Summer is here and that means it's time for another round of beer fests celebrating craft beer in and around Washington, DC.

SAVOR

First off we have SAVOR, which is just around the corner with three sessions--one on Friday May 16, starting at 6:30 and two on Saturday May 17 at 12:30 and 6:30. The event takes place at the Andrew Mellon auditorium and will be a celebration of beer and food pairings. 35+ appetizers are on the menu to be paired beers from 48 breweries from around the country. Although Cap City is not on the bill, there are some 'local' breweries from Virginia and Maryland to drink from--Star Hill, Clipper City and Williamsburg Aleworks. If you ever wanted to pair a Hoptimus Prime Imperial Pale Ale with some artisan cheese, this might be your chance. Tickets are expensive! Support your local scene! http://www.beertown.org/events/savor/index.html

NOVA Summer Brewfest

Later this summer Northern Virginia will be home to a more traditional beer fest. On June 21 and 22 at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, there will be 2 sessions 11am-9pm Saturday, and 11am-7pm Sunday. Tickets in advance are only $20 which includes a 6.75 sampling glass and 4 drink tickets. Additional tickets are a buck a piece. 40 breweries will be offering samples while crowds are entertained by live music. http://novabrewfest.com/summer/

Brew at the Zoo

Having attended this event the last two years, I have to say it is pretty fun. Before SAVOR, this really kinda was the only beerfest in town (that I knew about). Details are limited at the moment, but generally beers that have distribution in the city will probably have a few taps flowing at this event. Also local restaurants will be serving up delicacies again. Looking forward to the return of the Reef's pulled pork sandwich! It's happening August 21 this year. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Celebrations/

Beer: The new Valentine's Day treat

As a craft beer lover, you probably think a bit more alternatively than the rest of the Bud Light drinking population. Why shouldn't this thinking also transfer over to Valentine's Day.

If you love beer and you love (or just really really like) your significant other why not combine the two this Valentine's Day and share some quality beer paired with a nice desert at home? Below are three beverages we suggest for a nice romantic night with your beer...and your date.

Chocolate Indulgence

My first suggestion would be Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence in lieu of a box of chocolates. Stick a big bow to the front of this champagne corked 750ML bottle and hand it to your honey. Even if they aren't beer lovers to begin with, this new 10 Year Anniversary ale might do wonders for your relationship.

It's a stout (eww, dark beer, some people I know might say) but it tastes like chocolate! It's made with real cocoa and is brewed with a process that makes this a hybrid Belgian Ale/Stout style. Where can you go wrong? Pair it with strawberries or raspberries topped with powdered sugar and/or whipped cream.

Something with cherries?

If you'd rather eat your chocolate, you probably can't go wrong pairing it with Kasteel Rouge. It's a really sweet Belgian cherry beer that would pair quite will with a heart shaped box of Belgian truffels (or a bag of Hershey kisses).

This offering from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck pours dark maroon with a nice pile of pink foam on top. Serve in a goblet glass to complete the picture and let the object of your affections take in the almost Valentine themed beer.

The pink champagne of beers

The age-old stand-by when one replaces champagne or wine with beer has often been fruit lambics. I know that I, on more than one occasion, have converted strict wine drinkers to the cause with Lindemans Framboise. Poured into a champagne flute and served with a sumptuous slice of thick chocolate cake. It's sweet, it's tart, and it pours to look like pink champagne, but goes way better with desert than any of that French stuff.

Light some candles, put a big bottle of one of these fine beers on ice and share some with your beer lover tonight.

For my 'research' on this piece, I found all the above beers at Cairo Wine and Liqour on 17th Street near Dupont.

Rustico in Alexandria, VA is offering a rather exclusive beer and food pairing at their chef's table every Thursday night. Only four seats are available and each one costs $115. That will buy you a 6 course meal with accompanying beer pairings from their select of domestic and imported craft beers.

Their website implores hop heads and food geeks to indulge. Between the chef's enthusiasm for locally grown foods, and the beer expert Greg Engert behind the beverage selection, you probably can't go wrong with this dinner.

Rustico is rather well known for their extensive beer list, they have over 300 bottled beers and a rather sizable list of drafts. According to their website they have taps pulling Algäuer Cambonator (Doppelbock), Allagash Tripel, Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout, BBC Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Brigand (Belgian Strong Pale Ale), Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Brooklyner Weisse, De Glazen Toren Ondineke (Triple), Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu, Eggenberg Hopfenkönig Pils, Gouden Carolus Noël (Belgian Strong Dark Ale), Guinness Draught Stout, Grimbergen Dubbel (Dubbel), Harpoon Hibernian Ale (Irish Red Ale), Humboldt Red Nectar (Amber), Köstritzer (Schwarzbier), Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, Lagunitas Dogtown Pale Ale, Meantime India Pale Ale, North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner, Redhook Winterhook Winter Ale, Rogue Imperial Red, St. Louis Framboise, Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale, Spaten Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse, Victory Hop Wallop, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel, Witkap Pater Singel-Stimulo, and Wolaver's Brown Ale. For those of you not living in DC, this seems like the place to be, but you might want to call a cab after drinking half of those drafts.

Reservations must be made 24 hours in advance and will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis by calling 703.224.5051.See more info on their website. Rusticorestaurant.com

Yesterday, Feb. 4th, tickets went on sale for SAVOR--the American craft beer and food event that is being hosted here in Washington, DC. There will be 3 different sessions over the weekend of May 16th and 17th. Each session will be limited to 700 people to ensure maximum contact between attendees and the brewers! Tickets are $85 each--netting you small dishes and appetizers meant to match up with craft beers, a commemorative tasting glass, souvenir program, Craft Beer Taster’s Journal, and lots of 2-ounce samples of specially selected craft beers.

Not only do you get to pair food and beer during the sessions, you can also attend some great educational salons. Garret Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and author of the Brewmaster's Table will be speaking about beer and cheese. Jim Koch of Boston Beer will be joining Randy Mosher (Radical Brewing and Seibel Institute) for a seminar on beer and food. To top it off, Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione will be going head-to-head with the assistant dean of the French Culinary Institute on Beer vs. Wine.

There is an awesome list of participating breweries at this event: 21st Amendment, Abita Brewing Company, Allagash Brewing Company, Avery Brewing Company, Blackfoot River Brewing Company, LLC, Boscos Brewing Company, Boston Beer Company, The Brooklyn Brewery, Clipper City Brewing Company, Deschutes Brewery, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Florida Beer Company, Flying Dog Brewery, Flying Fish Brewing Company, Foothills Brewing, Four Peaks Brewing Company, Free State Brewing Company, Full Sail Brewing Company, FX Matt Brewing Company, Great Divide Brewing Company, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Harpoon Brewery, Heiner Brau Microbrewery, Hoppy Brewing Company, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Legacy Brewing Co., Montana Brewing Company, New Albanian Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, New Holland Brewing Company, Otter Creek Brewing, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Port Brewing Company, Rock Art Brewery, Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, Rogue Ales, Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Smuttynose Brewing Company , Sprecher Brewing Company, Starr Hill Brewing Company, Stone Brewing Co., Stoudts Brewing Company, The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc, Tröegs Brewing Company, Two Brothers Brewing Company, and Williamsburg AleWerks.

Lots of allstars on that list. As happy as we are to see all these great breweries coming to town, it is a sad realization to see that DC doesn't have a hometown brewery to represent.

SAVOR will be hosted at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium located at 1301 Constitution Avenue, N.W. in Washington D.C.

For more information check out http://www.beertown.org/events/SAVOR/ or stay tuned here for more info as we get it.