Evening on the Creek

I go to a lot of events - I mean a lot! If you follow me on on Instagram (click on my feed to the left) you'll know I'm out and about all the time. Most of the events I go to revolve around beer, reason being is that there are basically more beer events than there are food events. Food events involve a ton of planning, prep work, staging, cooking, etc... I definitely try to attend any food event I'm invited to, they're great for checking out a chef's innovation and creativity. Needless to say, the food is a treat to eat of course!

I was recently contacted by Kate from Hoffman Beverage, a large distributor in our area, about helping promote a beer and food event that would be located at the Virginia Aquarium. They've invited me and Shelby to come hang out and do a couple of my favorite things:

Eat and Drink

Oh, that's Kate in the photo below! She was buying me beers at our meeting in Norfolk but that isn't why I agreed to be involved with this, honest!

Note: If you want to buy me a beer if we ever end up at the bar together, I will gladly accept ;)

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Her idea, Evening On The Creek, was to do something that was different than the what has become the standard event model of setting up a table, have volunteers pour beer, rinse-dry-repeat till you're drunk. Kate and the team wanted to pair some unique beers from breweries they have in their catalog with some goods eats. The result looks pretty delicious too! Ticket holders will be treated to some great beer and food at tasting stations that allow people to take their time to appreciate their pairings and peruse the components of the collective meal. All of this will be at the wonderful Virginia Aquarium over looking the beautiful Owl Creek.

I can go on but I'm going to copy and paste the official event notice here for you to check out. There's a link below to purchase tickets too, "Early Bird" tickets are on sale until MARCH 24th, 2017 for $75. I hope to see you there!

Buy tickets here.

The Official Stuff:

Join 20 local, regional and national breweries in support of Virginia Aquarium’s Stranding Response Team as they host the “An Evening on the Creek” on March 25th at 6 pm. Each expertly crafted beer, chosen in part for their rarity or limited quantities will be masterfully paired with complementary artisanal eats created by Chef Jason Congleton. Enjoy these rare, limited quantity beers and amazing food all while overlooking the beautiful view of Owls Creek and stunning environment of the VA Aquarium.

Tasting Station 1: "Bourbon Barrel Aged"
Goose Island Bourbon County '14, Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy '16, Bell's Black Note '16, Founders KBS '17.

(GF) European Cheese & Charcuterie Platter- Rabbit & White Wine Sausage, Wild Boar with Cranberries & Shiraz Sausage, Garlic & Herb Gouda, Dilled Havarti, Aged Provolone, Creamy Gorgonzola, 3 year aged White Cheddar, Spicy Garlic Pickled Veggies (V) *Without the Sausages*

Tasting Station 2: "Sours"
Avery Raspberry Sour, New Belgium La Folie, Brouwerji Omer Vander Ghinste Cuvee Jacobins Rouge, Commonwealth Sophrosyne Sour Saison.

Bavarian Style Smoked & Beer Braised Wild Antelope Bratwurst with House made “Southkraut”, Quick Pickles, & Creole Grain Mustard Crème in Split Top Lobster Roll (Stadium Dog on steroids)

Tasting Station 3: "Hopped Up"
O'Connor Heavy Footer, Starr Hill King of Hop, Alewerks Bitterest Valentine, Heavy Seas Alpha Effect.

Schweineschnitzel Street Taco – Savory Pan Sauteed Breaded Chicken Tenderloin Cutlet with hints of Lemon & Citrus, Red Cabbage & Local Apple Slaw for a little sweetness, Spicy German Potato Drizzle

Tasting Station 4: "Tasting Room Only"
Smartmouth IV Chocolate Porter, Devils Backbone Cocoa Bear (Russian Imperial Stout), Back Bay Owls Kreek (Farmhouse style mixed grain Grisette w montmorency cherries), Young Veterans Brewing Company Goat Locker.

German Spaetzle, sautéed with Wild Forest Mushroom Glace & topped with 48 hour Beer Marinated & House Rub Seasoned Flat Iron Steak (V) *Without the Steak*
**each week new limited beers will be announced!**

Station 5: "Free Pour"
Center of the Universe Pocahoptas, Bold Mariner Frogman Lager, Bold Rock Citrus CIder and Port City Optimal Wit will be on-site with your favorite local craft brews.

Poke Bowl – Duet of Garlicky Spiced Arctic Char & Eastern Shore Blue Crab With Citrus Essence Poke, Shaved Carrot, Pickled Shallot, Diced Mango & Pineapple, Red Ginger Wakame “Salad”, Toasted Sesame, Honey-Gochujang Mayonnaise, Rainbow Trout Roe, Sticky Rice
 

Victory at Cogan's!

Recently, Cogan's Pizza in Norfolk, VA hosted a Victory Brewing Company “Steal the Pint” night. How this usually works, is that when you buy your first beer, you get to keep the glass. I've picked up a few myself from other breweries but to be honest with you, if kept every beer glass that touched my lips I wouldn't have room in the cabinets for anything else! This glass though, I wanted it.

Cogan's Pizza, Norfolk, VA

Not my glass :(

Before I headed down to Cogan's I stopped by Grape and Gourmet for beer tasting. Every Thursday night they highlight several beers in the shop. Gabe is usually in house pouring and describing what is sampled. He was there, of course, and I told him what my plans were. Since he was at the end of his shift, he said he'd come along too. Cool.

Gabe pulled up about the same time I did and we headed in together. At the bar was Jarod Goenner and Morgan Sieg—Jarod is guy behind HR Growler, Hampton Roads new craft beer magazine and Morgan is the local Victory rep. Gabe and I write for HR Growler, first issue hits the streets 16 Jan 2014. Look out for it!

I walked up and asked if they had any glasses left, sadly they were out. I thought it started at 7:00 PM, but the event kicked-off at 5:00 PM. I need to get my stuff straight, seriously.

Scanning the room I saw some familiar faces including Gerald Franklin of Hoffman Beverage. He was at a table with what turned out to be the region's Victory team headed by Cameron Rollo. Cameron was in town a couple of days to check out the area; I was introduced to him and we chatted a bit. I found out he was in the army and stationed in Germany right before I was. He also knew Hohenfels, where I was stationed, telling me he didn't like it. No one likes Hohenfels, Bavaria unless you're stationed there. I'll have to write about it sometime.

Me and Cam Rollo

I was looking forward to trying some of the beer they tapped and I checked out what was available. I've had a couple of Victory beers before but I think it might have been at tastings. I know I've never picked up any for the house, so I wasn't sure where to start. I asked everyone what they thought I should try and the consensus was the Prima. Victory Prima is a hoppy Pils that was very tasty. I'm not huge on hop overload (yeah, don't hit me or anything) but this was good. Easy to drink and floral. I first had a real Pils in Germany, as a matter of fact, my experience with great beer started in Germany. So this was a nice little throwback for me.

I tried out the Winter Cheers wheat ale, kind of like a light Hefeweizen, another beer I fell in love with in Germany. Since I was driving I couldn't grab a Golden Monkey Tripel and the Dirtwolf Double IPA kicked earlier. I got a couple of sips from the group though. Cameron actually had the bar put together something a bar made from Golden Monkey called a “Monkmosa”. It is about 80% Golden Monkey and 20% orange juice. It was good and I made a couple for Shelby and myself at home later that weekend.

I was impressed with the beers and looked forward to trying more of them. At the big, monthly tasting at Grape and Gourmet—Cheap & Cheery—I picked up a little variety pack so I could relax at home and give them a little more attention. Good stuff.

Check out the event album here.