beer dinner proposal

[pourmeaporter]

salutations sippers
This is my first thread on the site.

I just took over the events department of a great new music venue/ restaurant in Philadelphia----www.worldcafelive.com The acoustics are unparalleled and the space so great it just demands events.

I am interested in doing a few things which include:

1. a beer dinner- I am looking for suggestions on Brewers who you would like to see come back to phila. or perhaps some local guys you can' t get enough of. There could be a music component to this as well. So if by chance you know of any brewers that are as talented with a guitar as they are with a carboyle, please let me know your suggestions.

2. a mini beer festival it would have to be limited to 500 people. What is the best month to host one? Being a fan of winter beers, I was thinking february....

[newportstorm]

Welcome to the board! Congrats on the new job.

As far as brewer's dinners go, stay local if you can. Supporting the local beer scene is more important to me than bringing in 20 new "foreign" brands. However, some importers (Merchant du Vin, etc.) have put on successful beer dinners around here in the past. Good food paired with good beer, while enjoying good music sounds great. I'd separate the two, if possible, into a beer/dinner time & a music time - maybe relax with an after dinner beer and listen to some cool tunes. I know Sam C. from Dogfish Head does a little rapping on the side ;)

As for a beer fest, check around the web and be sure the date you pick isn't already hosting a lot of events (esp. locally) or else your attendance could suffer. BA has an events calendar and I'm sure other sites do as well:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/events/calendar.php

Good luck!