SAVOR update: local?

SAVOR is a national beer-with-food exposition organized by the Brewers Association, an advocacy group for 'craft' brewers in the United States. It is meant to be a showcase for the marvelous, chameleon-like ability of beer to pair with almost all foods, from sweet to savory to spicy.

Tasting a wide variety of beers paired with a wide variety of foods can be quite a surprising experience to some, such as food writers, who tend to relegate beer to only brats or wings (as satisfying as those might be).

This is the second year for SAVOR, both occasions in Washington, D.C. There's more information at SavorCraftBeer.com. This year's single-session only event —Saturday 30 May 2009 at the National Building Museum— has sold out. But you can still ogle the menu. Click on the graphic:

Last year, Chris O'Brien, the Beer Activist, pointed out that such a celebration of beer-with-food might be better served if it were to celebrate local food.

This year, the chocolates are produced by local Kingsbury. And the oysters seem to be of mid-Atlantic origin. But that's it. No local cheeses? No local produce, meat, poultry, or fish? The menu is quite impressive, but those omissions seem contrary to the ideas of freshness and craft.

*********************
The entire week leading up to the Saturday exposition has been designated DC Craft Beer Week, and features many beer-related events. The schedule is posted at the Washington City Paper's on-line Lagerheads column.

View a review of last year's SAVOR here.