Special thanks to all volunteers who worked the event and to Left Hand Brewery for providing the great brews to cool down in the heat. It was a great time supporting a good organization. There’s one last chance to take part in the event this summer, August 10th. Don’t let your dogs down and help support the Longmont Humane Society. What better way to enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon.

• Avery Brewing Company (Boulder, CO)
• Flying Dog Brewery (Denver, CO)
• Great Divide Brewing Company (Denver, CO)
• New Belgium Brewing Co. (Ft. Collins, CO)
• Odell Brewing Company (Ft. Collins, CO)

Click the image below for further detail and a full schedule.

On April 7, 2008 breweries across the United States will be hosting events, parties, tours and tastings to celebrate the 75th anniversary of when beer was the only legal beverage to produce here in the U.SA.  The full release from the Brewers Association is here detailing the events and the decisions that made it happen.  Their website, 75YearsofBeer.org, also has an interactive event page detailing what breweries are doing to mark the anniversary in your state.

I’m hoping this can be used as a place to aggregate festival information, beer dinners and other brewery events that are going on.  I will be adding more going forward.  I think the calendar has pretty good functionality.  If you click on a link to an event, you will see a summary of the event details.  Click “more details” on the mini-summary it will bring up a couple additional details and some functionality.

If you know of an event please shoot me an email through the “Contact” page and I’ll get it added.

We paid $40 per person. I figured that amount was not too bad for the meals below and five beers each.

To start, there was a guest greeting that featured Cheese and Wild Boar Sausage that was paired with their Hindenburg Light, Kolsch-style Ale

We really thought the Kolsch Ale matched well with the sausage and cheese, especially the spicy mustard that they offered too. My wife travels quite a bit to Germany, specifically, the Cologne region and has had several Kolsch Ales and said this one wasn’t quite as “hoppy” as the ones she has tried. For me, I could have probably had a couple of these in a sitting. It was dry and crisp. I’ll have to remember this come the summer months as well.

Then for the dinner portion, we had the following:

Appetizer:

Jumbo Shrimp Skewers served with a Mojito Marinade Paired with Wildfire Wheat

Unfortunately, we both thought they “missed” on this pairing. They explained during the dinner that they tried to get the spiciness of the marinade to go with the brew. Neither one of us thought the shrimp were that spicy which I think effected the pairing. I actually got two samples of the beer with this pairing. I threw in a lemon wedge on the first one and it gave the beer too much citrus flavor. One the second one though, I left it out. I could then actually taste the citrus flavor of the beer and not have it over done by the lemon. We both thought if they paired this beer with a sampling of spicy salsa and guacamole with tortilla chips, then it would bring out the flavors of both the brew and the food.

Salad:

House Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette Paired with Igniter Pale Ale

This was by far our favorite pairing. The hoppiness of the Pale Ale along complimented the nuttiness of the vinaigrette. Normally, my wife doesn’t like Pale Ales, but with this pairing, she loved it.

Entree:

House Smoked Pork Loin served with Garlic mashed potatoes and baby Vegetables Paired with Pyro Porter

We both liked the porter on its own. The dark beer had good roast aroma and had hints of a coffee flavor to offset its chocolate sweetness. It could have been matched with dessert as well. The pork was served topped with reduced Pyro Porter. We thought it made the meal too sweet. We thought a cherry or raspberry sauce might have suited it better.

Dessert:

Chocolate Stout Cake and rich ganache set in a pool of crème cafe Paired with Cherry Imperial Stout

I liked the cake; my wife didn’t. She really didn’t like the Stout either. She thought it tasted too much like Robitussin cough syrup. There was an overpowering of alcohol at the finish (9% ABV after all). I personally thought the cherry taste in the beginning was great though.

Overall, we ended up having a great time. We found out during the meal that this was the first beer pairing they have done in a while, so they’re getting the hang of it again. Special thanks to David Mentus (head brewer) for getting out from behind the brewing and introducing everything as well as Carol Cross, the bar manager, for organizing everything and the staff for the great service! We look forward to the next one.

Thanks again!

Proto’s Pizzeria Denver is located at 2401 15th St., Denver, 80202.

15 local breweries have confirmed for the event and tickets are going fast, so go to the Oriental Theater’s website and pickup your tickets.  Last year’s event sold out.

The first 600 people get a 10 ounce commemorative sampler glass and there will be live music during the festivities followed by The Reals as the headliner act. Tickets are $22 in advance and $30 at the door. The sampling of beer is unlimited.

We’ve got our tickets and it should be a great time!

Although the Thursday night opening dinner is already sold out, the remainder of the festival is packed with interesting “seminars” from some of the country’s big name brewers as well as the commercial tasting Saturday afternoon.  The Saturday morning Experimental Brewing Seminar sounds interesting.  It is more of a “brainstorming” session than a fixed presentation.  It may be good for the home brewers in the mix.

Don’t be fooled though, this isn’t like the GABF where sampling can run amok.  Education is key at this festival, where according to the web site, “each guest is limited to one sample of each beer for the first two hours of the event, as tracked by the extensive event program dedicated to educating the guest. This system encourages the guest to learn about the various breweries and beers available from around the world, and also slows consumption of the rather high octane brews available.”

With the over 7% alcohol beers and the high altitude, I have a hunch that most folks attending are going to be okay with that limit.  It should be a great time up in the high country if you can make it.

The Eco-Friendly Tour raised more than $245,000 for nonprofit organizations in 12 Cities: New Belgium Brewing’s cycling circus “Tour de Fat” pedaled its way to a record-breaking tour in 2007, hitting 12 cities in the west and southwest. More than 12,000 riders dressed themselves and their bikes in outlandish costumes to raise awareness for the two-wheeled lifestyle and to raise funds for non-profit organizations.

Ft. Collins, CO (PRWEB) November 12, 2007 — New Belgium Brewing’s cycling circus “Tour de Fat” pedaled its way to a record-breaking tour in 2007, hitting 12 cities in the west and southwest. More than 12,000 riders dressed themselves and their bikes in outlandish costumes to raise awareness for the two-wheeled lifestyle and to raise funds for non-profit organizations. This season, the number of riders in the tour’s bike parade increased by 112% from last year and 266% from 2005. In fact, the Ft. Collins, Colorado festivities set a world record for the longest stretch of a bicycle parade with nearly 5,000 riders filling the streets.

“This year was incredible,” said Chris Winn, Tour de Fat’s Event Evangelist. “It’s a definite sign of the times with people switching gears to help the environment. Not only did we have more riders than ever and raise a lot of money for worthy organizations, but we also had thousands of people pledge to bike more than half a million miles for Team Wonderbike.”

There are some great stats in there.  New Belgium is continually leading the way in sustainable business practices.  Nice job up in The Fort.  Definitely, check out their expanded “Folly” website for more information on local issues and great links.

For any business who cares to strive for becoming ecologically sustainable, follow New Belgium.