More than fifty craft brewers will gather on the picturesque North Fork of Long Island to participate in the 2nd annual North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival. “Long Island wine country has led the way in developing awareness for locally made high quality wine. This beer festival will highlight Long Island’s locally made beer,” said Mark Burford, Brewmaster, Blue Point Brewing Company.

Craft brewers produce flavorful beers that combine classic European recipes with bold American innovation. “America’s small brewers are part of a movement, a shift in consciousness, and the trading up of what beer people drink,” stated Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association.

The festival will include a broad range of national craft beer industry leaders including Stone Brewing Co., Brooklyn Brewery, Dogfish Head, Sly Fox, Hook & Ladder Brewing Co., and Sam Adams, plus international craft brewer, Unibroue. Shoulder to shoulder with these breweries will be Long Island’s award-winning hometown favorites including Blue Point Brewing Co., John Harvard’s Brew House, Black Forest Brew Haus, Crop Circle, and Southampton Ales & Lagers. The event will feature wines for sampling from Martha Clara Vineyards, gourmet barbeque from Maple Tree BBQ, and live music from the band Energy Express.

New this year, the festival will include cooking with beer demos by Chris Palmer, Executive Chef from Maxwell & Dunne’s all natural steakhouse. Scheduled demos include: Double White Coriander Glazed Sea Scallops, Pork Slap Beer Can Chicken, Nut Brown Braised Short Ribs, Chocolate Boch Rotisserie Short Loin, and Sour Cherry Imperial Stout Campfire Cobbler. Attendance at the cooking demos is free with paid admission to the festival.

The event will help to raise funds for the Peconic Bay Medical Center as well as the New York State Brewers Association. A food drive will be conducted to support the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Long Island Cares.

The 2nd annual North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival has two ticket options: VIP (1-6pm, $75) and General Admission (2-6pm, $50). The event will not be oversold. Tickets can be purchased at www.NorthForkCraftBeerFestival.com. Tickets include a 6 oz. souvenir tasting glass with the freedom to enjoy 2 oz. samples from any exhibiting brewery. It also includes wine sampling from the venue host, Martha Clara Vineyards. Designated driver tickets are available for $10 each.

All attendees get a free barbeque sandwich and side order prepared by local caterer Maple Tree BBQ. Live music will be provided by one of Long Island’s hottest cover bands, Energy Express. No one under 21 is permitted and photo ID is required for entry. The event will take place rain or shine. The North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ & Wine Festival is a Starfish Junction production.

Note: Old Brown Dog is produced by Smuttynose Brewing Co. (NH), Lucky Kat is produced by Magic Hat Brewing Co. (VT), and Lumpy Gravy is produced by Lagunitas Brewing Co. (CA).

They’ll be discounted membership pricing, a special beer, and other fun with proceeds going to local brew clubs. You can get more details from our peeps at the First State Brewers Club.

Hello All! We hope you are enjoying the summer! We are feeling the urge to make some beer and hope you will join us to learn about the process! The details are as follows:

What: Beer Extract Brewing Demonstration
When: 12pm (noon) on Sunday August 3rd, 2008
Where: How Do You Brew, 203 Louviers Drive, Newark DE 19711

Cost: $15.00 per person, in the form of a gift certificate- which you can use toward anything in the store the day of the demonstration!

FOOD AND BEVERAGES WILL BE SERVED!!

You will learn various aspects of Extract Brewing, i.e. Cooking the Wort, Wort Chilling (cool down), Sanitation, Fermentation, Racking and Bottling.

Hurry! There are only 20 spots per class! First come, first serve!

2 ways to sign up:

1. Call us! (We can process payment over the phone)
2. Stop In! We would love to see you!

Phone: (302)-738-7009
Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat: 11:00am-6:00pm
Thurs: 11:00am-7:00pm

A proposal currently moving in the legislature would raise the state tax on beer almost 50%. The small brewers of Delaware are asking you TO CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR TODAY to ask him/her to oppose this unprecedented increase as an extremely harmful measure to the state’s small craft breweries.

At this point, this proposal has not been formally drafted as legislation, but will be amended into an existing bill and voted on Monday, June 30.

It’s a little late in addressing the issue, but any of our Delaware readers checking this out should try to contact our senator to let him know how you feel about this beer tax. Frankly, I think beer is expensive as it is and I don’t need to pay any more for it!

You’ll need to find which district you are in and contact the correct senator!

Thanks to Brain and to you for stopping this beer tax!

Paul and I are going to be rolling out some neat-o changes to the site over the summer, and have some things in the works that are sure to help make Cureforwhatalesyou.com THE place to go online to learn more about the wonderful thing we call beer.

It’s our goal to provide resources and information for those who may not have a full grasp on the craft beer industry, homebrewing, beer styles, and other things that for the average beer consumer seem intimidating.

In addition to teaching new people about the ins and outs of the beer world, we also hope to connect those people with places, people, and events in their area where they can go to find good beer.

If you are a brewer, work in the industry, or just plain love talking about beer, we’d love to have you as a voice on CFWAY. If anyone is interested in contributing a blog post, press release, video, or any other beer related content, just drop us a line and we’ll make sure it finds it’s way here for all the world to see.

A few months ago we set up the CFWAY social network at Ning; if you haven’t joined, now is the time!

Carol Stoudt, the first female brewmaster in the US and owner of Stoudt Brewing Company (Adamstown, PA), will be mixing, mingling and serving up some great beer at the upcoming Brewmaster Dinner. “We are so thrilled that Carol will be joining us,” said Chef Rifkin, owner of Bobbique. “She is one of the most prominent women in the beer industry. Attendees at the dinner are in for a really amazing night,” he added.

Originally a kindergarten teacher, Carol became the figurehead and face of Stoudts Brewing Company. After raising five children, Carol and her husband Ed built the Stoudts Brewery in 1987 and soon became pioneers in the craft brewing industry. Carol, the self-titled “Queen of Hops”, has been working to promote her company’s beer and the craft beer industry for more than twenty years. Ms. Stoudt is making a special visit to Long Island to attend the Brewmaster Dinner at Bobbique on June 3rd.

The evening begins promptly at 6:30 pm with a meet & greet with Ms. Stoudt and a delicious lineup of appetizers, including Smoked Portobello Fries, House Smoked Sausage, Pulled Pork Sliders & Crunchy Fried Pickle Chips–paired with Stoudts Gold Helles Lager. A five-course dinner will follow and showcase Chef Rifkin’s talents.

Each course will be paired with a specially selected beer from the Stoudts Brewing Company portfolio. Dinner begins promptly at 7:00 pm and the menu includes: B.L.T. Salad (chopped brisket, lettuce, and tomato), Apple Smoked Beef Short Ribs, BBQ Jumbo Freshwater Prawns, Bobbique’s signature St. Louis Ribs, and will conclude with a Fallen Chocolate Souffle.

Seating is limited and reservations are strongly recommended. Tickets are $45 each and are inclusive of tax and gratuity. Bobbique is located at 70 West Main Street in Patchogue, NY. For more information visit www.bobbique.com or call 631-447-7744 for reservations. You must be 21+ to attend this event.

First, we are happy to announce the release of our 4th member of our Canis Major Series, Kerberos (ker-burr-os) Tripel. Kerberos is a bottle conditioned Belgian-style Strong Ale that weighs in at 8.5% ABV. It’s brewed with Pilsner and Aromatic malts and Golding and Saaz hops, yielding a deep golden to light copper in color.

We recommend pairing Kerberos with poultry, creamy cheeses, fruit pastries or crème brulee. Being that Kerberos is part of the Canis Major Series, it will be available year-round in 4-packs, and 1/6 bbls.

Kerberos Tripel from Flying Dog Brewery on Vimeo.

With Kerberos joining our Gonzo Imperial Porter, Double Dog Double Pale Ale and Horn Dog Barley Wine, we thought it made sense to introduce a Canis Major Mixed Pack. Coming early this Summer, we will be offering a new Canis Major Mixed 4-pack, containing one of each style.

We are really excited about this new package and think it makes for a great way to sample four extreme beers with one purchase. We have enclosed a sample of the 4-pack carrier so you can get an idea of what it will look like on the shelf.

Finally, we are very proud of our showing at the 2008 World Beer Cup. We came away with three awards in total:

• GOLD AWARD: Gonzo Imperial Porter – American-style Imperial Stout
• SILVER AWARD: Old Scratch Amber Lager – Amber Lager
• GOLD AWARD: Wild Goose IPA – English-style IPA

Thanks for the news guys, keep up the good work!

In small towns all across our nation, beer is something that has one style and flavor, a side effect of countless hours of TV advertising and powerful branding campaigns by the big beer pushers. Of course, there was Guinness here and there, a beer that always scared some off because of it’s color (another staple of small-town mentality).

The same can be said for the type of cuisine that can be had in suburbia - the finest dining around wasn’t really that fine. So after working in a decent restaurant s for years, and developing a palette for good beer, I’ve turned into somewhat of a snob.

I like to eat fresh food and try new things, so everywhere I travel I tend to seek out different places to check out.

Most restaurant owners or managers put a lot of time in their menu, and I’ll be the first to say that’s where my first impressions of the place start. However, the beer selection available is where I really start making my decisions of the place.

For example, I took a trip to Vegas last year, and noted the beer selection in some of the casinos I went to. Most had the usually light beer bullshit, Corona, Heineken, and maybe Guinness. I flew hundreds of miles to see these lavish casinos where people were driving Rolls Royces, just to drink a Coors lite. You’ve got to be kidding me.

It took some time, but I did find an Anchor Steam at the hidden bar/restaurant that no one was really hanging out at. I couldn’t understand why the main bars at most of the casinos didn’t have anything decent - I expected to see some West Coast beers, but didn’t find any, which really just added to the fake-ness of the place. Supposedly there was some crazy micro-brew bar out there, but it wasn’t on the main strip.

The same can be said for some of the places I’ve eaten at - wonderful places that look nice and seem to be classy and sophisticated. All that goes down the toilet when I see your shabby beer selection.

Your food has to be awesome. The service has to be top notch as well. But for a snobby food lover like me, these things won’t necessarily bring me back; throw an amazing beer selection in, and not only will I come back, I’ll tell all of my friends to go there.

Many will say that restaurants have simple beer menus to cater to the masses, who drink these. These beers don’t complement the food at all. A good restaurant should always be trying to create an experience, and they should do that by introducing me to new foods, flavors, and of course, beers.

Make your restaurant stand out just a little bit by offering some different kinds of beers. It doesn’t have to be a huge selection, but any place that I see a decent brew or two on that beer list is going to earn points.

At least that’s how one participant thought. Okay, everyone thought so (I heard nothing but great comments from the brewers and fans who came out to support them.

Garrett posed the question, and CFWAY answered!

After several months of planning, our first Homebrew Festival is under our belt. Having never put together an event such as this (or really any event in general), I am very relieved that everyone who came out had a great time!

There’s was a lot of great beer to be had - some in kegs, some in growlers and bottles. Several brewers got really creative and brought signs, recipe books, handouts - how awesome!

We’ll be doing some in-depth coverage on the event this week, including a full list of beers that were available, some brewers bios, lots of pics, and more.

Update: Here our some pics, courtesy of brewer Heidi Derr!

In the meantime, here were the finalists of the event (judged by our professional brewers from the Iron Hill Brewery).

Light Ale - Scotch Ale by Kevin Burdette

Belgian/Wheat - Belgian Wit by JR Jacobs

Hoppy - 90 Minute IPA by Carl Herbst

Dark - Licorice Stout - Charles? (I seemed to have mixed up who this gentleman’s name is!)

Best of Show - Abbey Dubbel by Brian “Fool Circle” Moore

Also wanted to thank those who donated prizes for the event:

How Do You Brew

Xtreme Brewing

Troegs Brewery

Iron Hill Brewery

I hope all who came had as much fun as those who thanked me personally - and if there was anything that we didn’t like, let’s discuss them in the comments (or email me personally) so we can make our next event even better!

“Festival attendees are in for a real treat,” said Andy Calimano, Event Producer. “Not only does Hook & Ladder produce some awesome beer, they are also tremendous supporters of the firefighter community. It will be great to see them expand their fan base here on Long Island,” he added.

Awarded a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Golden Ale, the Hook & Ladder Brewing Company from Silver Spring, Maryland is also praised for the financial support they give back to the local firefighter communities. Brew Master and Founder, Rich Fleischer, is a Maryland firefighter who has combined his two passions to create the Hook & Ladder Brewing Company.

Through their donation programs, A Penny in Every Pint® and A Quarter in Every Case™, they give back to support the firefighter community where each beer purchase is made. In the last 18 months alone, they donated $30,000 to burn centers and hospitals helping firefighters recover from injury.

Hook & Ladder brewing company produces three beers: Hook & Ladder Golden Ale®, a premium beer with a light to medium body; the Hook & Ladder Backdraft Brown®, a smooth and refreshing beer loaded with flavor; and the Hook & Ladder LIGHTER™, a flavorful beer with a lighter body.

“We are thrilled to introduce our beer, for the first time ever, to Long Islanders at the Spring Craft Beer Festival. We can’t wait to do some sampling at the fest and we look forward to meeting many of the local firefighters who attend,” said Fleischer. “We’ve already met with hospital administrators in both Nassau and Suffolk to ready our give back programs on Long Island,” he added.

The 2nd annual Spring Craft Beer Festival brings together more than 50 of the nation’s top craft breweries for a spectacular tasting event. The event will have two sessions: 12-4pm and 5:30-9:30pm. A limited number of tickets will be sold. Tickets can be purchased at www.springcraftbeerfestival.com or at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum’s box office during regular business hours for $45 each. Designated driver tickets are available for $10 each. 21+ with valid photo ID only.

The event is produced by Starfish Junction Productions and sponsored by WBAB 102.3 FM, Long Island Press, Superstar Beverage, and TJ Finleys. This event will raise funds for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and a food drive will be conducted for Long Island Cares. This event is sanctioned by the New York State Brewers Association.