Read the complete press release.

If you’re a SAVOR fan, chances are you’ve already tried your hand at craft beer and food pairings. Maybe you’re looking for inspiration in this year’s tasting hall to liven up your next gathering. Why not get a head-start at the Artisan Cheese Table, Green & Blacks Chocolate station or the Choptank Oyster Bar? At these three spots, you’ll find a blank slate of pairing opportunities with delicious products. Not sure how to get started? We can point you in the right direction!

Forget the stuffy concept of wine and cheese. By most accounts, craft beer is a far more versatile partner for cheese of any variety. The American Cheese Society has been a fixture at SAVOR for many years, and they return again with an astonishing slate of nearly 25 different creameries from around the country. It would take multiple, lengthy pages to talk about the intricacies of beer and cheese pairing, so we’ll keep it brief and point you to CraftBeer.com’s beer and cheese section. Culinary ace Janet Fletcher has an excellent video on the topic as well, and she’ll speaking at a SAVOR salon alongside Stone Brewing Co.’s Greg Koch.

Chocolate and beer may seem like strange bedfellows, but they’ve got a lot in common. Like beer, chocolate requires fermentation. This is how the cacao seed’s flavor is developed in the start of the process. Garden-variety chocolate can be tooth-achingly sweet, but much of what you’ll find from Green & Black’s has a higher cocoa content, creating that pleasant balance between sweet and bitter—sound familiar? Yes, beer has the same sort of balance. Many chocolate pairings rely on dark beers, like porters and stouts, whose roasty flavor and chocolate undertones complement a piece of Green & Black’s. You might also pair chocolate with a barleywine, especially if the beer is given time to warm up, to bring out the biscuit and hop flavors, adding an element of contrast to the pairing, while complementing the chocolate’s bitterness. A word of caution: beers brewed with real chocolate are often not perfect pairings. Though it seems logical, the two prominent chocolate flavors are liable to fight for territory on your palate.

If tuna is the chicken of the sea, then oysters must be the pork belly of the ocean. What to pair with these things that look so weird but taste so good? If you’re riffing on the traditional champagne pairing, we’d suggest a golden Belgian ale, like a saison or tripel with plenty of effervescence to cut the meat’s richness. The fruity flavors derived from Belgian yeast can also contrast nicely with the oyster’s briny flavor. We’d be remiss if we didn’t tip our hat to the classic stout and oyster pairing. Tasting is believing to see how the beer’s dark, roasty malt plays off the salty sea flavors. Choptank offers two different varieties of oyster—one salty, one sweeter—so, ask the shuckers what they’ve got and see how they interact with the different beers.

Don’t be afraid! Even if you aren’t a beer and food wizard like Chef Adam, you too can create excellent pairings. Be adventurous. Experiment. Have fun!

Remember, tickets are now on sale. Get yours soon!

Unless this is your first taste of SAVOR, you’ve likely heard tell of the epic craft beer list curated each year for the event. This edition—held in Manhattan for the first time ever—is no exception. Every one of the 76 participating craft brewers will bring amazing liquid to the event. While we don’t have the time or space to go into detail on everyone’s offerings, here are a few highlights from breweries that have acquired a cult following over the years.

It’s a nearly impossible task to tease out only nine highlights from the entire SAVOR menu. All of these beers have earned ratings of 90 points or more on both Beer Advocate and Rate Beer’s crowd-sourced rating websites, so they must be doing something right!

Avery Brewing Co., Odio Equum, a sour ale brewed with red raspberries and aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. 7.89% ABV

Bell’s Brewery, Raspberry Wild One, an American wild ale aged in oak wine barrels with raspberries. 6.5% ABV

Cigar City Brewing, José Martí, a heavily hopped high gravity porter. 8% ABV

Firestone Walker, Brewing Co., Parabola, a bourbon barrel aged Russian imperial oatmeal stout. 13% ABV

Stone Brewing Co., Espresso Imperial Russian Stout Vintage 2013,  an authentic imperial Russian stout brewed with espresso coffee beans. 10.5% ABV

The Brewer’s Art, Ozzy, a Belgian golden strong ale hopped with Styrian Goldings. 7.25% ABV

The Bruery, Bois, an English-style old ale brewed with Belgian yeast and blended with older vintages. 15.5% ABV

The Lost Abbey, Deliverance, an American strong ale created by blending Brandy Barrel Angel’s Share and Bourbon Barrel Serpent’s Stout. 12.5% ABV

Three Floyds Brewing Co., Zombie Dust, a single-hopped American pale ale brewed using Citra hops. 6.4% ABV

Tickets are still available… Join us in New York for these and many other great craft beers paired with amazing food!

SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience is all about the amazing beer and food pairings, but who would miss the chance to sample some of the best artisanal cheese and chocolate? With special support from the American Cheese Society and Green & Black’s Organic Chocolates, we’re able to offer attendees a few nice little nibbles to supplement the beer and food menu.

American Cheese Society

The American Cheese Society will sample award-winning American artisan, farmstead and specialty cheeses from producers around the country, including Coach Farm (New York), Murray’s Cheese (New York), Beehive Cheese Company (Utah), Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese (California), Rogue Creamery (Oregon), Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery (Vermont) and many more. A team of skilled cheesemongers will be on hand to guide attendees through the 24 different producers from 10 states and their range of cheese styles and flavor profiles that perfectly complement the craft beers.

Green & Black’s Organic

New for 2013, SAVOR welcomes Green & Black’s Organic chocolates. With flavors like spiced chili, dark, hazelnut & currant, and almond available to taste, you’re sure to find the perfect beer and chocolate combination.

…And Oysters Too!

Our friends from The Choptank Oyster Company are returning for another year of SAVOR with their flagship Choptank Sweets—a meaty, robust, farm-raised Chesapeake oyster—on ice for you to slurp and savor.

Don’t forget, tickets are now on sale. Get yours soon and start planning your trip to Manhattan!

For the third year in a row, SAVOR continues its tradition of offering a special collaboration beer for attendees to take home and enjoy with friends and family, to share the spirit of SAVOR. In 2011, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Samuel Adams brought us SAVOR Flowers, a 10% ABV, oak aged craft beer brewed with rose water. Last year, Boulevard Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. created Terra Incognita, which was brewed with Sierra’s estate grown malt and finished with Boulevard’s Brettanomyces in Missouri oak barrels.

New York Limited is the 2013 SAVOR collaboration beer, and this limited release is sure to be a coveted addition to attendees’ beer cellars. Three New York breweries teamed up to brew this exclusive beer: SAVOR Supporting Partner Brewery Ommegang and SAVOR Supporting Breweries Brooklyn Brewery and Saranac. This special release will be presented as an exit gift to SAVOR attendees in a 750 ml corked and caged bottle.

The brewers have described New York Limited as a strong white lager—a wheat beer with spicing—so it’s likely to be perfect for a warm June day in Manhattan. New York state ingredients were used as much as possible, including honey, multiple spices including lemon verbena, and New York state hops. The three breweries worked at Brooklyn’s facility to brew the beer with lager yeast, and it will be bottle-conditioned with ale yeast.

The only way to get one of these special beers is to attend SAVOR. Tickets are still available, but don’t delay! Get yours soon to enjoy this and many other special beers at SAVOR 2013.

Do you like hosting dinner parties? How about throwing a beer and food event for 2,000 of your closest friends, serving 152 different craft beer and food pairings? Oh, and did we mention it will be two nights in a row? Curating, coordinating and executing the SAVOR menu is a Herculean task, but Chef Adam Dulye, of The Monk’s Kettle and The Abbot’s Cellar, is up to the challenge. As he heads into his third year as SAVOR’s Beer and Pairing Chef Consultant, he isn’t slowing down or playing it safe.

Creating the Menu

Dulye’s approach to creating pairings is based on fundamentals, and it rarely strays into the realm of obscure technicalities like IBUs, alpha acids or mash pH. He keeps things simple but deliberate, starting with a beer, considering appearance and aroma, then asking a key question. What does the beer make you want? His test panel doesn’t usually get into specific beer-related descriptions. “I want people to approach the beer with general feelings and ideas,” explains Chef Adam, “Like a sunny afternoon in the park. We’re trying to relate to people.” For instance, when the panel tasted Ballast Point Brewing Company’s Toasted Coconut Victory at Sea Imperial Porter, everyone just wrote down one word: curry.

How to Approach SAVOR

Between his three years with SAVOR, four years organizing the Great American Beer Festival’s Farm to Table Pavilion and countless hours in his own kitchen and restaurants, Adam has good advice for attendees of all stripes. For experienced beer lovers, he suggests they look for unexpected and challenging pairings. “We’re pushing the envelope this year,” Adam says, “and the pairings aren’t all classic. Oftentimes, beers can do so much better than their stereotypical pairings. One example is Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Ops paired with chicken liver and chocolate. This pairing goes through four to five different changes on the palate when you go back and forth between beer and food. It’s a longer flavor conversation.”

Attendees that are new to beer are advised to keep an open mind and try new things—even beer styles they wouldn’t ordinarily choose. Dulye reminds attendees to resist the impulse to convince themselves they don’t like particular things. They may be wrong. “Take the opportunity to try a new beer, and if you don’t understand it, ask the brewer. The great thing about SAVOR is the people behind the beer are probably pouring your glass, and they’ll explain the philosophy behind whatever you’re tasting.”

Building Better Pairings at Home

Tickets are still available to attend SAVOR in New York City, but in case you can’t make it this year, Chef Adam has advice for better beer and food pairings in your own kitchen. He suggests picking a starting point—either the beer or the dish. Tasting as you cook is key, and having a beer in hand while you do it is not a bad idea in general. He recommends that you adjust the dish’s flavors as you go, focusing on three key components: salt, fat and acid. Dulye explains: “You need salt to hold flavors on your palate longer and fat to combat the effects of strong hops or alcohol. Lastly, you can lighten the dish with citrus or acid to improve how it finishes.” Should you cook with beer? Chef Adam suggests that you don’t necessarily need to cook with the beer you’re drinking, but the adventurous home cook is always welcome to try this technique.

 See You in New York!

Chef Adam is looking forward to working SAVOR in New York, a city he considers to have one of the fastest growing beer scenes. He’s game for a challenge: “In New York, someone will always give you an opinion, and it’s good because they hold high standards.” Dulye’s parting advice for SAVOR attendees and beer lovers in general? “No matter what happens on your palate, the best beer or pairing is the one you’re enjoying right now. Don’t play the ‘what-if’ game, just enjoy what’s in front of you.”

Don’t forget, SAVOR tickets are on sale. Get yours soon!

Start by browsing the menu by brewery—track down an old favorite, or maybe find a brewer whose beers can’t be found in your local beer store. Then, you can see what beers will be served with which dish. If you spot a food item that seems particularly interesting, you can click through to see what beers Chef Adam has paired with something like a Green Pea Tapioca (mostly saisons, if you’re wondering), or you can approach the menu from the opposite direction by browsing the styles menu and clicking through to compare pairings among similar beers.

If you can’t wait until June for beer and food bliss, whip up your own pairings at home! Select recipes from the 2012 menu are available online.

SAVOR tickets are sold via Ticketmaster. Please review this important information to more easily navigate the process:

• Ticket pricing is posted online.
• Set up a user account on Ticketmaster.
• Purchase tickets directly on the SAVOR Ticketmaster page. Note: online ticket sales only; no phone sales; no sales on site at SAVOR.
• If you plan to purchase a Grand Tasting and Salon package ticket(s), choose your preferred Salons ahead of time to more quickly navigate the Ticketmaster ticket selection list. You may also purchase a Grand Tasting ticket without a Salon option.
• You will receive one ticket for each Grand Tasting ticket purchase and one ticket for each Grand Tasting + Salon ticket package purchase. In other words, if you purchase a Grand Tasting + Salon ticket package, you will not receive two tickets, just one.

We hope to see you in Manhattan this June!

What:
Presented by the Brewers Association, SAVOR^SM: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience is the premier beer and food pairing event in the U.S. The event comes to NYC after five consecutive years in the nation’s capital. Attendees will enjoy beers from 76 small and independent U.S. breweries, hailing from 31 different states and representing all regions of the country. Along with tasting some of the finest craft beers, attendees will enjoy a diverse array of food pairings designed by Chef Adam Dulye, co-owner/chef of San Francisco’s The Monk’s Kettle and James Beard Award-semifinalist Abbot’s Cellar, in collaboration with a panel of chefs and Cicerones^®. Sonnier & Castle will serve as the event caterer.

SAVOR sets itself apart by bringing the notable personalities behind craft beer brands to the front lines to serve guests. Attendees also have an opportunity to interact with brewers during private salon tastings throughout the two nights.

Read the complete press release.

Browse the complete list of 2013 SAVOR breweries.

All told, 76 breweries will serve their finest beers paired with special dishes from a menu crafted by Chef Adam Dulye of San Francisco’s Monk’s Kettle and Abbot’s Cellar. Attendees will enjoy a diverse array of pairings, ranging from savory to sweet and everything in between. Not only that, SAVOR participating breweries represent all areas of the country, hailing from 26 different states.