Brewer's Dinner

Local food expert and community food builder, Jennifer Hall, invited me to join her and some friends for a "girls' night" at Hill's Restaurant (www.hillsrestaurantandlounge.com) last night. They were hosting one of their Brewer's Dinners featuring Oskar Blues Brewing from Colorado (www.oskarblues.com). And, having lived myself in Colorado for two years, I know first hand how seriously they take their hand crafted beers. Last night was no exception.

It was a five course meal of good food, well-sourced, local, responsible, and I am guessing mostly sustainable, too. They are doing some interesting things at Hill's when it comes to sourcing, including growing some of their own. Included were an elk prosciutto which was surprisingly good, and excellent steak with a huckleberry demi-glace and a chocolate brownie that was not too sweet and nicely paired with the Ten-Fidy Stout. There was too much food in just about every course and I did feel bad about the waste. We all took some leftover home, but some was not as feasible as others.

We had a great time and even talked some about some local food events coming up, but mostly this was an occasion to bring people together around good food and good beer. And some of that beer was pretty extraordinary and the chef clearly thought about how the beer paired with the food. The local rep for the brewery made periodic announcements about the beer (cited all the kinds of hops and malts used, for example), offered to take some questions, and raffled off some goodies (see my new pint glasses for example!). I was somewhat surprised at the high alcohol content of the some of the beers and was glad that we were given small glasses of the beer with each course. That was more beer than I have had in a while.

These kinds of events are a great way to try new things and learn about food. More and more of them are popping up all around the country. Often they have an educational component about the beer or wine and sometimes about another ingredient. And now there are even such events that have an educational component about sourcing or sustainability of ingredients. It is a great way to learn and to patronize more than likely a locally owned and run establishment in your community and one that wants to do the right thing by that community, its patrons and their producers.

Last night's meal and the company encouraged some lingering, the way a good meal and good company should, two and half hours after we started, we were ready to head out. It was a fun evening making new friends and sharing a love of good food, prepared well, paired well.

Thanks again, Jennifer! I had a great time!