As you probably know, I write a little blog called Girls Like Beer Too. This isn’t some shameless plug (well, maybe a little); it is pertinent to the plot of this post. Late last week it was brought to my attention that Jake Melnick’s was hosting a Valentine’s Day event entitled “Girls Like Beer Too!” What?!?! At first I was a little ticked at them, and then I was a little angry at myself for not being more creative when developing the name for my blog. And then I thought that I should go to the event under the guise that it was my event and market myself like there is no tomorrow! But regardless of my initial emotions, I was intrigued. Especially after I heard that my good friends at Corazon Brew, Powell Brew House, and Brutally Honest Brewing would be pouring their tasty beers, in addition to an insane Mikkeller– and Evil Twin-heavy beer list. The hubby and I had not yet made plans for Valentine’s Day so we decided to check it out.
I arrived at Jake Melnick’s a little early, and the event was still being set up so I hung out at the bar. I was expecting the event to be set up in the bar area but it was held in a far portion of the restaurant that was sectioned off. When it was finally time for the event to start, I walked over to purchase tickets for the hubby and me. Now, the gimmick for this event was obviously Valentine’s Day, with $5 of the $30 ticket going to the American Heart Association. All food and beer were included in the price of the ticket, and every female would receive a gift bag, with one lucky lady receiving the grand prize. In order to receive a chance to win this extra special goody bag, every woman filled out a raffle ticket with her name and email. The winner was to be chosen toward the conclusion of the event at 9:30pm.
When I first entered the event space, I immediately walked over to the homebrew portion of the event to greet my friends. Josh Garrett of Powell Brew House had his Peanut Butter, Mint, Nitro, and Vanilla variations of his Milk Stout; Corazon Brew had a cask of their Ancho Chili Porter, with extra ancho chilis added directly to the firkin; and Brutally Honest Brewing had a pale ale on draft, but also opened some bottles of their double IPA and black ale. I am so excited that these guys are getting more and more exposure, thanks in part to Chef Won Kim who was also in attendance at this event. I have written extensively about Chef’s Beer Laughter Series, beer events that showcase homebrew and food pairings and I was so proud that they are getting the attention they deserve.
The next thing I noticed? The food! Now, when you hear that there is an all-inclusive event, you expect some cold pizza or limp chicken wings. And that’s if you are lucky. Here? There was chocolate truffle popcorn; pancetta and lobster flat bread; and crunchy, lightly spicy boneless buffalo wings. And there was a peanut butter and chocolate mousse cup for dessert! So good, and the perfect accompaniments to the tasty brews.
After I had sufficiently sampled the homebrews, the hubby and I headed to the back of the restaurant where the remainder of the beer was being served. I started with the Evil Twin Freudian Slip barley wine. This was not your typical sticky-sweet barley wine, though. This 10% ABV ale was full of earthy hops that belied the aggressive alcohol burn. I then had the Mikkeller Citra single-hopped pale ale. What an aroma! There was an intense fresh hoppiness on the nose thanks to dry hopping. Delicious! All of the beers were of the higher gravity persuasion so please forgive me that these are the only ones I remember. I do know that I went back for three samples of the Freudian Slip; it was that good.
As I was hanging out and sampling beers, I met Chris Jecha, Assistant General Manager at Jake Melnick’s. I joked around that I was going to sue for copyright infringement and send a cease and desist order over the name of their event. But Jecha took my jabbing in stride and swore he had no idea of my blog’s existence prior to naming the event. And I believe him when he says that, sadly. But hopefully my threats of litigation will motivate him to check out my blog.
And who won that grand prize I discussed earlier? ME! Yes, me. I’m pretty sure they just gave it to me rather than, coincidentally, choosing the girl with the “girls like beer too” email address. I got a 2010 Goose Island Lolita, Madame Rose, and Juliet; a Bell’s Brewery Batch 9000; and a Finch’s Dirtier Bird. Not bad for a Tuesday night. This was an amazing event, I was just sad that more people didn’t show up. I understand that it was Valentine’s Day but apparently I am one of the only girls-who-like-beer-too that wanted to spend V-Day drinking beer with a bunch of fellow beer geeks. Perhaps the date of the event was a poor choice but I am so looking forward to the next event. Apparently Jake Melnick’s gets some insane one-offs. And if you are interested in trying Powell, Corazon, and Brutally Honest, be sure to attend Chef Won Kim’s next event, Brew Springsteen, on April 7th.
