Disclosure: For the past five years, I've had the pleasure of being on the planning committee for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Brewer's Ball.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Metropolitan DC is pleased to announce The 10th Annual matchboxfoodgroup Brewer’s Ball. This event will be held on Saturday, March 7 from 7pm-midnight at the National Building Museum. Tickets are on sale now. Tickets are $135 ($75 of which is tax-deductible). This event has sold out multiple years in a row, so act quickly.
The event offers close to 1,500 of the area's business and community leaders the opportunity to sample a variety of hand crafted beers from more than 30 of the region's best craft breweries, while also enjoying the cuisine of over 20 popular area restaurants. The evening will feature live entertainment and one of the region’s most memorable silent auctions.
The CF Foundation is the world’s leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. They take great pride in being one of the most efficient and effective organizations of their kind, and are careful stewards of every dollar raised in support of their mission. Through their venture philanthropy model, they are able to invest in promising CF research to develop a robust pipeline of potential therapies that target the disease from every angle.
The most recent example of the success of the CF Foundation’s model is Kalydeco, the first drug to treat the genetic defect causing CF. While Kalydeco is a breakthrough in CF research and development, this drug works for only 4% of the CF population. Real progress toward a cure has been made, but the lives of young people with CF are still cut far too short. They urgently need the public’s continued support to fulfill our mission and help extend the lives of those with the disease.
This year's 10th anniversary craft beer lineup is a collection of well-known local and national craft breweries. Tickets allow for unlimited tastings, and each brewery brings at least two beers. Here's the list of breweries:
- 3 Stars
- Adroit Theory
- Allagash
- Angry Orchard
- Atlas
- Bell's
- Bluejacket
- Blue Moon
- Blue Point
- Bold Rock
- Boulevard
- Brewery Ommegang
- Capitol City Brewing Company
- DC Brau
- Devils Backbone
- District Chophouse and Brewery
- Dogfish Head Alehouse
- Evolution
- Flying Dog
- Fordham and Dominion Brewing Companies
- Goose Island
- Gordon Biersch
- Heavy Seas
- Lagunitas
- Mad Fox
- New Belgium
- Oskar Blues
- Port City
- Samuel Adams
- Sweetwater
- The Traveler Beer Company
- Troegs
- Old Ox
- Victory
As you can imagine, that's a lot of beer. But surely all that sampling will make you hungry. Fortunately, there are a number of great local restaurants who will also be in attendance and pairing food with beers. Here's a preliminary list of edible offerings:
- Matchbox: Mini Burgers, and Mussels, with hard cider, Dijon, and cream
- DC3: Half Smokes with chili, mustard and onions
- Ted's Bulletin: Cheddar Beer Soup with candied bacon, cheddar an pretzel crouton, and Beer Brownies
- Meridian Pint: BBQ beef brisket sliders topped with cole slaw
- Granville Moore's: Braised lamb shank with cilantro yogurt & crispy nann
- Belga Café & BToo: Chocolate clafoutis with strawberry cream inglesa sauce and raspberries, and Pecan Panacota with Apple-beer jelly
- Taylor Gourmet: The Federal Street, Pearl Street & Locust Street, and Lehigh Ave hoagies
- Hank's Oyster Bar: Freshly shucked oysters
- RW Restaurant Group featuring Mussel Bar & Grille: Mussel Bar baked sausage & beans, mustard pretzel crust
- BlackFinn Ameripub: Tuna poke
- Hill Country Barbecue Market: Pit-smoked brisket and hot german potato salad
- Mad Fox Brewing: Pork Belly Lollipops with pork belly confit, broad street IPA BBQ sauce, scallions and pickled radish
- Charlie Palmer Steak: Short rib pastrami, parsnip puree, curried almond and candied lemon
- Ruth's Chris: Honey-soy marinated tenderloin skewers and Jumbo lump crab cake sliders topped with remoulade sauce
- Dirty South Deli: Vinny Gambini (Geechie Boy Mill Grits, Edwards Country Ham, Green Onion, Black Pepper, Honey, and Pork Rind)
This is an excellent event for a great cause, so if you're interested in splurging for a night out and having some awesome food and craft beer, give the Brewer's Ball a look.