On Sunday, June 5, join Slow Food Seacoast for a potluck Sunday Dinner in Portsmouth. The theme of the evening is Bread, Yeast, and Beer.

Paula Marcoux, Edible South Shore magazine’s food editor, will share some great breads with us after an afternoon Bread-Baking Class. (Sorry, that class is full.) After dinner, Paula will speak about the return to traditional baking technologies and techniques (like wood-fired ovens and natural leavening) and some modern developments that benefit bakers.

In addition, Annette Lee and Nicole Carrier of Throwback Brewery will join us to talk about their experience opening a nanobrewery (still in process!) in North Hampton. Striving to create a sustainably produced beer that tastes of this place called New England, they source ingredients from local farmers (including our friends at Brookford Farm in Rollinsford, NH) and local maltsters (e.g., Valley Malt in Hadley, MA). The first artisanal brews that Throwback will be producing have names that pique your interest even before you take that first sip, like Campfire Smoked Porter, Dippity-Do, and Hog Happy Hefeweizen. Speaking of which … the gals will bring along some beer for sampling, yay!  Let’s give them a big show of support as they wait out the final stages of the label-approval process so they can start selling some beer.

Of course it would be lovely if you brought a potluck offering in line with the Bread, Yeast, and Beer theme, but please bring any dish made with wholesome, preferably local, ingredients. Home brewers, bakers, and other lovers of fermentation are especially encouraged to bring some of their creations for dinner and some starters (leaven/sourdough, kombucha, kefir, etc.) to share with people who would like to make their own. Sharing these living foods—and the practice of making them—is fun!

Please bring your own “mess kit” (plate, bowl, drinkware, cutlery, and napkin) to minimize the use of paper goods, waste, and cleanup time. Also please bring your own beverage. If you’ve never been to a Slow Food potluck before, please read About Our Potlucks for more information about what to expect.

DATE: Sunday, June 5

TIME: 5:30–7:30 pm

PLACE: Stoodley’s Tavern, 17 Hancock Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801

DIRECTIONS: Stoodley’s Tavern is part of Strawbery Banke Museum. (Directions to Strawbery Banke are available on the museum’s website.) Please park in the Strawbery Banke Main Visitor Parking Lot at 14 Hancock Street (or along Hancock Street itself). From the parking lot, cross the street diagonally and to right to “Stoodley’s Tavern Education Center” at 17 Hancock Street. Jiggle the latch of the old front door until it opens! We will meet in the room to the left after you enter the front door.

More Info

• Paula’s website, The Magnificent Leaven
• Read more about Paula and her love of wood-fired baking on Boston.com.
• Throwback Brewery’s vision of New England “beer-oir”

Paula Marcoux

From the BeerAdvocate website: http://beeradvocate.com/events/info/27553

Back on the New Hampshire Seacoast by popular demand, the NH Brew Fest is the premier event in NH for craft brewers from the entire NE region and beyond to showcase their talent. The Master Brewers Association of America New England Chapter will be hosting this event, with proceeds going to Prescott Park Arts Festival and the MBAA’s scholarship fund. This is a beer fest put on by brewers for craft brew lovers.

Redhook Brewery has kindly donated space for approximately thirty breweries to setup outside in a natural grass amphitheater. All breweries will be tented over in case of poor weather. Foliage season should be in full swing by this date.

Here’s the deal:

Date: October 3, 2009
Location: Redhook Brewery. Portsmouth, NH
Time: Two Sessions: 12-3 PM and 5-8 PM Maximum 1500 tix per session.
Breweries: 25-30 New England/North East Breweries
Beers: 90-100 different craft brews
What else: Live Music. Food. Unlimited samples with admission price (3-4 oz samples)

Price: $25.00 in advance/ $35 at door.

Click here for the full list of participating breweries and more details!

Premiere Craft Beer and Food Pairing Culinary Event To Be Held
At Historic Strawbery Banke Museum, Saturday, August 22^nd

– Event Is Benefit for Strawbery Banke Museum and New Hampshire Public Television  –

Regional craft beers paired with delicious local culinary creations, served at beautiful, historic Strawbery Banke Museum on the Seacoast – it’s the menu for a very appetizing summer collaboration that will benefit the Museum and New Hampshire Public Television. Presenting…Passport: A Craft Beer & Culinary World Tour, August 22 from 5:30 – 10 PM, featuring over a dozen carefully designed pairing stations at which guests can sample and learn about many of the world’s leading beer styles and the cuisines they complement, presented by numerous Seacoast fine dining establishments.

Special features of the event include a beer aged in barrels made by the Strawbery Banke cooper, “Brewing in NH” author Glenn Knoblock, and the beautiful, historic museum venue. A list of pairings and brewers’ notes, detailed event information and tickets are available at www.nhptv.org/passport.

“This event is an opportunity to showcase Strawbery Banke’s setting, while offering a fundraising opportunity for the museum and NHPTV,” noted Larry Yerdon, president of Strawbery Banke. “For those who enjoy learning about our regional beers and foods, and who appreciate the museum and NHPTV, this is an excellent way to further support both our organizations.”

Supporting brewery partners include: Smuttynose Brewing Company, The Portsmouth Brewery, Allagash, Moat Mountain and Tuckerman brewers. Participating restaurants and food purveyors include Black Trumpet, The Common Man, Popovers on the Square, The Galley Hatch, Four, The Dunaway, Blue Mermaid, Terra Cotta Pasta Co., Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Three Chimneys Inn, Tasty Thai, Lindt Chocolate, North Country Smokehouse and Cabot Cheese. Visit www.nhptv.org/passport for information about our beer and food partners, and the pairings.

About New Hampshire Public Television: NHPTV engages minds, connects communities, and celebrates New Hampshire with programs that entertain, educate and enrich. Beyond its award-winning local and national PBS television programs, New Hampshire Public Television is a leader in education and community outreach. www.nhptv.org

Warm up with cold brews and hot music at The Music Hall’s presentation of “Music in the Brew,” a concert by the Firebird Ensemble commemmorating local brewer Frank Jones’ involvement with this historic theater. Jones bought the then-23-year-old theater in 1901 and gave it one of its earliest restorations; as the Music Hall continues with its long-term restoration plans, it’s a good time to raise a glass to the hometown brewer who added to its historic flavor. The “genre-busting” Firebird Ensemble takes the stage on Friday, January 26.

After the show, find out how the local craft brewing tradition remains alive and well by joining Executive Brewer Tod Mott at the Portsmouth Brewery for a special beer tasting. Tickets to the tasting are limited, and can be picked up at the Music Hall box office. The Portsmouth Brewery supports the ideals of Slow Food; to whet your appetite for the tasting, why not peruse their “History of Beer, as We See It” web page. Now that’s taste education.

A number of Slow Food Seacoast folk will be attending the event. Hope to see you there!