(savor)

Hiya,

I promise the only reason I am delayed in writing this post is because I have actually been busy at work for once, and NOT nursing a 5 day long hangover from what might be the greatest beer event ever...

For those of you who don't know, Savor is a food and beer event that takes place here in the district at the National Building Museum.  It's a fantastic space...basically a huge room filled with the aromas of hops and food and beer and cheese and amazingness (and as you can see below, people)!

Savor is supported by the Brewers Association.  Over 75 brewers attended, pairing their creations with appetizer options.  It was a food and beer lovers heaven.  My favorite way I heard someone trying to explain savor was by calling it "the beer prom"

There was also the option to sit in on smaller beer "seminars" called salons.  There, you could meet with the brewers in a more intimate setting.  In other words, here is where you really got to geek out!  We attended the "Fade to Black" salon, which was described as:

Fade to Black: The Effect Dark Color has on Food and Beverage

In this wide ranging discussion, John Mallet of Bell’s Brewery speaks on the substantial effect that browning reactions have on beer and foods. Participants will experience how these classes of fundamental flavors interact to develop complementary harmonies in synergistic pairings. An assortment of beers from Bell’s Brewery will be paired with a variety of food items to highlight applied Maillard reactions.

We were able to ask questions, gain insight to the creative process and of course, sample more beer!  Here was our tasting:

We got to sample many things we've never even heard of, including the parting gift, which was a bottle of Terra Incognita, a collaboration between Sierra Nevada Brewing and Boulevard Brewing.

The beer was decribed as, "a dark ale. Maltier than an amber but not quite a stout. They brewed it with Estate malts out of Chico and wheat, the latter as “an homage to the longtime staple crop of the Midwest.” The beer then traveled to Kansas City. Boulevard brewed another component, blended the two beers, dry-hopped it with East Kent Goldings and are now aging it in Missouri oak barrels that previously held wine and spirits. The beer will soon go into 750s where it will be bottle-conditioned with Brettanomyces." (from Beerpulse.com)

I describe it as darn tasty! (we broke into a bottle last night)

As you can see here, there were wayyyyy too many breweries to comment on all of them, all I can say is, if you ever have the chance to go, definitely do your best to grab a ticket...and thank you very, very much to the American Homebrewers Association for allowing the possibility of purchasing tickets in advance!