Two Beer Weeks and a Two-Week Brewtopia
When you love beer as much as I do, the notion of a “beer week” is sort of redundant, but maybe you need encouragement to drink. If so, there are a couple such celebrations coming up: Opal Divine’s 2nd Annual Go Texas Beer Week (a spin-off of the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Go Texan program) is Sept. 27-Oct. 1. Every Wednesday leading up to TBW, Opal’s will offer a mystery flight of Texas beers – if you can identify all four, you qualify for the finals on Sept. 29, during which you’ll be expected to identify seven to win prizes. And Oct. 24-30 is Austin Beer Week. Details are still murky, but updates will be available soon at www.austinbeerweek.com. (And of course, “beer week” should not be confused with “weak beer.”)
Central Market will be Beer Central beginning next week. Both the North Lamar and Westgate locations will be showing off their extensive craft beer selection with Brewtopia, a two-week celebration of suds featuring such star brewmasters as Terence Sullivan of California’s Sierra Nevada, Steven Pauwels of Kansas City’s Boulevard, and Brad Farbstein of Blanco’s Real Ale, as well as chefs such as Iron Chef America winner Kent Rathburn giving classes on cooking with beer and pairing food with beer. The event kicks off Sept. 22 with a Beer Round-Up featuring craft brews paired with sausages, gourmet cheeses, and artisanal breads; $30 per person; $20 for parties of two or more. The Brewtopia festivities run through Oct. 5. See www.centralmarket.com for tickets and details.
This article appears in September 17 • 2010.