Celebrate the Autumn Season at Michigan Harvest Beer Festival

Inaugural Event Presented by the Michigan Brewers Guild & metrotimes at Detroit’s Eastern Market – Saturday, October 24 (1-6pm)

(EAST LANSING, Mich) – Based on the success of past events and a steadily growing interest in locally-crafted beer, officials at the Michigan Brewers Guild and metrotimes say they are planning on a sell out crowd of 2500 for their inaugural Michigan Harvest Beer Festival on Saturday, October 24 at Eastern Market in Detroit. The event, which runs from 1-6pm* (rain or shine) will actively promote local Detroit food, Detroit brewing history, and of course, Michigan craft beer. The festival is the culmination of the inaugural “Detroit Beer Week,” which runs October 16-24.

“We expect our combined efforts to result in one of the best local beer events in the region,” said Scott Graham, Executive Director of the Michigan Brewers Guild. “We anticipate more than 40 Michigan microbreweries and brewpubs to participate, with nearly 200 different beers available to sample.”

In addition to the vast selection of beers, a variety of harvest foods will be prepared and sold by local restaurants including Detroit Beer Co., Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub and Russell Street Deli, with Traffic Jam & Snug deli / brewery serving up their popular house-made cheese. Live entertainment will also be provided throughout the afternoon by two well-known local bands, the Grand Nationals and Orbitsuns.

The festival will be set up in the Eastern Market parking area, north of shed #5, with ample parking in the surrounding market area. The cost to enter the festival is $35 in advance and $40 at the gate, if tickets are still available (attendance is limited to 2500). Admission includes 15 drink tokens, each valid for one 3-ounce beer sample. Additional tokens may be purchased during the festival for 50 cents each. Admission tickets are now available for purchase online at www.michiganbrewersguild.org.

Select retail outlets are also selling tickets; that list is available on the MASH page of the Guild’s website (www.mbgmash.org), along with the list of participating breweries and beers to be served. Festival attendees must be 21 years of age or older and have ID to enter. Designated Drivers are encouraged and DD tickets will be available on line and at the gate for $5 each.

Eastern Market is one of the nation’s oldest farm markets and the area is rife with brewing history. In its heyday, there were more than 40 breweries in the Market area and malt silos still stand as a testament to the rich brewing history. Preservation Wayne, Detroit’s oldest and largest historic preservation organization, has coordinated one of its popular two-hour Eastern Market Brewery Tours which will run the morning of the festival. The group will meet at the Eastern Market Welcome Center (1445 Adelaide) at 10am to begin the tour. The cost of the tour is $20 per person and advanced reservations are required by contacting the organization directly at 313-577-7674. Space is limited to 30 individuals.

Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes over $24 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $133 million. In terms of overall number breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”

The Michigan Brewers Guild exists to unify the Michigan brewing community; to increase sales of Michigan-brewed beer through promotions, marketing, public awareness and consumer education; and to monitor and assure a healthy beer industry within the state. For more information, including a list of Michigan microbreweries, log on to www.michiganbrewersguild.org.

First ever CANFEST announces participating breweries

Reno, NV (September 2009)—As Reno gears up to host the first ever international canned beer competition, appropriately named CANFEST, the competition is unfolding into an event complete with enticing festivities for attendees, more than 25 breweries from all around the globe, and great ticket/room packages.
The competition will take place in the Grand Sierra Theater October 23, from 6:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m. Tickets are now available through the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino’s website for $35 per person. Special room rates for attendees are available at $35 per night. Proceeds from the event will benefit The Nature Conservancy and The Great Basin Bird Observatory. Please visit the Grand Sierra’s website at www.grandsierraresort.com or call 1-800-648-3568 to book rooms and tickets using the promotion code CANFEST.

Among the festivities lined up for CANFEST, Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association, will be speaking on the history of American beer, craft beer, and the trend of canned beer. Ginger Johnson, founder of WomenEnjoyingBeer.com, will give a presentation on the reasons patrons enjoy canned beer, why women love beer, and the relationship between beer and the arts. A question and answer forum of canned brewery owners and brewers specifically intended to answer the public’s questions regarding beer and canned beer is another great addition to the competition.

A display of mobiles built by local artists entirely from recycled beer cans, a promotion that directly benefits Sierra Arts, a local non-profit that helps establish and spread arts programs in the Truckee Meadows.

Each brewery has been asked which cheese, chocolates and ice creams pair best with their individual beers. Many stations will feature exclusive pairings with these foods for the public to sample.

The following breweries have confirmed their attendance:

USA
21st Amendment - CA
Anderson Valley Brewing Company - CA
Big Sky Brewing Company - MT
Bohemian Brewery - UT
Buckbean Brewing Company - NV
Caldera Brewing - OR
Capital Brewery - WI
Coors - CO
Four Peaks Brewing - AZ
High Noon Saloon & Brewery - KS
Mammoth Brewing Company - CA
Maui Brewing - HI
New Belgium Brewing Company - CO
Northwoods Brewing - WI
Oskar Blues Brewery - CO
Prescott Brewing - AZ
Rochester Mills Brewing Company - MI
Sleeping Lady Brewing Company - AK
Steamworks Brewing Company - CO
Surly Brewing Company - MN
Ukiah Brewing Company - CA
Uncommon Brewers - CA

MEXICO
Tecate

BELGIUM
Brouwerij Bavik

ENGLAND
Greene King

IRELAND
Guinness

JAPAN
Sapporo

CANADA
Archibald Microbrasserie

For more information, please contact Constance Aguilar from Abbi Public Relations at constance@abbipr.com or by calling 775.323.2977. Visit www.buckbeanbrewsnews. blogspot.com for regular updates and new information regarding CANFEST.

CHIFA TO HOST VICTORY BEER DINNER

PHILADELPHIA, PA – On November 5 at 7 pm, superstar Chef Jose Garces and local brewing powerhouse Victory Brewing Company will partner for a one-night-only Beer Dinner at Chifa (707 Chestnut Street, 215-925-5555), Chef Garces’ Latin-Asian restaurant. The event will feature five courses of Chifa’s inspired cuisine paired with Victory beers, and will be the premiere food event featuring its newest offering, Yakima Twilight, a double IPA. The cost will be $55 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. Space is limited and reservations are required.

“The distinctive, often unusual flavor pairings in our dishes at Chifa are an ideal mate for artisanal beers,” says Chef Garces. “Victory’s beers are flavorful and diverse, much like our cuisine, so they complement each other perfectly.”

The menu, featuring Chef Garces’ signature small plates style, will include: Hiramasa with aji Amarillo leche de tigre, passion fruit and roasted corn paired with Prima Pils; Octopus Ceviche with purple olive and avocado paired with WildDevil; Grilled Thai Sausage with tamarind chile sauce and jasmine rice paired with Golden Monkey; Smoked Rib Eye with revuelto de chorizo and huacatay chimichiri paired with Yakima Twilight; and for dessert, Coconut Tapioca with semisweet chocolate cremeux and quinoa chicaronnes paired with Baltic Thunder. Victory Brewmaster and Owner Bill Covaleski will be on hand to discuss the beers and offer helpful hints for those who are new to pairing beer and food.

Chifa opened in early 2009 to critical acclaim; The New York Times praised the restaurant’s unusual ability to “kill two cravings [Asian and Latin] with one dish,” while Philadelphia magazine called Chef Garces’ innovative interpretations of Peruvian cuisine “a cross-cultural thrill ride…A meal at Chifa is a night out, a form of entertainment, an infusion of world culture, a culinary education, something to brag about the following day.”

Chifa is open for dinner seven days a week beginning at 5 p.m.; dinner is served until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 12 midnight on Friday and Saturday. Chifa is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information, or to make a reservation, please visit www.chifarestaurant.com, or call (215) 925-5555.

Inaugural Detroit Beer Week Announced

Friday, October 16 – Saturday, October 24, 2009

(DETROIT, Mich.) – Following the success of “Beer Week” events held in other cities such as Philadelphia, New York and San Diego, a group of Industry Professionals is organizing the first ever Detroit Beer Week, to be held the third week of October, 2009.

The week-long series of beer-centric events will be held at participating venues in Detroit, with satellite events at Metro-Detroit brewpubs. These events will consist of brewery tours, tasting flights, meet-the-brewer sessions, food pairings, and a wide array of other unique activities. Events will be hosted by Detroit Beer Week staff and the Detroit Beer Barons, a group of Metro-area brewery personalities.

“We wanted to stay away from the traditional ‘drink this beer, get a keychain’ –type promotions, and instead focus on events that give value to the consumer and to the venue hosting the event,” stated Jon Piepenbrok, principal organizer of the events, AKA Chief Imaginationer.

The grand finale of Beer Week is the Inaugural Harvest Festival, hosted by the Michigan Brewers’ Guild and Metrotimes on Saturday, October 24, in Eastern Market.

While the Guild is not organizing Beer Week events, they have given their full support and cooperation to the organizing committee. “When the Guild announced the Harvest Festival in Eastern Market, we not only saw an opportunity to promote Michigan Beer in southeast Michigan,” stated Jon Piepenbrok, “but to promote the Great City of Detroit, as well; and the Guild has been extremely supportive of our efforts, even including information about events on their website at www.michiganbrewersguild.org.”

The participating venues include Slow’s Bar BQ, Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub, Park Bar, Motor City Brewing Works, Traffic Jam & Snug, Atwater Block Brewery, Detroit Beer Company, Wolfgang Puck Grille, Michael Symon’s Roast, 24Grille, and Fender’s Pub at the Omni Hotel.

A complete, updated list of events and information can be found on www.facebook.com. Keyword search: Detroit Beer Week.

Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes over $24 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $133 million. In terms of overall number breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”

The Michigan Brewers Guild exists to unify the Michigan brewing community; to increase sales of Michigan-brewed beer through promotions, marketing, public awareness and consumer education; and to monitor and assure a healthy beer industry within the state. For more information, including a list of Michigan microbreweries, log on to www.michiganbrewersguild.org.

Lompoc Brewing announces Oktoberfest release party

PORTLAND, Ore. - Sept. 4, 2009 - The brewers at Lompoc Brewing are welcoming autumn with a release party of their newest seasonal, Lompoc Oktoberfest. The event will take place Sept. 11 from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Sidebar, Lompoc's new tasting room located at 3901A N. Williams.

Staying true to the theme, the evening will feature a buffet of sausages and snacks, as well as five other specialty and barrel fermented beers, and the opportunity to mingle with the Lompoc brewers.

Pale orange in color, Lompoc Oktoberfest features a clean malt flavor artfully balanced by a touch of Perle hops. A portion of the grains used was roasted in the oven at Lompoc's Fifth Quadrant restaurant, giving the beer a slight biscuity flavor. The beer is 5% ABV and 15 IBUs. Lompoc Oktoberfest will be on draft in all five of Lompoc's pubs beginning Sept. 14.

Party attendees will also have the opportunity to preview tasters of Monster Mash, Lompoc's Halloween seasonal. An imperial porter, Monster Mash is a dark ale with strong chocolate and roast flavors and a touch of red fruit. It weighs in at 8% ABV and 50 IBUs.

Other beers on the menu include Smoked Gold, a twist on the brewery's popular Fool's Gold that includes the addition of beechwood smoked malt for a subtle note of wood smoke (4.6% ABV, 16 IBU); Flower of the Gods IPA, a summer seasonal hopped with Simcoe and Tettnangers for a slight citrus flavor followed by a spicy finish (6.4% ABV, 60 IBU); Barrel Fermented Red, Lompoc's Proletariat Red 100% fermented in a vintage white English oak barrel for a malty and full bodied ale with a deep, rich red color and a slight touch of oak (6.2% ABV, 45 IBU); and Bourbon Barrel Aged LSD, a deep mahogany strong ale crafted with seven specialty malts, then aged in bourbon barrels for three months and cellared for an additional 10 (6.9% ABV, 58 IBU).

For more information, call 503.288.3996 or visit www.newoldlompoc.com.

BC Wins Red Bull Soapbox Race

WINNER!
The Beer Connoisseur™
Wins One For Beer

The Beer Connoisseur Race Team competed in its first event this past Saturday and managed to take home the first place trophy! This is a huge win for beer.

It was the first time the Red Bull Soapbox Race was held in Atlanta, and the turnout was tremendous.

Before a crowd of nearly 50,000, the BC team kicked things off with a walk through the brewing process. The team members, decked out in traditional lederhosen and feathered caps, each carried one of beer’s four main ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast.

Dancing to the lilting sounds of yodeling, the team ended its 30-second skit by pouring the ingredients into the copper mash tun-themed racecar and sending it down the starting ramp with a push. The rest, as they say, is history.

BC scored the highest in overall creativity and was the second fastest down the course, beaten by only six-tenths of a second by a team called the Barby Doll Bandits.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day for this fun event. Thirty-nine teams participated in all, their cars careening down the track and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Win or lose, the race was well worth the hard work that each team dedicated to making it a success.

Check out our race footage on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ BeerConnoisseurMag#play/all/ uploads-all/0/kd...

And visit our Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/ beerconnoisseur

for more coverage of the event.

BAVARIAN BEER, DANCE AND GAMES ABOUND AT THE VILLAGE AT SQUAW VALLEY USA’S EIGHTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST

Event Features Everything from a Bratwurst Tossing Contest to Authentic German Music

Olympic Valley, CA. (September 3, 2009) – While the aspen trees put on a spectacular display of foliage, welcome the arrival of fall at The Village at Squaw Valley USA, when The 8th Annual Village Oktoberfest celebrates beer, bratwurst and Bavarian-style fun from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 3.

Beer lovers and those that enjoy traditional German fun will gather at The Village at Squaw Valley USA for a variety of entertainment, including performances by Joe Smiell and his 20-piece Bavarian band on the main stage. The Almenrauch Schuhplattler and Alpentanzer Schuhplattler Austrian Dance Troops will be another lively addition to the entertainment line-up.

The Village at Squaw Valley Oktoberfest will also provide plenty of interactive fun and prizes. A crowd favorite, the Oktoberfest Games can get quite intense as festival-goers compete in Stein Holding, plus Keg and Barrel-Rolling Races. Meanwhile, the Bratwurst Toss will put a whole new spin on the game of catch. Guests are encouraged to get into the spirit of the event by wearing traditional Lederhosen and Austrian clothing.

Along with the free entertainment, event attendees will find plenty of refreshments at the Biergarten, including Gordon Biersch, who will tap a traditional barrel of Festbier to kick-off the festival, Spaten Premium lager, Spaten Oktoberfest, Trumer Pilsner, Buckbean Black Noddy, and Franziskaner Hefeweizen. The first glass of beer is $10, which includes a 1/2-liter festival stein and one beer. Additional beer tickets will be available for $5.

There are beverage options for everyone, like non-alcoholic Clausthauler, and to feed the sweet tooth in everyone, Sprechers Root Beer floats. Guests also can savor traditional German bratwurst with sauerkraut and a variety of other items served at the eight Village restaurants.

The event and entertainment are free, but proceeds from beer sales benefit the Tahoe Truckee Lacrosse Foundation. Must be 21 years or older with a valid ID to purchase beer.

For more information on The Village at Squaw Valley Oktoberfest, visit www.TheVillageAtSquaw.com or call (530) 584-6266.