May is Craft Beer Month in the Santa Ynez Valley

Craft Beer Month is May 2013 in the Santa Ynez Valley

Aren’t we lucky?

As residents of the Santa Ynez Valley, we are free to enjoy one entire month of craft beer, thanks to Visit the Santa Ynez Valley, which has extended last year’s one-week craft beer celebration to the entire month of May 2013.

Craft beer fans will have plenty of choices to sample local and non-local beers.

As the saying goes, “it takes a lot of beer to make a good wine” — and perhaps that’s why craft beer is one of the new best things in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara and on the greater Central Coast.

American Craft Beer Week (www.craftbeer.com) takes place from May 13 to 19, with beer being celebrated in every 50 states.

Closer to home, beer aficionados can enjoy special tastings, a beer festival, classes, dinners and more throughout the entire month.

On Saturday, May 11, the Second Annual Buellton Brew Fest takes place in that town’s River View Park. Featured will be 25 breweries. Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 from May 1 through 11, and include unlimited tasting, lunch and live music.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.buelltonbrewfest.com, Eventbrite or the Buellton Chamber of Commerce.

Last year’s inaugural event sold out well in advance, so organizers urge those interested in securing tickets quickly.

“After a phenomenal inaugural year, it’s awesome to see the excitement continue to build in this area for beer and and the art of craft beer,” said Holly Holliday, event director and owner of Create Promotions, www.createpromotions.com

“We look to continue to bring the best of the best to the Santa Ynez Valley, in order to inspire future beers to come. This event is beer at its best, we’re proud of that.”

Friday night, May 10, Chris Knox, manager of Bin 2860, will host a special dinner at the Mendenhall Museum in Buellton. Diners at the progressive beer dinner will enjoy Americana favorites such as truffle French fries, gourmet sliders and beer floats paired with rare beers that will not be served at Saturday’s event. The dinner is limited to 100 tickets, which are available for $75.

Other beer dinners during May include Solvang Brewing Company’s brewmaster dinner, May 15; Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s dinner at the Ballard Inn & Restaurant, May 19; and a beer versus wine dinner at the Los Olivos Cafe and Wine Merchant, May 30.

In addition, food and beer pairings can be enjoyed at the Wandering Dog Wine Bar and The Good Life, both in Solvang, featuring beer with meats, cheese and desserts.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company in Buellton, Valley Brewers in Solvang, Wandering Dog Wine Bar and Bin 2860 in Los Olivos will host beer-themed classes. Topics range from ales versus lagers to sour beers to yeast classes and brewing demonstrations.

Firestone will release a “Library Anniversary Ale” every Friday during May, and Figueroa Mountain plans special “pint nights” and progressive brew tastings.

Visitors curious about beer businesses can plan their trip around the new SYV Craft Beer Trail Map, which can be printed via www.syvbeer.com.

Every event associated with Craft Beer Month can be found at www.visitthesantaynezvalley.com or by calling (805) 686-0053.

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Wes Hagen offers new three-day food, wine pairing class at Santa Maria’s Hancock College

Students in Hagen’s March class prepare dishes for presentation.

Dear lovers of food and wine: Viticulturist/winemaker/foodie extraordinaire Wes Hagen (Clos Pepe Vineyards) will once again teach a three-day wine and food pairing class at Allan Hancock College.

The class takes place Thursday and Friday evenings, May 9 and 10, and all day Saturday, May 11, on the Santa Maria campus.

I was privileged to sit in on the Saturday portion of his previous class, held in March, and urge anyone interested in the nuances of flavor, foods and wine to shell out $63 for the May edition.

Students in that class had a blast creating menus from scratch all the while sipping wine to determine the best match for their dish, which each shared with the entire class.

Hagen notes that if he were teaching such a class privately, he’d charge “at least $700” per person.

“This class will teach not only pairing, but upselling wine for servers, basic wine tasting and lots of wine tasting, cooking, theory and fun.”
 
Register online at http://www.hancockcollege.edu. Follow the steps and plug in this CRN number: 42107.
 
Questions? E-mail Alfredo Koch, director of agribusiness at Hancock: akoch@hancockcollege.edu or Hagen directly, wes@clospepe.com
 

 

Morgen McLaughlin new executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association

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Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association

Morgen McLaughlin has been hired as the new executive director of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association effective April 19 — the day before the organization’s annual Vintners’ Festival in Solvang.

McLaughlin comes to Santa Barbara County from the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, a regional tourism marketing group in Corning, N.Y., said Kurt Ammann, president of the SBCVA board of directors.

McLaughlin replaces longtime executive director Jim Fiolek, who resigned earlier this year.

The SBCVA’s board of directors is “confident and excited to have Morgan joining the team,” said Ammann, general manager of Dierberg Starlane Vineyards.

“Her experience is a perfect fit to thoughtfully grow our organization and significantly increase the benefits for our members. We believe this change comes at a time when the association is poised to increase recognition for the area as a whole and better communicate the unique diversity and quality of the areas vineyards and wines.”

Since 2007, McLaughlin served as president and CEO of the New York association. From 1994 to 2006, she co-owned and managed a small winery and vineyard in Connecticut, where she supervised wine production, grape growing and marketing.

The SBCVA news release notes that during her tenure at Finger Lakes Wine Country, McLaughlin increased the association’s revenues by more than 50 percent, created integrated tourism and wine marketing campaigns and generated significant media coverage for the Finger Lakes region.

McLaughlin earned bachelors of arts degrees in English and secondary education from Boston College.

Ammann said that McLaughlin will relocate to Santa Barbara County with her husband and three sons by June 30. In the interim, following the Vintners’ Festival, she will meet with various member wineries, grape growers and other industry professionals during the weeks of April 21-27, May 16-23 and June 20-27.

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