The November meeting of the Twin Cities Perfect Pint Beer Club.

When: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Cost: $25
You must be a member of the club to attend. Go to the Twin Cities Perfect Pint Beer Club to join and RSVP.

We just did fall beers, but Halloween is over and ‘tis the season to start making merry for the yuletide. Thanksgiving is all that stands between us and the Christmas shopping season. Every year at this time brewers around the world release their special holiday offerings. Spice and spruce are the order of the day, along with sumptuous malt and elevated alcohol to warm you up as the winter winds howl.

For the November meetup we will taste our way to holiday festiviousness by sampling eight of the season’s jolliest offerings. We’ll try a bit of everything from the ancient (for American craft brewing) tradition of Anchor Christmas to a big ‘ol Belgian fruitcake in a bottle and maybe a slightly funky Danish beer to round it all out.

If people are willing to pony up, I will try to score a bottle of Sam Adams 2009 Utopias, the strongest beer in the world.

When: Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Where: The Kitchen Window in Uptown
Cost: $75
Click here to reserve your spot.

Join chef Ben McCallum and Certified Cicerone Michael Agnew at the Kitchen Window in Uptown for an evening of fine food and festive winter beers. Our first course is CARAMELIZED LEEK AND OYSTER GRATIN paired with WEIHENSTEPHANER HEFEWEISSBIER from Germany – a great tasting hefe with characteristic banana and clove flavors. Then we’ll enjoy BEER-ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN with HAZELNUT MOLE SAUCE paired with ANCHOR CHRISTMAS BEER from San Francisco – every year since 1975 Anchor has brewed distinctive and unique Christmas Ale; the Ale’s recipe is different every year. Next is hearty ALE-BRAISED SHORT RIBS with CHARRED TOMATO BARBECUE SAUCE paired with ST. BERNARDUS CHRISTMAS ALE from Belgium – with aromas of yeast and bread and tastes of spice, raisins, and nutmeg. Ben will also serve FRESH-BAKED BEER BREAD with GORGONZOLA WHIPPED BUTTER. For dessert, we’ll have PORTER-INFUSED CHOCOLATE BROWNIES paired with Cygnus X-1 PORTER from Flat Earth in St. Paul – a nice flavorful punch of citrus hop, balanced by slight caramel sweetness.