly beer-based podcast. For their 1-year anniversary webisode, they produced a show about Beer and Food (Part 1) - which is an introduction into the world of beer and food. Since there is a “part one” attached to their blog entry, it’s safe to assume that there will be a few segments, and we’re looking forward to hearing them. The webisode is 17 minutes, check it out when you get a chance.

One of my favorite things about working in the Craft Beer industry is that we can be friends with other craft brewers. The camaraderie of craft brewers is unlike anything I’ve seen in previous jobs. And ultimately, we’re all promoting the concept of “better beer”.

Along that theme, extraordinary chef Bruce Paton is having a great-sounding beer dinner on April 20th at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. I saw this beer dinner at the The California Craft Beer Newsletter blog (see link for all the pertinent information) - and the beer dinner looks exquisite. There are five participating breweries (with their brewmasters being in attendance):

Rod Todd, Allagash, Portland, ME
Adam Avery, Avery Brewing, Boulder, CO
Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head, Milton, DE
Tomme Arthur, Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River, Santa Rosa, CA.

These are heavyweights in craft beer, and they’ll all be there. I had the privilege of going to a beer dinner hosted by Chef Paton and it surpassed all my expectations (more on that event later this week). If I lived in San Francisco, I’d definitely be at this event. My favorite course from the upcoming beer dinner is called “A Study in Duck” - not entirely sure what that means, actually.

There’s a great (and affordable) Flying Dog beer dinner in the Atlanta area next week at Urban Flats (technically in Lawrenceville). The beers being poured are:

In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen
Snake Dog IPA
Horn Dog Barley Wine
Old Scratch Amber Lager
Gonzo Imperial Porter

We’ve been informed the menu will be a special surprise. Here’s more info about the venue:

Urban Flats is a casual dining destination featuring an eclectic fusion of ancient world style flatbread in a modern urban setting, using the freshest ingredients inspired by the region and season along with tastefully selected wines from around the world.

Our focus is on the Flatbread, which dates back centuries ago being the first creation of bread. Grains were put into a pot over the fire and cooked into porridge. Ultimately this grain mixture was spread onto a rock next to the fire and thus the first flat cakes were made.

Atlanta - The Avenues
1250 Scenic Highway SW
Lawrenceville, GA 30045

6PM-9PM

$20 prepay before March 23rd, $25 after the 23rd and at the door