Monday March 24, Plan B in Stamford presents “Distill it with Willett.” Five courses will be paired with bourbon and bourbon cocktails… and they’ll use bourbon in every single course! 6 pm. $75pp, tax and tip included.
Also on the 24th, Napa & Co in Stamford presents “A look at Sauvignon Blanc the hot white grape!” They’ll guide you through a global look at the varietal in New Zealand, Sancerre, Russian River, Napa Valley, South Africa and Washington! $45pp. 6:30pm.
Brewery Ommegang comes to Harlan Social on Tuesday, March 25th for a 5-course menu paired with their beers. $70 plus tax and tip. 6:30- 9:30pm. Call 203.883.8000 to reserve seats. Event Menu:
Tuesday March 25, Barcelona in West Hartford presents “New England Beers & Tapas.” In celebration of March Madness, Chef Eric is going to prepare some savory tapas to pair with some of New England’s thirst-quenching beers. $29 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: 860.218.2100
March 25 is “Good Meats! An Evening with Charcuterie” at Fairfield Cheese Co. 7-9pm. Call 203.292.8194 for more information.
Celebrate Black Friday with Val’s of Greenwich! Barhill Gin will be hosting a tasting to get us geared-up for the holiday season. This complimentary event will take place from 3-7pm on Friday November 29.
On Monday December 2, Buon Appetito Restaurant will partner with Super Cellar Liquors for a 4 course wine dinner. It begins at 6:30 at the restaurant in Canton, CT. $75 pp. For the menu and reservation information, see https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs126/1102509927877/img/1248.jpg .
On Tuesday December 3, Luca Wine Bar and Visco Wines will partner with Harry’s Wine & Liquor to present a wine dinner called “The 4 Big B’s of Italy.” It will feature four of Italy’s coveted wines: Barbera, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, and Barolo. They will be paired with 4 courses including homemade crepes, ravioli, veal shank, and poached pear for dessert. $98 pp, all inclusive. Please call Luca Wine Bar for reservations: (203) 286-5617.
A quick bit of news to start this week's Froth: it turns out The Little Pub in Branchville has been aging kegs of a select few high gravity beers for the past year, and has started tapping one per Monday night. Issuing forth from the specialty tap on Monday, Nov. 25 will be Dogfish Head Olde School - a 16% ABV barleywine fermented with dates and figs. High alcohol, minimally hopped beers make the best candidates for aging, and tend to relax as they undergo further conditioning over time, so these beers will taste different from when they were first bottled in 2012.
The robust duo of Green Flash Double Stout and New England Brewing Imperial Stout Trooper are scheduled for the first two Mondays in December (be absolutely sure to try that second one, on Dec. 9, if you're at all able), followed by Ovila Abbey Quad, Sierra Nevada Narwhal, Dogfish Head 120 Minute, and the second generation of the Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada collaboration ale, Life&Limb.
On Monday November 25, Barcelona in West Hartford will offer a Thanksgiving Prep cooking class. Guests can learn to make chorizo stuffing, red chimchurri for the turkey, and more. The class starts at 7pm and costs $35pp, plus tax and gratuity.
Tuesday, November 26 Fairway Market will partner with Fox Radio to hold a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. 8am-7pm.
On November 30, Breckenridge Beer Company is partnering with the Craft Beer Guild of CT for a wine and cheese class. The class is $20/person, limited to 12 people due to size. Class begins at 4PM at Grand Vin Fine Wines of New Haven 28 E. Grand Ave. More information here.
There is a road, no simple highway, Between the dawn and the dark of night
The wind outdoors stings in little nips - a puppy with needle-like teeth. The light is ruddy and beautiful in the early afternoon, but it arrives flat, and it provides meager heat. Nature, having provided, is exhausted. We'll have to see ourselves through this night.
Did grim darkness inspire the brewers up the highway at Two Roads Brewing Co.to create an inky ale and name it Route Of All Evil? Who is this hellish clown, and why am I suddenly afraid of tricycles? Time for a stiff drink.
"Ales From The Crypt" says the label, and this beer pours almost dead black. The barest hints of red appear at the edges where the bubbling solution allows weak trickles of light to pass through. Fear of the dark begins to fade, though, as you notice a thick, tawny head bubbling up from within this Evil, and there's not much - cold, dark, or otherwise - that can't be overcome through the application of seven-point-five percent alcohol.
The head leaves a sticky, bubbly lacing on the glass, and there's a clean and malty smell with just a suggestion of hops. The first swig is sharp with slightly acerbic, darkly toasty grain. The eyes can play tricks in the dark and tell the mouth to expect a heavy weight, but this beer's surprise is its light mouthfeel. There's no viscosity here, and large spherules of carbonation burst on the tongue. Route Of All Evil is a counterpoint to silken nitro stouts or the caloric feast of many winter ales currently hitting the market.
A chill in the air…days getting shorter…colorful leaves swirling….Welcome to October and the Westport Downtown Merchants Association’s 2nd annual Biergarten on the Green on Saturday October 19th 1:00-5:00 pm. Meet under the big tent on historic Veteran's Green right in downtown Westport, CT and sample some of the finest, award-winning local, national and international craft and micro brews.
A mini tasting mug will be provided for samples from breweries such as Blue Point on Long Island, Goose Island from Chicago, East Coast Brewing from New Jersey, and Beaver Beer from right here in Westport. The Shock Top beer car will be back with the tap in the trunk and the Mohawk of wheat on the roof. New breweries are added every day.
Seasonal food such as knockwurst, bratwurst, pulled pork and chili will be available for purchase. The food experts from CTBites will present chefs from Tavern on Main, and The Spread, demonstrating ways to pair the beverage of the day with delicious food; and the Zany Oompah Band will be back performing all the classics: waltzes, polkas and drinking songs for sing-a-long and dancing!
Relic Brewing has been producing small batches of beer from their location in Plainville for well over a year, and they’ve been at the top of my mental checklist of Connecticut brews to try for some time. They’ve recently given all of us two more reasons/excuses/opportunities to satiate both our curiosity and thirst, starting with their Autumnal Celebration on September 20th. This will be a free event on Relic’s grounds at 95 B Whiting St. in Plainville, and feature local purveyors of wood fired pizza, paella, bratwurst, fries, porchetta and, of course, locally brewed beer.
The second, possibly more noteworthy, event involves Relic pairing with restaurant 50 West, also of Plainville, for a Belgian beer dinner on October 2. Relic produces several Belgian-style ales, one of which will be paired with five of the six courses at the meal, including some highlights like:
CTbites is GIVING AWAY 2 PASSES TO SUN BREWFEST FOR EITHER DAY...WINNERS CHOICE!!!
TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Post a Comment anywhere on CTbites and Mention "Sun BrewFest @ Mohegan Sun." We will announce the winner on September 30th.
Sun BrewFest returns to Mohegan Sun this October for a celebration of one of the oldest, most finely crafted beverages of them all: Beer. Sun BrewFest offers evening tasting sessions on Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th in the Uncas Ballroom. New this year will be a Sunday morning BrewBrunch on October 6th in the Sunburst Buffet.
The second annual Sun BrewFest kicks off with two separate tasting sessions featuring more than 100 varieties of Craft and Microbrews to Imports & Domestics and limited editions. Some of the beers on tap will include Goose Island, Newcastle, Dogfish Head, Long Trail, Tenth & Blake’s Batch 19 and more. Samples will be available for all guests during each tasting session, where they will receive a souvenir mini-pilsner glass to be used as their tasting glass for 2 ounce pours from the various breweries. Food tickets will also be sold for $1.00 each, allowing guests to purchase food items from a variety of their favorite Mohegan Sun restaurants.
As the hazy summer days drift away and the cool, crisp fall air sets in on the South End, so begins one of the biggest seasons for beer lovers. The Beer Garden at Harbor Point is set to launch an Oktoberfest created to mirror that in Munich. Oktoberfest, widely known as The World’s Greatest Beer Festival, is a sixteen-day annual celebration.
The Beer Garden’s inaugural Oktoberfest will run from September 21st through October 6th and will bring authentic German festivities to Stamford. The celebration promises fun for all including live music, colorful costumes and plenty of German grub. Many of the fan favorite food trucks have joined in on the party as well. Vanchetta, a new addition to the world of food trucks, will feature an authentic German menu including schnitzel and bratwurst. Pretzel fans? Do not fear: Maddy’s Food Truck promises to deliver hot, fresh and delicious soft pretzels to the masses.
Who's ready for summer to be over? You are? Well go stand in the corner with your dunce parka on, because NO. Don't listen to the dermatologists, with their "rules" and "facts": long days are our friends and we all have to get out and show some appreciation or the great dragon will return and swallow the Sun. That's the way it works and LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU telling me there are only two weeks left in the season. No.
There is an absolute pile of beer and event news I want to tell you about this week, but I think this first one belongs above the jump, with beer reviews to follow:
SoNo Marketplace will present Barks&Beer this Saturday, a $5 event to benefit Bully Breed Rescue, a New Canaan organization that helps save pit bulls, Staffordshire terriers and bulldogs. I have personal experience with pit bulls who have been rescued from abusive, neglectful owners, and seeing their transformation into happy, loving dogs just because someone cared about them for the first time in their lives is tangible proof there is good in the world. See the proof for yourself, and maybe let it lick your face, Aug. 24 from 1 to 6p.m., 314 Wilson Avenue, Norwalk. (bullybreedrescueinc.org)
B. United will be running another beer academy at Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford on Aug. 27 on the subject of bottom fermented beers.
American Craft Beer Week was created in 2006 by the Brewers Association to promote American craft beers and protect the independent brewers who make them. The first Craft Beer Week had only 124 participating breweries, but by last year there were over 1,300 official events in all 50 states, with who knows how many local promotions on top of that. May is for drinkers, people.
Connecticut is home to some of the best beers in the country - a fact regularly ignored or glossed over in even regional beer reporting - but this year marks the first ever Connecticut Craft Beer Week, which runs May 11-18 to coincide with American Craft Beer Week, May 13-19. We have some highlights from around the state below, and we'll update this post as new info comes in over the transom. Feel free to tell us about events you've heard about or will be attending in the comments.
The first event of CT Beer Week opens the taps at the Rising Pint Brewfest, where over 230 craft beers from 70+ brewers will be on offer at Rentschler Field in West Hartford.
Brooklyn comes to Bridgeport on April 30th, as the borough's premier brewers trundle up I-95 to Barnum Publick House.This will be a four course dinner, and beers from both breweries as part of every course. The event runs from 6:30 - 10:30p.m., and reservations ($50, plus tax and tip) can be made by calling 203-690-1044. The evening's menu and a quick impression of the host venue are below the jump.
Imian Hospitality, in collaboration with Building & Land Technology, announce The Beer Garden @ Harbor Point. Beginning in early May beer enthusiasts will have a new venue to call their own, Stamford’s first ever waterfront beer garden with over 300 seats, craft beer, and food trucks. And now we are excited for Summer.
With a carefully curated roster of 24 craft beers on draft showcasing hard to find ales from Dogfish Head, Captain Lawrence, Curious Traveler and local Connecticut brewers Thomas Hooker, Half Full and Two Roads, it promises to be a beer lover’s nirvana. The Beer Garden will also feature a reserve list of large format bottled craft brews for the true connoisseur. In addition, master mixologist Jason Clark has created a collection of hand crafted American-centric cocktails that provide a refreshing alternative to great beer.
A rotating collection of Gourmet Food trucks slotted along the Beer Garden’s driveway will provide a culinary bounty that will contribute to the innovative and unique character of the Beer Garden. Lobster Rolls & Crab Cakes from Lobstercraft, Wood Fired Farm to Table Pizzas from Skinny Pines, Sandwiches from Hot Off The Grill, Authentic Caribbean from Maddy’s and Gourmet Grilled Cheesefrom Melt Mobile
The holidays are over, football is over, it's still cold, and meteorologists are gesticulating like Kermit the frog introducing the next act. It's time for strong drink.
The boys at Lagunitas Brewing in California screwed up their first try at making a barleywine ("Gnarlywine," natch) in the late 90's, but they were left with an interesting recipe wherein they threw in some brown cane sugar. The resultant brew wasn't what they were going for but... it was pretty good. Pretty damn good. They called it Brown Shugga, and it became a big hit for them when it was released every winter. In the winter of 2010-11 though, they hit a snag. The brewery was expanding, and construction forced the brewers to choose: do we make the time-consuming 'Shugga and cut production on our staple beers, or do we cut 'Shugga, and risk pissing people off? They went with option two.
"Brain Blaster," huh? I crinkle the plastic bag in my fingers and stick my nose in once more to inhale the pungent aroma of the dried green buds it contains. "Its only sounds like 'Brain Blaster'," says Brendan Kingston. "There's no way anything with a name like that gets past the FDA." I drop the bag and pick up a small glass of brown beer. The beer's real name is An Braon, meaning "The Tasty Drop," which is appropriate. We're not here to discuss the forest here, though: we're looking at the trees. Well, vines, to be precise. I'm sitting at the first in a series of educational tasting classes conducted by B. United International, and hosted by Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford.
Every day, CTBites chronicles the myriad ways in which we're lucky to be living in Fairfield County during the current food (and beer) renaissance in America
Like beer? Like to learn about beer? You'll want to know about Little Pub's Berkshire Brewery Beer dinner hosted by Berkshire Brewing Co. co-founder Gary Bogoff, on April 24th.
Gary will explain the flavor profile, ingredients, and special brewing process for each beer served while you enjoy a five course little pub dinner paired with six different berkshire beers. He’ll also share stories about Berkshire’s journey from a couple of home brewers to one of the regions largest craft brewers still brewing beer the old fashioned way: unfiltered, unpasteurized, free of any chemicals or preservatives, and delivered fresh every week. you can even try beer the old fashioned way because we’ll have a a hand drawn cask of extra hopped lost sailor ipa (and maybe a few other surprises too). Menu is below:
Every night in America college kids somewhere are getting together, reaching their hands into cardboard boxes and pairing pizza with beer. In terms of originality, this combination carries about as much novelty as the Sun rising, or the L.A. Sheriff's Office failing to hold a guilty celebrity. The beers at these gatherings range from "cheap" to "possibly poisonous," and stay toasty warm under someone's bedclothes lest the weaselly R.A. sniff around and find the canned contraband in the mini-fridge whose box was most recently used to sneak a keg up the elevator. "Pizza and beer night" need not cause cataleptic flashbacks of Gumby's, Domnio's and Milwaukee's Best*, however, because as we put away childish things, so too can we put away lame food. This was the thunderbolt which struck Dan and Kristien of OmNomCT when they decided to pair with Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford and Victory Brewing on Monday, March 19.
If you like rare beers from sierra nevada, Little Pub in Ridgefield has an evening for you: “Treasures of the Sierra Nevada” beer dinner will be held on january 31st, 7pm at Little Pub. Marty from sierra coming in to take you through ovila dubbel, ovila quad, 30th anniversary grand cru, estate homegrown ale, the brand new ruthless rye ipa, and life and limb 2 (the sierra-dogfish collaboration).
Details: Six draught beers paired with a six course tasting menu
