Richmond Beermeister

American Craft Beer Week officially starts on May 16 and runs until May 22.  Richmond will start the party early Friday with a Starr Hill tasting at Once Upon a Vine South and a Sunday night beer dinner at Six Burner.  Here are more details on some events to consider checking out.

Tastings

There will be several tastings you can attend throughout the week.

Monday, May 16th 4 – 7 pm

Mega Tasting 

Once Upon a Vine South

2817 Hathaway Road
Richmond, VA 23225
(804) 864-9463

In addition to their weekly beer tasting featuring Starr Hill Friday night, Once Upon a Vine South will hold a Mega Tasting Monday night.  This is an event not to be missed. I was at the Mega Tasting Once Upon a Vine had during Richmond Beer Week last year.  This is an event not to be missed.  Here is the selection of breweries so far:

Oregon’s Caldera

Pennsylvania’s Troegs

California’s North Coast  and 21st Amendment

Massachusetts’ Sam Adams

Michigan’s Bells

Utah’s Unita

There is also the possibility of having  RJ Rockers from South Carolina and Laughing Dog from Idaho.

Wednesday, May 18th 6 PM

Beer Theater XVIII: Anchor Brewing Company
Wine & Beer Westpark
9631 W Broad Street WestPark Shopping Center
Glen Allen, VA 23060
804-965-9100

Want to talk to the actual brewer while you taste his beers, then join Matty Lake for a very special Beer Theater featuring Mark Carpenter of Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. They will do a tasting through the entire Anchor line and you will be able to chat with Mark over Skype to ask.  This is your chance to have your questions answered by the people directly responsible for making the beer you will be tasting.

Parties

There are a variety of drinking parties to choose from all week long.  Starting off Monday night, there will be a Firkin Pub Crawl organized by Commerical Taphouse, Secco Wine Bar, and Joe’s Inn. Tuesday is Steal the Glass night at all locations of Capital Ale House; this week’s featureed brewery is Kansas’ Tallgrass Brewing.  Thursday night, Mekong will be having “More Fun than a Barrel of Virginians.” They will be tapping several barrel-aged Virginia beers along with a special guest from Maryland.

Special Guest: Heavy Seas Loose Cannon oak cask

Legend Quad firkin finished with oak
Starr Hill Bourbon Barrel Cryptical Imperial Stout
Mad Fox Barley Wine- Catoctin Creek Barrels
Blue Mountain Dark Hollow
Williamsburg Alewerks Bourbon Barrel Amber Ale

Joe Gold and Jonathan McIntire from Heavy Seas will be on hand as well as representatives/brewers from Starr Hill and Legend.

Beer Dinners

There are at least three beer dinners I could find happening this week, all of which sound very tempting.

Sunday May 15th 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Southern Tier Beer Dinner

Six Burner Restaurant

1627 West Main Street
Richmond, VA 23220-4632
(804) 353-4060

I had the opportunity of eating at Six Burner the first time during Restaurant Week just this past April.  The food was outstanding and I really hope I can make this dinner.  Take a look at the menu below.

MENU

Reception
2X IPA

Green Tomato Gazpacho, Clams
Raspberry Wheat

Sausagecraft Corndog, Peanuts, Mustard
Phin & Matts Extraordinary Ale

48 Hour Short Ribs, Green Bean Casserole, Crispy Tobacco Onions
Porter

Coffee & Donuts
Jahva Stout

Wednesday, May 18th  6:00 p.m.

Whole Foods Short Pump

Virginia Founding Fathers Beer Dinner

Whole Foods will pay homage to Virginia’s heritage with a four course sit-down dinner fit for a President! Each course will be paired with Virginia’s finest brews! Enjoy guest speakers from each brewery showcased. $35 per person. Pre-pay at customer service before 12:00 p.m. on 5/18 to reserve your spot!

1st course: Welsh Rarebit paired with Williamsburg Alewerks Dry Hopped Pale.

2nd course: Virginia Baked Ham & Sweet Spoon Bread paired with Starr Hill Brewery Monticello Reserve Ale.

3rd course: Beef Pasty & Potatoes paired with Legend Quadruple

4th course: Chocolate Bread Pudding paired with St. George Porter

*Vegetarian, shellfish and pork free options available with RSVP by May 17th.

Friday May 20th 6:00 PM

Oskar Blues Beer Dinner with Screens ‘n’ Suds and Illbrain Jazz Duo

 TJ’s at The Jefferson

101 West Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 649-4672

$55/person (Music afterwards is free):

Head to The Jefferson on Friday, May 20th as Screens & Suds, TJ’s Restaurant, and Brown Distribution present a beer dinner charity event for the ages! They will be supporting the Central Virginia MS Society Chapter and The Faison School. Oskar Blues is a brewery located in Colorado that specializes in canning delicious brews.  Delicious food, drink and music! IllBrain Jazz Duo will be playing before (6-7pm) and after the dinner (10pm-12am for the general public); beer inspired screen prints will be on display and available for purchase!

Don’t miss this opportunity for great fun at TJ’s at The Jefferson; call Jonathan Kibiloski at 804.649.4672 or email at jonathan.kibiloski@jeffersonhotel.com for reservations.  Be sure to let Jonathan or the hostess know you are with the Richmond Beer Lovers.

Executive Chef James Schroeder’s Menu

Eggs “Benedict”
Butter Poached Farm Egg, House Cured Bacon, Frisee, Fried Green Tomato, Sauce Choron
Beer Pairing: Mama’s Little Yellow Pils

Pan Seared Quail
Roasted Eggplant Purée, Globe Artichokes, Piquillo Peppers, Baby Corn, Tarragon Beurre Blanc &Trio of Hops
Beer Pairing: Gubna, One Hit Wonder, G’Knight

White Wine and Lemon Braised Pork Cheeks
Carolina Gold Rice, Manakintowne Braising Greens with Natural Jus
Beer Pairing: Old Chub Scotch Ale
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy “Tiramisu”
“Ten Fidy” Ice Cream, Espresso Anglaise
Beer Pairing: Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

$55 per person, $5 going to MS Society & Faison School

 All About Beer Magazine’s second World Beer Festival in Richmond will be at Brown’s Island on Saturday June 18, 2011 with the proceeds benefiting FETCH a Cure once again this year.  Starting today you can buy your tickets online here or at Mekong or any of the three Capital Ale House locations.  There are two  sessions to choose from 12 – 4PM and 6 – 10PM. Tickets are $40 for general admission and $75 for VIP. VIP ticket buyers obtain access to a separate hospitality area with a restroom trailer, extra special beers in addition to those served at the brewers’ tables, a buffet dinner, and a World Beer Festival commemorative glass.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!  For all of you All About Beer Magazine subscribers, today is your first chance to buy tickets for this year’s festival before they go on sale to the general public.

Richmond will open the gates of Brown’s Island for its second World Beer Festival on Saturday June 18, 2011 with the proceeds benefiting FETCH a Cure once again this year.  The general public will be able to purchase tickets starting on May 9th. Four days may never seem so long.  Tickets will be available online here or you can buy them at Mekong or any of the three Capital Ale House locations.

This year’s festival promises to be better than the last. How do I know? Why, because they asked me!  Last week, I had the extreme honor of participating in a roundtable discussion called by the folks at All About Beer Magazine to discuss how to improve upon last year’s festival. A lot of great ideas were tossed around. While I can’t tell you what will be different this year, I can tell you that the people at All About Beer are committed to making the festival something Richmonders can be proud to call their own.

If you have not marked your calendar yet, take a look at what I wrote about last year’s festival over at GayRVA.com here.

With GayRVA.com having it’s birthday party on the 17th and WBF RVA on the 18th, these two days in June are bound to be the hottest RVA has had all year.