Craft Beer + Food is the beer and food pairing event that my wife and I have organized and hosted for the past two years in Seattle. We combine ten local restaurants with ten local breweries, inviting the chefs and the brewmasters to get creative and come up with beer + food pairings. It is an amazing event, if I do say so myself. Craft Beer + Food is sort of like a local, smaller version of SAVOR.
SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience is the annual beer and food event orchestrated by the Brewers Association. This year SAVOR takes place in New York City on June 14 and 15. It is, perhaps, the nation’s top beer and food event, featuring beer from breweries across the country paired with elegant, delicious dishes. Only four Washington breweries were selected to participate this year: Odin Brewing, Elysian Brewing, No-Li Brewing and Brickyard Brewing. Four more breweries will represent Oregon: Ninkasi Brewing, Burnside Brewing, Oakshire Brewing and Full Sail Brewing.
Tickets for SAVOR are not easy to get. Members of the Brewers Association get first crack. Any remaining tickets are then made available to the public. They do not last long.
It is also difficult for breweries to participate. The event features 76 breweries. We live in a nation of more than 2,000 breweries. You do the math. Breweries interested in participating sign up to participate in a lottery. Of course, a brewery can to be a sponsor of the event, essentially buying its way in, but that is an expense beyond many American craft breweries. I have no idea about this year, but I do know that last year 160 breweries entered the lottery.
Usually SAVOR has taken place in Washington, DC. This year the Brewers Association decided to move it to New York City. SAVOR takes place on June 14 and 15 at the Metropolitan Pavilion and adjoining Altman Building in Manhattan. The plan is for SAVOR to move back to Washington, DC in 2014. Washington, DC is hosting the Craft Brewers Conference this year; I suppose the Brewers Association decided to spread the love a bit.
Here is the complete list of breweries participating SAVOR 2013:
21st Amendment
Abita Brewing Company
Allagash Brewing Company
Ballast Point Brewing Co.
Bell’s Brewery Inc.
Big River Brewing Company
Blackberry Farm Brewery
Boulevard Brewing Co.
Brewery Ommegang
Brickyard Brewing
Brooklyn Brewery
Bull & Bush Brewery
Burnside Brewing Co
Cape May Brewing Company
Cigar City Brewing
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Crux Fermentation Project
Denver Beer Co
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Elysian Brewing Company
Empire Brewing Company
Epic Brewing Company
Evolution Craft Brewing Co.
Fat Heads Brewery
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Flying Dog Brewery
Founders Brewing Company
Front Street Brewery
Full Sail Brewing Company
Harpoon Brewery
Heavy Seas Beers
Hops & Grain Brewing
Joseph James Brewing Company
Kane Brewing Company
Krebs Brewing Co. Inc.
Lagunitas Brewing Co.
Lakewood Brewing Company
Laughing Sun Brewing Company
Left Hand Brewing Company
Legend Brewing Co.
Linden Street Brewery
Manayunk Brewery
New Belgium Brewing Company
Newburgh Brewing Company
Ninkasi Brewing Company
No-Li Brewhouse
Noble Ale Works
Oakshire Brewing
Odin Brewing
Olde Burnside Brewing
Port Jeff Brewing Company
RJ Rockers Brewing Company
Samuel Adams
Sante Fe Brewing Co.
Saranac Brewery
Schlafly Beer
Short’s Brewing Company
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Smoky Mountain Brewery
Spring House Brewing Company
Starr Hill Brewery
Stone Brewing Co.
Summit Brewing Company
Terrapin Beer Co.
The Brewer’s Art
The Bronx Brewery
The Bruery
The Lost Abbey
Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Three Floyds Brewing Co
Upland Brewing Co.
Wild Wolf Brewing Company
Willimantic Brewing Company
Willoughby Brewing Company
Yazoo Brewing