There was a lot of talk about beer pairing at the 2011 Beer Blogger’s Conference – that is, the art/science of attempting to find foods and beer that work better together than alone. I had a few opportunities to try creative pairings, and the first was during a PDX Beer Week event held at the Spirt of 77 bar in downtown Portland.
Last year, one of the highest rated segments of the Beer Blogger’s Conference was the “Night of Many Bottles” where participants were encouraged to bring local, unusual, or hard-to-find beer to a free-form tasting. With more than 100 participants last year, there were literally hundreds of bottles waiting to be sampled. What I thought was the most interesting bit of that evening was not that there was an infinite selection- but more of what the beer bloggers became as the night progressed.
You can make beer with a few hops, or a lot of them, but it’s hard not to make beers with tons of them if you’re as surrounded by them as you are in the Pacific northwest.
If you don’t know who Fred Eckhardt is, you’re missing out on an important part of American Craft beer history. He has his own wikipedia entry, for goodness sake. In his 80s, Fred basically single handedly resurrected homebrewing in the US and sparked a (multiple) revolutions in beer. He’s also a hilarious, eccentric, outspoken and wonderful grandfatherly man with an epic mustache.
Julia Herz is a craft beer institution – in all the best ways. She’s the Craft Beer Program Director over at the Brewer’s Association (see CraftBeer.com) as well as a blogger and outspoken advocate for many craft beer hot topics, including food pairing, women and beer and the legitimacy of craft beer in the US and the world.
12:30 am, Portland, ME : Stepping onto my front step, I felt the sea air of my Portland – laden with warmth and moisture – greet me, and simultaneously bid me farewell. I walked the few steps to my car in silence, still a little in denial about the trip ahead. Do I have everything? Will my beer survive the journey? Will I be able to participate in today’s activities considering the “all nighter” I’m about to pull? Time will tell. I hoisted my suitcase into my car and drove off into the night air.
