Savor the Flavor

Due to the availability of some last minute tickets from a friend at work (Thanks Kevin!), M and I attended the Savor craft beer event this past Saturday at the Mellon Auditorium in DC. First, the Mellon Auditorium is a beautiful venue for an event like this. It is also conveniently close to the Federal Triangle metro stop, which a great option for a beer fest (read: designated driver).

Each session was limited to 700 people and apparently every session sold out. It was nice to attend an event like this that was limited in size. Usually brew fests get rather crowded, but I think this one wasn’t too bad. A nice thing about an event of this size is that you actually had some access to the brewers and reps.

The idea behind this brew fest was that each brewer was to bring two beers and pair them with an appropriate food selection. The food was prepared in appetizer style. The selection of breweries who attended this event was great. I’d list them, but instead I’ll link them here. Some memorable pairings were Four Peaks 8^th Street Ale and rosemary chocolates, and Full Sail Session Lager and bite-sized stout burgers. In addition to the pairings some very memorable beers were: St. Louis Brewery’s barleywine, ’06 and ’07 Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, and Russian River’s Pliny the Elder. I really wish Four Peaks and St. Louis Brewery distributed in the DC area, hopefully, one day they will.

M and I were having so much fun walking and talking the booths that we did not even attend any of the speeches that were made. I think the crowd as this event was perfect, almost everyone was nicely dressed and polite. Generally, people went out of their way to move aside after they had been served their sample and continue their conversations without being to obstructive of the booth. Probably the only complaint that I had was the bathroom scene. There was only one men’s bathroom with two urinals and two stalls. This resulted in a rather lengthy bathroom break.

In conclusion, I think this was a great event for craft beer. It showed the pairing versatility of craft beer and food. It also was a classy event, yet the crowd wasn’t too snooty. At the end of the day we have to remember that we are talking about beer here and its something that is fun and yet it is to be respected.

Respect Beer,

HolzBrew