The Bolder Life: Perfect Pairings 2.0

Turns out, there are a lot of people in Boulder County that not only dig eating food, but also enjoying pairing their favorite menu items with tasty beverages. With a healthy population of breweries, distilleries and wineries in the area, there always seems to be an excuse to throw some sort of event to showcase how well popular local libations go with the culinary delights coming out of Boulder County’s restaurants.

The next few weeks are full of exciting collaborations by the best of the best of the local food and drink scene. Clear your busy schedules and make your reservations! You’ll be so happy you did.

Centro/Upslope Brewing Beer Dinner @ Upslope Brewing
Sunday, April 15^th | 5:30 p.m. | $50 per person
As of late, Upslope Brewing has been pounding the promotional pavement extremely hard with a slew of beer dinners at local restaurants including a special collaboration beer dinner with Boulder’s Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Place to be held at the Upslope Brewery. If you’ve never experienced a beer dinner held in a brewery or a brewery tap room, then you definitely need to check this out. Fresh beer right from the source, great food, and the rustic aroma of craft beer beginnings—it doesn’t get much better than that!

Snout to Tail Dinner @ SALT the Bistro
Monday, April 16^th | 6:00 p.m. | $88 per person
SALT has been hogging the limelight lately with the introduction of their $9 Farm to Table Lunches and bar manager, Adrian Sutevski’s, big win at this year’s Boulder’s Best Mixology competition—which means locals have been chomping at the bit to get in on the unique food-focused dinner using several different parts of the pig. 8 courses. You heard me right—I said 8 courses, paired with 8 different beers. You should probably make your reservations now and fast until Monday.

Community Beer Social @ Terrior
Wednesday, April 18^th | 6:30 p.m. | $30 per person
I don’t make it to Longmont much, but I’ve been dying to check out some of the many community-involved events that happen at Terrior on a regular basis. Most importantly—events centered around beer. Terrior likes serving good beer, and even better, they like pairing it with delicious food and serving it to you. This month’s Community Beer Social features 3 beers from Schmaltz Brewing Co. in New York, paired with 3 delicious Terrior dishes. Only 15 seats are available for the event so make your reservation today!

Left Hand Brewing Beer Dinner @ Old Chicago Longmont
Thursday, April 19^th | 6:30 p.m. | $35 per person
Seriously?! This is happening. This event seemed a little odd to me at first, but it’s Longmont on Longmont action happening and it sounds like it’s going to be a pretty good time. $35 is a steal for anything paired with Left Hand beers; and—Bubba Love will be there. Bubba Love is hilarious. I promise you’ll leave this event with a stomach ache, and not from the food or beer. Bubba will keep you laughing all night with his many stories, and his passion and knowledge of craft beer will give you some homebrewed warm and fuzzies.

Cured-Boxcar-Pizzaria Basta-The Pinyon-Growe Foundation Pop-Up Dinner @ Cured
Monday, April 23^rd | 5:30 p.m. | $100 per person
Let’s see a raise of hands—who didn’t shed at least one tiny tear when Chef/Owner, Theo Adely, announced that the most popular place to find the best friend chicken in Boulder was jumping ship and looking for a Denver address. I know, right? A shame—but luckily for the Pinyon’s aficionados, Chef Theo is participating in a “Pop-Up Dinner” that includes a collaborative menu featuring food prepared by Chef Theo, Chef Kelly Whitaker of Pizzeria Basta, Chef Nathan Miller of the Tasterie Truck and of course, yummy items from the folks at Cured. The event is in support of the Growe Foundation and will also feature beer and wine pairings.

Bookcliff Vineyards Annual Spring Barrel Tasting featuring Erik Skokan of Black Cat Bistro
Friday, May 4^th & Saturday May 5^th | 6:30 p.m. |$70 per person
Many moons ago—okay—last summer, I took a trip to the Bookcliff Vineyard tasting room located in the same neighborhood as Upslope Brewing and Bradford Heap’s soon-to-be distillery venture. Chatting with the knowledgeable and friendly staff, and of course, sampling the delicious wine that is coming out of this place made me an instant fan. Bookcliff always has some sort of an event going on, but their upcoming Annual Spring Barrel Tasting is one that is not to be missed! Sample emerging wines in the winery followed by a 5 course dinner featuring cuisine by Erik Skokan of the Black Cat Bistro.

Odell Beer Dinner at Lucky Pie Louisville
Wednesday, April 25th | 6:30 p.m. |$55 per person
I love Lucky Pie. It’s not a secret. But I’ve also been digging on the Odell Myrcenary IPA which is included as one of the beer pairings in this delicious-sounding beer dinner. Crab fitters, pork loin carpaccio, and espresso panna cotta are just a few of the menu items you’ll be lucky enough to enjoy if you snag tickets to this beer dinner!