Beer and food collide at these classes, contests and events.
Top (Allagash) Chef
Allagash Brewing turns up the heat each fall with its ICE Cooking Competition, which challenges students from the Institute of Culinary Education to devise a recipe featuring Allagash beer; the winner scores a scholarship courtesy of the brewery. Last year’s contestants whipped up dishes like Curieux-brewed pears with white chocolate, raspberries and pink peppercorns; Jonathan Adler’s apple-sage-Curieux-slathered pork tenderloin took top prize.
Tria
A weekly Fermentation School (from $50) brings in brewers, cheesemakers, vintners and authors to delve deep into all things fermented; after class, head to one of Tria’s two Philly café locations to put your smarts to work with their vast brew menus.
Suds Showdown
Every January, Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing holds its One-Pot Showdown amateur cooking competition. The catch? Each dish must include a Saint Arnold brew in the recipe. The event draws roughly 500 spectators each year, with proceeds donated to area hunger-related charities. This year’s winner cooked up Land & Sea Stew featuring mussels, chorizo and Saint Arnold Lawnmower Beer.
Make the Trip: SAVOR
This preeminent beer and food event, held in the esteemed National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., hosts more than 70 craft breweries teamed up with chefs to showcase an unprecedented number of pairings.
Community Tap & Table Cooking Club
At “club meetings” (from $12) held roughly once a week, foodie Emily Baime teaches Bay Area students to cook locally sourced seasonal dishes—think mac ’n’ cheese with Harissa to Apricot Stilton—while former Boston Beer Co. brewer Darin Michaels gives instruction on the finer points of beer-food pairing. You’ll go home happy and full.
The Culinary Institute of America
This bastion of fine food and wine education offers a brand-new class at its Napa Valley campus June 13 and 14. “Beer: Exploring the History and Flavors of the Brewer’s Craft” ($595) highlights food pairings and examines the subtleties of beer styles and brewing techniques.
