Craft Beer Events

Long time, no blog! I know. That doesn't mean there hasn't been a ton of craft beer events going on in the area. I mean, Deschutes Brewery is here! They hosted events at Gumbo Bottoms in Jeff City, and recently in Columbia at 44 Stone, 1839 Taphouse and Uprise Bar. In fact, Abyss just hit town today and many stores are sold out. Supposedly, only 5 cases of the limited releases are allocated between Columbia, Jeff City and Fulton. I am pursuing Jeff City, but Abiy's had not gotten the Abyss, XXIII or Stoic as of today. I got a bottle of everything but the Abyss (HyVee on Nifong), plus an unexpected Chocolate Ale (Abiy's). Anyway, we had a great time meeting the Deschutes fellows and look forward to seeing them for a future beer dinner. There should be something in next week's Tribune food section about our little party.

Mike Odette opens a Goose Island Sofie to add to the fondue.

Last night, I attended Chef Mike Odette's Brewmaster's Dinner: Pairing Beer With Food. The new Culinary Adventures program located in the old Grindstone Brewery has cooking classes, and this is one I didn't want to miss. This place has one main kitchen/classroom with monitors where you can watch the cooking demo. We listened to Mike give an overview of tips on pairing beer and food while we enjoyed snacking on spicy caramel corn with Tallgrass Ale. We were given recipes and put into groups to each try one recipe together. My group got fondue, but there were so many people crowded around the one stove that people had to take turns. Then we retired to the dining room for the tasting of the food and beer pairings.

• Goose Island Sofie with Cheese Fondue
• Deschutes Mirror Pond with BBQ Pork Belly Sliders
• Southern Tier Jahva with Coffee Anglaise over a chocolate brownie

There was then more of an informal discussion, when Fred Parry asked Mike about Sycamore and then Paul Wissman of the local Scheppers distributor, spoke some about the beers and breweries. It was opened up for an audience Q &A. Then we got to take home a goody bag: the BBQ sauce and rub made in the class, which is Sycamore's recipe used for their BBQ pork belly sliders. Score! I can't wait to try these. We took away the recipes for everything we ate, too.

Fred, Mike and Paul talk beer and food

dessert! 

Another cooking class involving beer may be appearing on the schedule in the coming months, so check back. These are filling up very fast as word gets out. 

Craft beer coming attractions: 

• Schlafly Beer Dinner at 44 Stone, Tuesday, January 24th. Last I heard there were a few tickets left on Brown Paper Tickets. The cask of Winter ESB will be the special treat of the evening. 
• Columbia Beer Enthusiasts Paper Bag Tasting, 1839 Taphouse, Wednesday, January 25th. This is a twist on the blind tasting, and it should be very interesting. More info here. 
• Bell's Beer Dinner, Sycamore, Tuesday, January 31st. This event sold out in record time, but you can still come try the beer:

Winter White Belgian style Wheat 
Hell Hath No Fury Belgian style Dubbel
Sparkling Belgian style Tripel with Pacific NW hops
Two Hearted IPA 
Black Note Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial stout

and...a cask of Hopslam Imperial IPA

• Boulevard Beer Dinner: Feb. 22nd. Tickets for this are on sale January 22nd. Hurry!