Tales of the Cocktail Announces The 2nd Annual Cocktail Film Fest

Tickets on Sale Now

Tales of the Cocktail and W New Orleans invite movie buffs and libation lovers to indulge in celebrating the cocktail in three films. Cheryl Charming aka Miss Charming™, cocktail author and founder of MissCharming.com, plays hostess for the silver screenings.

Film Fest hostess, Cheryl Charming aka Miss Charming™ has been in the food and beverage industry since 1976, tending bar, authoring cocktail related books (9 so far), teaching bar tricks to Walt Disney World bartenders, and cocktail consulting. She is a member of The Bartenders Guild, and The Museum of the American Cocktail. She resides in Downtown Orlando and maintains the website MissCharming.com.

The Film Fest schedule is as follows:
• Saturday, April 11th, 4 p.m., King Creole
• Saturday, April 11th, 6-8 p.m., Dean Serneels is the Mad MXologist
• Saturday, April 11th, 8 p.m., Cocktail
• Saturday, April 11th, Midnight, Moulin Rouge

Seating for all films are dinner party style.

Tales of the Cocktail and W New Orleans invite movie buffs and libation lovers to indulge in an evening of celebrating the cocktail in three films. Cheryl Charming, cocktail author and founder of MissCharming.com, plays hostess for the silver screenings.

The Film Fest schedule is as follows:

Saturday, April 11, 2009
4 pm. King Creole
6 pm. Meet-n-Greet Dean Sernells
8 pm. Cocktail
Midnight Moulin Rouge

*Seating for all films are dinner party style*

Film Fest hostess, Cheryl Charming a.k.a. Miss Charming™ has been in the food and beverage industry since 1976, tending bar, authoring cocktail related books (nine so far), teaching bar tricks to Walt Disney World bartenders, cocktail consulting and teaching cocktail classes. She is a member of The Bartenders Guild and The Museum of the American Cocktail. She resides in Downtown Orlando and maintains the website MissCharming.com.

Chef Roberto Bustillo, Jr. of Zoë Restaurant will prepare inspired hors d’oeuvres for the day. Chef Bustillo has won two Gold Fleur de Lis Awards from New Orleans Wine and Food Experience in 2006 and 2007 and a Silver Fleur de Lis Award in 2008. Zoë Restaurant and Lounge is located on the second floor of the W New Orleans.

Saturday, April 11th

King Creole (1958)
4 pm.
This Elvis Presley summer hit of 1958 was filmed in New Orleans when he was 22 years old. The cast and crew blocked off the entire top floor of the Roosevelt Hotel (now Fairmont Hotel and soon to be Waldorf Astoria). King Creole was Elvis' last B&W film and is considered by critics to be his best. Elvis plays a nightclub busboy turned nightclub singer and even though there are many bar scenes not one single cocktail is mentioned, so we will be serving famous New Orleans cocktails including the Sazerac, Hurricane, Scarlet O'Hara, Ramos Gin Fizz, and French 75. Retro candy and popcorn will be served and popular soundtracks to look forward include Trouble, Hard Headed Woman, King Creole, New Orleans, and Dixieland Rock.

Dean Serneels is the Mad MXologist
6-8 pm.
Come meet Dean Serneels as the Mad Mixologist! This Dean of Drinks is an Inventor, Hospitality Consultant, Entertainer, Motivator, Flipping Mixologist and owner of Flairco.com. Dean will be sharing his skills in a hands-on bottle flipping workshop and will also entertain you with his magic and moves on the bar. Dean has won over 22 bartending awards, has appeared on the FOOD Network and as the bartender trainer on CMT's Search for the Ultimate Coyote. Dean is also the creative mind behind all of the Flairco brand bartending products. Join Dean as he flips, spins and tosses the fictitious Blue Turquoise from the film, Cocktail, Pink Squirrels, and Sex on the Beaches. Landshark beer will also be available.

Cocktail (1988)
8 pm.
Cocktail finally turns 21! And what better way to celebrate this summer hit of '88 than with dinner, drinks and a movie New York/Jamaican style! This film kick-started modern flair bartending worldwide and introduced three hit songs, Kokomo, Don't Worry, Be Happy and Addicted To Love. We celebrate the 21st birthday with Jamaican style food and birthday cake.
Special guest star, Dean Serneels will be present demonstrating the moves seen in the film.

Moulin Rouge (2001)
Midnight
Can-Can you join us for a midnight enchanting screening of this lush and visually-rich modern musical that was nominated for 8 Oscars? The Green Fairy will be upon us as we serve Absinthe in glass blown fountains at each table. Nibbles, bottled water and French wine will also be available.

Tickets and Special Rates
Tickets are required for Tales of the Cocktail Film Fest and can be purchased online at www.TalesoftheCocktail.com as of February 15, 2009 for $25 per showing. Ticket packages are available through the website. A special room rate of $99 at the W Hotel New Orleans available Thursday, April 9, 2009 through Monday, April 13, 2009. Please use promotion code LIF. For event guests, a rate of $12 per car will be available. For questions, please call 1-877-WHOTELS for assistance. Book a room online at www.TalesoftheCocktail.com.

Founders Releases Popular Kentucky Breakfast Stout

(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich) – It is a well-celebrated annual tradition – one that results in pilgrimages by die-hard craft beer lovers from throughout the Midwest – that is simply known as the release of Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS). Each March, Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Mich., releases its rich, barrel-aged brew in limited, high-demanded quantities.

Rated as an A / A+ by most major beer reviewers – and considered by some to be one of the Top 5 brews of its kind in the country – this Imperial Stout is well worth the wait. Only 1400 cases (33,600 bottles) will be sold in 2009, a slight increase over 2008.

“We are limited by the size of our brewing facility,” says Mike Stevens, Founders Brewing President. “By 2010, we plan to increase our production of Kentucky Breakfast…but it will still be significantly short of its demand.”

Kentucky Breakfast Stout is brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, before being aged a full year in oak bourbon barrels from Kentucky. These barrels are then stored 100 feet in the ground, in the caves of nearby gypsum mines, before returning to the tanks to be finished and bottled. KBS is a very labor intensive beer, requiring additional precision and devotion.

“While all of our beers are made with 100% pure deliciousness, I am personally drawn to the smell of the bourbon barrels,” says Alec Mull, Director of Brewing Operations. “The wood and bourbon flavors and aromas that surround the barrels become firmly entrenched in the fabric of the beer, and the chocolate and coffee find harmony with them. All of the characters are very distinct. While you can experience each independently, they also manage to work very well together and form a melded collage of flavor.”

Kentucky Breakfast Stout is available in limited quantities in 10 states and retails in 4-packs for $20.

“KBS is indeed an extraordinary beer,” Alec says. “We feel very lucky to be able to make this beer and are excited that everyone likes it so much.”

Founders Brewing Company, 235 Grandville Avenue SW in downtown Grand Rapids, is a proud member of the Michigan Brewers Guild. www.michiganbrewersguild.org.

MICHELOB BREWING CO. TURNS UP THE WHEAT

The Michelob Family Continues To Offer New Beer Styles with Its Latest Wheat Sampler Pack

St. Louis, MO- After a long winter, beer lovers have anxiously waited to see what new recipes Michelob Brewing Co. brewmasters had up their sleeves to usher in the new year. Well, wait no longer – Michelob Honey Wheat is the newest beer to join the growing collection. This hand-crafted filtered wheat ale, brewed with orange blossom honey from the groves of Florida and California, completes an all-wheat sampler pack created just for spring and summer.

The Michelob Brewing Co. Spring/Summer Sampler Pack, available beginning March 2, includes Michelob Honey Wheat, year-round favorites Shock Top Belgian White and Michelob Dunkel Weisse, and the spring seasonal Hop Hound Amber Wheat.

Sampler packs are an easy and convenient way for adults to try several new beer styles. Brewmaster Kristi Zantop suggests arranging a wheat beer sampling at home with friends to have some fun and brush up on your beer expertise. The Michelob Brewing Co. brewmasters have made it easy by including an informative flighting sheet in each sampler pack and posting interactive videos to Michelob.com to guide beer lovers through the ingredients, coloring, body, bitterness levels and brewing techniques for the four styles, along with suggestions for glassware pairings.

To sound like a brewing pro, Zantop shares some key facts to bolster wheat beer know-how:

“When you’re sampling beers, always select the proper glass style and shape. This will enable you to enjoy the beer’s aroma and coloring – key parts of the tasting experience. With wheat beers, try a traditional tall, wide-mouthed glass.”

“Typically wheat beers are not filtered during the brewing process, giving them a cloudy, hazy appearance, but it’s not uncommon to encounter filtered wheat beers as well, like Michelob Honey Wheat. When unfiltered wheat beers are bottled, the beer’s yeast settles to the bottom, so when you’re pouring an unfiltered beer from the sampler pack, like Dunkel Weisse for instance, roll the bottle slowly in your hand before topping off the pour with the last inch of beer from the bottle – this helps redistribute the yeast.”

Over the past four years, wheat beer sales have skyrocketed – and it’s no wonder. Adults love wheat beers’ refreshment and endless variety of flavors and aromas, making an all-wheat beer sampler pack the ideal choice for the Michelob Brewing Co.’s newest special collection.

The four distinct wheat brews featured in the Michelob Wheat Beer Sampler Pack are:

Michelob Honey Wheat: a silky, smooth filtered wheat ale brewed with orange blossom honey. Zantop and her team wanted to push the envelope with their newest creation, playing around with different varieties of honey until they found just the right kind to give Honey Wheat a pronounced floral aroma and hints of orange citrus flavor.

Hop Hound Amber Wheat: an unfiltered American amber wheat ale brewed with Cascade, Willamette and Hallertau hops and a blend of the finest caramel, wheat and pale barley malts.

Shock Top Belgian White: an unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale with a naturally cloudy and light golden color, brewed with orange, lemon and lime peels and coriander.

Michelob Dunkel Weisse: a surprisingly light unfiltered dark wheat ale with unmistakable clove and banana tones, a result imparted from the unique Bavarian yeast strain used.

“We played around with several recipe concepts before honing in and perfecting the Honey Wheat. Its smooth citrus flavor and strong floral aroma are just the right balance to our Bavarian-style dark wheat Dunkel Weisse with roasted malt and banana flavors, our Belgian-style wheat ale Shock Top with subtle citrus and spice notes, and our American-inspired Hop Hound Amber Wheat with its caramel sweetness,” said Zantop. “Whether you are hosting a sampling party or pairing the beers with your favorite foods, there’s something for everyone in this craft collection."

The Michelob Spring/Summer Sampler Pack is available at grocery and convenience stores nationwide through September in 24-packs (six of each beer), 12-packs (three of each beer) and six-packs (two of each beer, Hop Hound Amber Wheat not included).

Each recipe in the collection was developed in the Michelob Brewing Co. – a small, 10-barrel, state-of-the-art brewery with access to the best ingredients and brewing equipment.

Michelob Brewing Co. is a team of Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and sales and marketing professionals who focus their attention on creating new beer styles and bringing them to adults across the country. Once new recipes are perfected at the Michelob Brewing Co. they are brewed and packaged at Anheuser-Busch’s 12 regional breweries. For more detailed information and photos, visit www.michelob.com or www.anheuser-busch.com/ABMarketingmichelob.html.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company Invites Chefs to a Showdown

Thirty teams using Saint Arnold beer as ingredient to face off at second annual One Pot Showdown

HOUSTON, November 24, 2008 – For millions of Texans, the phrase, “cooking with beer,” means standing by the grill with a spatula in one hand and a bottle in the other. Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, is challenging Texas chefs to poor the bottle into a pot to create a new innovative dish that reflects and celebrates the range of flavors found in Saint Arnold beers.

Saint Arnold Brewing is accepting entries now for the Second Annual Saint Arnold One Pot Showdown scheduled for Sunday, January 25, 2009. Thirty teams will have up to four hours to toil on their best concoction. Judges will award prizes to the top three recipes based on creativity, use and distinction of the Saint Arnold beer in the recipe and overall taste.

“More people are discovering how well beer pairs with food,” said Brock Wagner, founder of Saint Arnold Brewing. “Using the beer as an ingredient is part of the evolution, showcasing the flavor and diversity found in craft beer. The fun part is seeing the innovative ways people incorporate the beer in their recipe.”

Using beer as an ingredient is just beginning to gain popularity in America, but it is common in beer-loving Europe. The Belgians call it cuisine à la bière, and the idea of blending food and beer is centerpiece of the U.K.’s gastropubs.

A capacity crowd is expected to sample the entries at the Second Annual Saint Arnold One Pot Showdown. A portion of each ticket sold to will benefit the Houston Food Bank, which feeds 80,000 different people each week and nearly a half million people each year. Last year’s event raised $1,800 for charity. Tickets will be available through the brewery.

Last year, the winning team created a delicious finger food that the brewery renamed “Saint Arnold Fried Beer,” using Saint Arnold Winter Stout as an ingredient. It would make a great addition to any football party and can be downloaded from the Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog at www.saintarnold.com/mt. A chili recipe using Saint Arnold Amber Ale took second place while a soup recipe using Saint Arnold Brown Ale was third.

Rules for the Saint Arnold One Pot Showdown are available at http://www.saintarnold.com/news/onepot.html.

About Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Saint Arnold Brewing's ten brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 21 dedicated employees. The brewery was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer.” It is located at 2522 Fairway Park Drive and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every Saturday at 1:00 P.M. For more information on Saint Arnold's five year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.

Christmas Cookies!

The season is upon us. In between trips to the store for my favorite holiday ales and spiced wine there’s more than a chance that I’ll be whipping up some baked goods. Pies and strudels are nice but nothing really says Christmas like Christmas cookies. Here are some great Christmas cookie recipes to check out.

One of my favorite recipes from this list of Christmas cookie recipes list is Rum Balls. My mom makes these every year although being a teetotaler she uses McCormicks rum flavoring. I like to make them using the real stuff and believe me, that makes all the difference!

Watching the waistline this year? Here are some low fat holiday recipes including a couple of cookies.

NEW LIMITED EDITION BOURBON COUNTY STOUT FROM GOOSE ISLAND MAKES ITS WAY WEST

Massive imperial stout now available to beer connoisseurs in three western states

Chicago, IL, November 5, 2008 . . . Goose Island Brewing Company has been celebrating the annual release of its Bourbon County Stout since it was first created 16 years ago by brewmaster Greg Hall to commemorate the 1000th batch at the original Chicago brewpub. As 2008 comes to a close, Goose Island has yet another reason to celebrate; thanks to larger distribution capabilities, the brewer is able to make the massive imperial stout, the first of its kind, available to beer connoisseurs throughout Oregon, California and Arizona. The beer begins shipping today and is scheduled to hit shelves of better grocery stores and beer specialty shops in the three states by mid-November, 2008.

When Bourbon County Stout was first crafted, Hall brewed an imperial stout in four-year-old bourbon barrels, where it aged for one hundred days. The 2008 batch kicked things up a notch by aging for 10 months in 16-year-old barrels. This process allowed the liquid to pick up its charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke flavors. With an alcohol by volume of 13% and a shelf life of five years, the finished product is clearly not for the inexperienced drinker; Hall developed Bourbon County Stout for seasoned craft beer drinkers and high end spirit connoisseurs who appreciate beers that come along once in a great while. Like a fine wine, the flavor of Bourbon County Stout evolves as it ages over five years, thereby lending a different flavor and experience for the drinker, no matter when he chooses to enjoy it.

“Until now, beer drinkers didn’t have access to massive imperial stouts in stores,” Hall said. “We set out to change that. This year, thanks to our commitment of increasing our barrel-aging capacity in our
brewhouse, we are proud to say that we can bring Bourbon County to more
beer enthusiasts than we ever imagined when we brewed the first small batch back in 1992. We think Bourbon County Stout will definitely make some memories and new fans this holiday season.”

Described by some as “a great cigar beer,” Bourbon County Stout is dark and dense. The flavor is so intense, Hall says, that only the most decadent chocolate dessert can stand up to it.

Bourbon County Stout will be available on tap at Goose Island’s Clybourn and Wrigleyville brewpubs as well as in 12 ounce bottles in specialty stores, with suggested retail for a four-pack at $19.99.

IRON HILL BREWERY & RESTAURANT ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY RELEASE OF TRIPLE BOCK BOTTLES WITH 3-D LABEL

PHOENIXVILLE, PA – On November 28, the region’s most celebrated beer and food destination, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, will release their Triple Bock, a heady, high-alcohol winter brew that is a perfect way to warm up as the weather starts to get cooler. Brewed for a special, limited holiday release of just 1,300 bottles, Triple Bock is the newest addition to Iron Hill’s Reserve Bottle Beer line, large bottles designed to drink in the restaurant, take home or for a gift for the beer lover. Triple Bock will be available for sale at all seven Iron Hill locations.

“Triple Bock is a strong, dark lager, a more potent version of a classic German Doppelbock,” says Phoenixville Head Brewer Tim Stumpf, who created and brewed the recipe. “We’ve crafted ours with a smooth, roasted flavor that balances its higher alcohol content and makes it easy to enjoy.”

Triple Bock will be sold in 375 mL bottles, at 13.2 % alcohol. Bottles will retail for $12, or $25 with a limited edition Triple Bock t-shirt. Both the beer and the t-shirt will be sold with complimentary 3-D glasses, making them a fanciful and innovative holiday gift for beer lovers.

Triple Bock’s eye-catching 3-D label was designed by gifted local graphic artist Jeff Schaller of PinkCow Studio. Schaller also created the signature wall murals at several Iron Hill locations. The label features a long-horned ram, the traditional symbol for Bock style beers, and is meant to be viewed through 3-D glasses that make the ram’s horns appear to leap off the bottle.

“This is a special beer, and it deserved a special label,” says Iron Hill Director of Brewing Operations Mark Edelson. “Jeff has created some amazing art for us over the years, and we’re thrilled to include his spectacular design on our newest bottled beer.”

Triple Bock joins other bottled reserve beers available for the holidays, including Abbey Dubbel, Barleywine, Belgian Tripel, The Cannibal, Russian Imperial Stout, Old Ale 2005 and 2007, Fe 10 Anniversary Ale, Quadrupel, Oak-Aged Quadrupel, Wee Heavy, Rauchbier and Saison. In addition, the Old Ale 2008 will be released in December.

Since 1996, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant has consistently been recognized for its outstanding beers and cuisine, accruing over 100 “Best of” awards from regional magazines. Their hand-crafted beers have also won acclaim and in total, they have received 39 medals from the three most prestigious beer events, the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup and Real Ale Festival.

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant has seven locations: Wilmington, DE; Newark, DE; West Chester, PA; Lancaster, PA; Media, PA; Phoenixville, PA and North Wales, PA. An eighth location is planned for Maple Shade, NJ in early 2009. For more information about Triple Bock or Iron Hill, or to make a reservation at any of their locations, please visit their website at www.ironhillbrewery.com.