Beer Festival and Food Pairing at the Houston City Club

The Houston City Club in conjunction with BeerLovers.com is hosting a beer festival and food pairing event on Thursday, July 26th from 5:30pm to 10:00pm.

Representatives from local Texas breweries will be on hand to answer questions and talk about their beer and the Club's Executive Chef will be preparing bite-sized food items paired specifically for the beer being served. There will be a speaking lineup as well including Brock Wagner from Saint Arnold, Ronnie Crocker from the Houston Chronicle and author of Houston Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Bayou City, and also representatives from several of the new Houston breweries such as Fort Bend, City Acre, and Town In City.  There's also some great door prizes such as beer gift baskets, private brewery tours, a "design-a-beer" opportunity offered by Bufffalo Bayou and the Club is offering a trip to Barton Creek in Austin.

The event is open to the public but you must RSVP due to limited space (call 713-840-9001 or email Yvette.Matchette@ourclub.com).

Open The Taps Anniversary Party

Open The Taps (a grassroots organization dedicated to changing Texas beer laws and regulations) is celebrating its first anniversary with a party at Petrol Station on Saturday, July 21st from Noon to 6:00pm. Live music, special cask beers and Petrol Station's new kitchen should be up and running. Come find out what the group has been up to over the past year and their plans for the future.

Tickets for 2012 GABF on Sale July 31

The 2012 Great American Beer Festival takes place from October 11th to the 13th and members of the American Homebrewers Association and Brewers Association have the opportunity to buy tickets first beginning at 11:00am CST on July 31st. The remaining tickets then go on sale to the general public on August 2nd. If you're considering going, you need to buy your tickets the day they go on sale as they've been selling out faster every year.  Almost all tickets were gone last year in 10 days. If you're not already a member, I suggest joining the American Homebrewers Association before July 27 so you can participate in the Member Only Pre-Sale and attend the Member-Only session on Saturday. Tickets are $65 each for the evening sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and $55 for the Saturday afternoon session.

#IPADay Returns on August 2nd

Started last year by Ashley Routson and Ryan Ross, #IPADay was originally inspired by similar wine events such as #ChardonnayDay and #CabernetDay. Ashley, also known as The Beer Wench, saw it as a way to help make craft beer more accessible to the masses and promote craft beer in general. #IPADay returns on Thursday, August 2nd and you can participate by simply enjoying an IPA (perhaps while introducing a non craft beer drinking friend to the wonderful world of craft beer) and tweeting about it with the #IPADay hashtag.