Last Thursday, we hosted our third event of Good Beer Week. It was a new idea but one that came about after many people at our events over the years told us the were often too nervous or shy to ask questions of special guests.
So, we came up with the Brewers & Chewers idea which combined elements of Meet the Brewer sessions, an intimate dinner party, speed dating and musical chairs, all hosted by the amiable Ale Star Prof Pilsner. With small tables of just 8, paying guests got up close and personal (as it were) with craft brewing industry 'champions' they admire.. but for just 20 minutes! After this alloted time, a bell rang out and the waiters would place a cloche over the Champion's dish before escorting them to the next table along. And then conversations started all over again!
The Champion guests were Søren Eriksen (8 Wired, NZ), Brad Rogers (Stone & Wood), Brendan Varis (Feral), Kirrily Waldhorn (Beer Diva), Steve Grossman (Sierra Nevada, USA) and James Watt (BrewDog, Scotland) and we were thrilled and grateful they could make it.
We had completely cleared out the downstairs bar for the night and, with Ange's guidance, turned it into a beautiful dining room. The beers were kindly provided by the Champions and the food by Head Chef Richard and his team. All were outstanding and we got several emails complementing our crew. I won't go on about the food too much when other, independent souls have extensively blogged about it - but three courses were excellent.
The night flowed super smoothly thanks to the efforts of Justin, Ben, James, Ange and all staff. We all had such a brilliant and fun night, many chose to continue on upstairs afterwards.
Given the success of B&C, it is a certainty we'll be doing something similar for next year's Good Beer Week. You'd want to book early though as tickets for this one sold out very, very quickly and the demand next year could be even higher.
Above and below are some of my favourite photos but click here to see the full slideshow.
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