In yet another way that the annual SAVOR event separates itself from most beer festivals and events, SAVOR’s Educational Salons offer participants a chance for one-on-one interactions with brewers and owners as they walk through a variety of tasting salons. These salons are wonderfully diverse and tend to stray from the pedestrian themes like exploring a specific style, etc. Take a look at this year’s offerings, and plan to buy tickets as soon as possible. These private salons will sell out just as fast a general admission tickets, so plan accordingly.
Note: Admission to each salon requires a separate SAVOR general admissionticket purchase. Each salon ticket is $30. Admission to salons is limited to those with a General Admission ticket to SAVOR for that evening.
For more information be sure to check http://www.savorcraftbeer.com/
Terra Incognita
Friday and Saturday 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
From the makers of the 2012 SAVOR Collaboration beer, Terra Incognita. Join Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., and John McDonald, founder of Boulevard Brewing Co., along with their respective brewmasters, Steve Dresler and Steven Pauwels, for a conversation encompassing their adventure on the collaboration of Terra Incognita, the beer created exclusively for SAVOR attendees to take home after the event. They’ll discuss the cross-country journey the beer took during its development, the complex flavors of the earthy brew and what they learned from each other during the expedition. As this salon is sure to fill quickly, it is being offered on both nights.
Stone Vertical Epic Tasting
Friday 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
Join Steve Wagner, senior brewmaster and co-founder of San Diego’s Stone Brewing Co., as he guides you through a special tasting of several vintages of the Stone Vertical Epic Ale series.
The program, which started with Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic Ale, unleashes a new beer one year, one month, and one day after the previous year’s edition, each with a different twist and turn in the grand plotline. They were all intended to be carefully stored away and enjoyed in a vertical tasting once the series culminates with the release of Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale later this year.
Steve will also give some insight into each of the Vertical Epic Ales, and talk about other beer programs now in the works at Stone.
A Taste of Oregon from Local Northwest Ingredients
Friday 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
Oregon’s agricultural community produces 225-plus different products, something that Oregon brewers certainly find advantageous when sourcing ingredients. Oakshire Brewing from Eugene and Standing Stone Brewing from Ashland will present beers that they have made from local ingredients and pair these beers with locally produced cheese from Rogue Creamery in Central Point.
Leading the Oakshire tasting is Matt Van Wyk, brewmaster for the microbrewery. Matt will showcase a sour framboise made with Oregon raspberries and aged in pinot noir barrels from an Oregon winery. He will also debut a beer produced with 100% Oregon-grown barley and hops.
Mingling with Matt will be Larry Chase, brewmaster for Standing Stone Brewing Co. Larry will feature I ? Oregon Ale, a beer brewed with 100% Oregon-grown barley and hops from both the Willamette and Rogue Valleys. The Rogue Valley hops are grown organically just two miles from the brewery. Larry is also looking forward to the debut of a mystery beer that he will share with you. To go along with the beers, look for cheeses produced by the well known Rogue Creamery, located a short 20 miles from Standing Stone Brewing.
Larry Chase is a 15-year brewing veteran, having created beers for most of that time in the Midwest. Since his move to Oregon two years ago, he brought medals and a cash award for lab equipment to Standing Stone in the Brain of Brewers contest.
Matt is a beer industry veteran with 12 years of experience and numerous national accolades, including 2006 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub Brewmaster of the Year. Upon joining Oakshire he won a GABF Silver Medal for the brewery’s Overcast Espresso Stout.
5,000 Miles from SAVOR: Beer & Food from the Island of Maui
Friday 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Garrett Marrero of Maui Brewing Company takes you on a journey to taste food and beer from Hawaii. Indulge in Ale-oha as you sample some of Maui Brewing’s flavorful ales paired with dishes served at their pub in Maui. No sunscreen required.
Yes We Can!
Friday 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Join Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st Amendment Brewery, Ted Whitney from Avery Brewing and David Thibodeau from Ska Brewing for an intimate tasting of their world class canned craft beer. They’ll discuss what drove them to can their beer, the benefits of canning beer, and if canned craft beer is poised to take over the world. This will be a great opportunity to talk with some of the leaders of the canned craft beer movement.
Even Cowgirls Get the Brews
Friday 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Company teams up with Adam Smith of Cowgirl Creamery to delight the senses with an assortment of beer and cheese pairings. This private tasting Salon will feature five beers from Allagash’s diverse library, each paired with a tantalizing cheese from one of the nation’s top creameries. The cheeses will complement or contrast the beers and give participants a sensory explosion.
A Taste of Louisiana: Abita Beer and Cajun Cooking
Friday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
Join Abita Brewing Company for a celebration of Louisiana cooking and beer. Sample some mouth watering Cajun and Creole dishes and discover the beers chefs have been incorporating in their dishes for years. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Perpetuate Better Living with Ninkasi
Friday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
Join Jamie Floyd, Nikos Ridge and Marty Ochs for a culturally enhanced tasting of three special Ninkasi Brewing Company beers–featuring insights into the rich culture of Ninkasi. Beers served include Radiant Ale, Helles Belles, and Maiden the Shade. Come taste beers and learn about the history of beer and civilization starting with the Sumerian Goddess of Fermentation Ninkasi and the brewery’s community-driven role as the village brewer.
Sour Ales from the Distant Land of Indiana
Friday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
When it comes to producers of tart and fruity sour ales, Indiana is not the first place that comes to mind. However, Upland Brewing Company might just change your mind with this lip -puckering private tasting Salon. Join head brewer Caleb Stanton as he samples a variety of sour ales produced by Upland Brewing Company and discusses the techniques he uses to produce these unique and flavorful ales.
Get Surly in D.C.
Saturday 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
Furious: Brewed with a dazzling blend of American hops and Scottish malt, this crimson-hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee.
Darkness: A massive Russian Imperial Stout that brings a variety of flavors, including chocolate, cherries, raisins, coffee and toffee.
Five: A100% Brettanomyces-fermented Dark Ale, aged in red wine barrels. Flavors of sour cherry, tobacco, oak and classic “Brett” barnyard funk, balanced by Dark Munich malt chewiness
Need we say more?
The Terror of Terroir
Saturday 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm
Winemakers often speak of their products’ expression of terroir, claiming near-exclusivity in wine’s ability to reflect the grape’s distinct growing environment. But can terroir exist in other products–like beer and cheese? Both are agricultural products like wine, and both are made from grasses and seeds that then metamorphose via fermentation to create a singular experience for the consumer.
Join Will Meyers, Brewmaster at Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) in Massachusetts, for the opportunity to discuss the potential for terroir in craft beer and cheese created from locally-grown ingredients. To further the exploration, three very special beers–unavailable outside of Massachusetts–will be paired with handmade cheeses from The Cellars at Jasper Hill, a family-run artisanal farm in Greensboro, Vermont.
The Beers:
Sgt. Pepper is a saison or farmhouse-style rustic ale with local malts and flavored with four different peppercorns for a balanced but spicy experience.
Weekapaug Gruit is an unhopped beer made with local malts and ancient, traditional brewing herbs like sweet gale, yarrow and Labrador tea, all either grown by the brewery or foraged and hand-harvested locally.
Special Salon-only beer: Share in an extra special TBD beer drawn from the infamous Barrel Cellar at CBC, made from local malts and homegrown hops, and spontaneously fermented for a true expression of local flora.
The Cheeses:
Winnimere is produced only from the winter milk of the Ayrshire heifers at Jasper Hill Farm. Wrapped in cambium cut from the spruce trees on the farm and washed in beer from neighboring Hill Farmstead Brewery, Winnimere shows remarkable variation from batch to batch–sometimes smoky, sometimes fruity, sometimes mustardy, sometimes meaty.
Landaff is created with milk from a closed herd of Holsteins by Doug and Deb Erg of Landaff Creamery. The cheese is aged to maturity at The Cellars at Jasper Hill until its release. Landaff has a rustic natural rind and a semi-firm paste showing subtle aromas of cave and grass. Its balanced complexity harmonizes a bright buttermilk tang and savory brown butter notes.
TBD: A third cheese will be chosen to taste with CBC’s cellar selected beer for a stupendous pairing experience.
Fade to Black: The Effect Dark Color has on Food and Beverage
Saturday 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
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.
A Crooked Adventure
Saturday 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Join Uinta Brewing Company‘s Steve Kuftinec for a Crooked Adventure! Uinta’s crooked path has been known to take folks to some unexpected places. These adventures often culminate in late nights around a table, enjoying good food, artisan beer and animated conversation. Sounds like a perfect SAVOR Salon! Special beers that will be shared include Birthday Suit, Tilted Smile and Cockeyed Cooper. Steve will discuss the process of oak aging and blending specific barrels to get tastes they are looking for.
Odell Brewing Company Woodcut Offerings Vertical Tasting
Saturday 8:00 pm –9:00 pm
In the fall of 2007, Odell Brewing received its first shipment of virgin oak barrels from Canton Cooperage in Kentucky. The barrels, cut from new American oak, were specifically crafted with a medium toast to give beer added flavor and depth, and the Woodcut series of barrel-aged beers was born. Join Doug Odell for an exclusive private vertical tasting of four unique Woodcut offerings, including No. 2 Oak Aged Golden Ale, No. 3 Oak Aged Crimson Ale, No. 4 Oak Aged Double Marzen Style Lager, and No. 5 Oak Aged Belgian Style Quad Ale.
CraftBeer.com Taste-Off Challenge
Saturday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
Join Julia Herz of the Brewers Association and CraftBeer.com as she moderates and mediates this popular challenge between four contenders who will showcase their beer and food pairing skills. You, the audience, will decide which is the top pairing of the Salon, thus establishing the taste-off champion!
Defending 2011 champ Matt Bean of Men’s Health and Spike TV will give it his all as he’s pitted against several SAVOR craft brewers who vie to take his title. Topics covered include basic beer and food pairing principals and why craft beer pairs so well with food while you sample four different pairings with the contenders. Listen to previous SAVOR taste-off challenges, and for an overview of past winners check out this article on CraftBeer.com.
Rare Beers of the Tar Heel State
Saturday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
North Carolina is quickly becoming a hotbed for craft beer in the United States. Brewers from Foothills Brewing, Highland Brewing Co., Mother Earth Brewing and Natty Greene’s Brewing Company will each showcase a rare beer from their vaults. Taste a wide variety of hard-to-find beers that are putting North Carolina on the map as one of the country’s best beer states.
Drink My Shorts!
Saturday 9:45 pm – 10:45 pm
In the quaint little village of Bellaire, Michigan lies a small brewery with a big following. Short’s Brewing Company is constantly pushing the boundaries of brewing, delivering unique handcrafted beers to the people of Michigan. It’s not often their beers are found outside their home state, but this is your chance to sample some of their inimitable ales. Life is Short’s, drink it while you’re here.
