Vail’s beer festival presents ‘boundary-pushing brewers’

VAIL — Experimental brewing shapes the future of the beer in your glass. And the future of American Craft Beer is bright, with some wild and crazy experimental brewers in the ranks, according to Laura Lodge, the coordinator for Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival, taking place this weekend in Vail.

Join Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing Co., Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Co., and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing Co. as they speak on brewing “outside the box” at the festival on Saturday.

What does it take to unearth a recipe from an Egyptian tomb and brew it today? How do you develop new beer styles? Why and how would you brew a beer to age in your cellar? What is Brettanomyces and what does it have to do with your beer? Find out from the pros.

JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson, Sales & Marketing Manager for White Labs Yeast Company, will be moderating the panel of brewers on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The experimental brewing seminar is underwritten by White Labs, and is also the brainchild of Carilli-Stevenson and Lodge.

“We were tossing around ideas about bringing in cutting edge, boundary-pushing, innovative brewers that exemplify the Big Beers philosophy, and wanted to be able to include brewers from all walks of the industry,” Lodge said.

Will Meyers, Brewmaster at Cambridge Brewing Co. in Cambridge, MA, is one such brewer. CBC is a brewery-restaurant that is regionally known for its innovative styles and brews, exceptional beer dinners and related events.

However, CBC does not bottle their beer, nor do they market it nationwide and offer it to Colorado aficionados.

“Will immediately came to mind for this event due to his international brewing experiences and new styles. He most recently developed a Summer Barleywine (Arquebus), which is an excellent beer and an entirely new idea for Barleywines,” Carilli-Stevenson said.

Vail’s 8th annual Big Beers Festival weekend highlights this and other educational seminars, including the “Cheese & Chocolate Challenge: Big Beers’ Global Competition,” moderated by Julia Herz of the Brewers Association, and specialty seminars by Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey and Doug Odell of Odell Brewing Co., both of which are showcased throughout the weekend as the 2008 Big Beers Featured Brewmasters.

In addition, an international specialty lineup of over 150 commercially produced beers will be offered for tasting, two beer pairing dinners featuring two breweries and their respective brewmasters, and a Big Beers Homebrew Competition rounds out the weekend.

The Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Festival benefits the Vail Valley Charitable Fund (www.vvcf.org), an organization established to help locals with overwhelming financial need due to medical crisis. For more information about the Big Beers Festival, visit www.bigbeersfestival.com.

More drinks in the Vail Valley

Beaver Creek’s Wine and Spirits Series is this weekend. Beaver Creek has partnered with Anthony Dias Blue of Blue Lifestyle to bring world-class wines and spirits to Beaver Creek for a series of weekends filled with seminars, tastings and special dinners.

Sample new beers and discover why many consider beer to be the new wine as part of a beer tasting hosted by Blue and the Beaver Creek Chophouse on Friday.

Participants will have an opportunity to try Samuel Adams’ new Irish Red Ale before it hits store shelves in mid-January. The 27 percent-alcohol Utopias beer also will be offered, along with Samuel Adams favorites including the flagship Boston Lager, the spring seasonal brew White Ale and the popular Black Lager. Beers will be paired with dishes created by the Beaver Creek Chophouse. The tasting is offered at 3 p.m., and the price is $20 per person. For reservations, contact Kyle at (970) 845-5974 or kdeighan@vailresorts.com.

Wine enthusiasts can enjoy an Australian winemaker dinner hosted by Blue and Michael Hill Smith at Splendido at the Chateau on Saturday. Smith is the first Australian to pass the rigorous Master of Wine examination and is a wine producer, international wine judge, wine consultant, wine writer and former restaurateur. Wines will be paired with cuisine prepared by Splendido Executive Chef David Walford. There will be one seating offered at 7 p.m. Call Splendido at (970) 845-8808 for reservations and pricing information.

The Beaver Creek Wine and Spirits Series dates are this weekend and March 7-8. For more information, visit www.beavercreek.com or call 845-9090.