Interesting Beer Dinner

Great Divide Brewery in Colorado is participating in a few beer dinners this holiday season. We read their email and liked the menu a lot. Here's a taste:

December 8 - Brewmaster's Dinner at Beatrice and Woodsley, 6 p.m. We're proud to partner with one of Denver's best restaurants for this special five-course dinner.

Menu:

1. Roasted beet, goat cheese tartlet, house pepper-cured salmon with radish sprouts and creme fraiche, paired with Samurai and Denver Pale Ale.

2. Raclette cheese fondue, with house-made pate, roasted potatoes and crusty bread, paired with Hades Belgian-Style Golden Ale.

3. Grilled quail, with warm potato and arugula salad and roasted onion jam, paired with Saint Bridget's Porter.

4. Grilled hanging tender of beef, with soft mushroom polenta, port wine reduction and aged balsamic, paired with Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout.

5. Roasted pear and cashel blue, served in a pastry with salted-caramel ice cream, paired with Old Ruffian Barley Wine.

For more information, visit the Great Divide Brewing Company website.

The Cask Ale Champion

Many of you know Alex Hall- he's a tireless advocate for cask ales. Recently, Alex did an interview with Examiner.com that is well worth a read.

Faraway Brewery

Baird is one of the more interesting breweries in the world. In addition to brewing at the base of Mt Fuiji in Japan and opening new brewpubs in Tokyo and other cities, they are leaders in the fusion of western and Japanese beer. This past weekend, Baird held a Festival of Hops in Japan, celebrating (you guessed it) hops. Boasting "the broadest inventory of hop varieties in the Japan beer industry", Baird featured a "Smell the Hop" display that encouraged beer lovers to examine eight varieties of whole flower hops used in their single hop brews.

Sunday is Food and Beer Nirvana

This Sunday, November 8, Good Beer Seal fans have the opportunity to eat and drink their way to happiness!

Starting at 12:00 PM, Sunday afternoon Blind Tiger Ale House is offering their Farm to Table event featuring a special menu of farm fresh ingredients from Vermont's Fable Farm. Chef James O’Brien is putting together a special’s menu using Fable Farm ingredients, which we’ll be serving a la cart from 12:00PM onwards (as long as the food lasts). His menu will include:
- Pumpkin Barley Soup with Bacon
- Roasted Blue Hubbard Squash, Arugula, Farmhouse Feta, Pumpkin Seed, and Apple Salad.
- Apple Braised Pork (from On the Edge Farm) with Farmhouse Slaw on a Parker House Roll

AND, to wash down all the great food, Alan as gathered what he’s calling his Green Acres Beer List:
- Smuttynose Oak Aged Farmhouse (the only one of its kind in NYC)
- Sierra Harvest (Wet Hopped)
- Pretty Things Jack D’Or (a Farmhouse Ale)
- Dupont Avril (a Table Saison)
- Saint Somewhere Saison (a Saison Saison)
- Houblon Chouffe (a Hoppy Saison)
- Anchor Holiday (a classic Holiday Ale)

There will be plenty of other farm surprises at Blind Tiger Ale House on Sunday, including a keg of beer from Fable Farm made from homegrown beets!

Then, at 7:30 PM you can head over to Barcade for the 5th Annual BRUCE Chili Cook-off. Sample some chili and cornbread- perfect for a cold November evening. If you get there early you may be chosen to be one of the randomly selected judges!

2009 OFFICIAL CONTESTANTS

Greg Erskine (Defending 2008 Champion)
Gary Forsyth
Claudia DeMairo
Jeff Rush
Ginger Megher
Andrew Dorsey
Janelle Gunther
Anna Wolf
Mike Eide (2005 Champion)
Andrew Gauthier

The 2009 BRUCE Chili Cook-off is sponsored by:

SlyFox Brewing
Sixpoint Brewing
The Brooklyn Kitchen
Peter's Since 1969
My Friend's Mustard
Dump School aka Shrimp Ninja Training

So grab a pint and get yourself some food!

Update on The Naked Pint Book Tour

Christina Perozzi has kindly informed The Good Beer Seal of a revised schedule of events for her visit to NYC. There will be a tasting at Spuyten Duyvil on Saturday, November 14th and a Book Signing and Brunch at Jimmy's No. 43 on Sunday, November 15th. There is no event on Friday the 13th. We will post more information as it becomes available.

The Naked Pint Book Tour

Christina Perozzi, author of The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, will be in NYC for her book tour in mid-November. Perozzi co-authored the book with fellow beer sommelier, Hallie Beaune, as a celebration of the complexity and sophistication of craft and artisanal beer as well as a nuts and bolts guide that is friendly to both the novice and the connoisseur.

Sam Merritt of The Civilization of Beer has booked the New York leg of the tour and has kindly kept us in the loop. Here is what we know so far:

Friday, November 13- Beer Tasting at Spuyten Duyvil
Saturday, November 14- Event at Sixpoint Brewery
Sunday, November 15- Book Signing and Beer Pairing lunch at Jimmy's No. 43- $55/per person. Call 212 982 3006 or email jimmypotsandpans@earthlink.net for reservations.

Stay tuned to The Good Beer Seal for further information as it comes in. You can also check out The Naked Pint Blog and Beer for Chicks to catch up with the authors.

Beer of the Week

Joshua M. Bernstein, contributor to Slashfood, suggests a rauchbier to fend off the fall/winter chill. His posting features Schlenkerla, a German brewer that produces the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock. Click the above links to read more.