Q: I'm hosting a beer festival at home for 20 people in March. Everyone will be bringing two 22-oz beers or equivalent, with emphasis on variety and uniqueness.
I'm providing palate cleansers for during the tasting and a hearty meal for after, and I would love some ideas.There is at least one vegetarian for the event, so the apres-tasting meal will hopefully be easily modified for this guest. Your thoughts are most appreciated!
Sent by Anna
Editor: How fun! For the tasting portion, I'd recommend starchy, neutral-flavored snacks, like pieces of baguette or saltines. Water is great for cleansing the palate between beers.
For the dinner afterwards, what about making recipes that use beer as an ingredient? Mussels steamed in a light ale, this beer-cheddar soup, or even a version of Steak with Drunken Mushrooms modified for a crowd (with polenta rounds for the vegetarian?) would all be great. Take a peek at this post on pairing beer and food for more ideas.
Readers, what other food ideas do you have for the mini-beer festival?
Related: How Cold Should Beer Be Served?
(Image: Emma Christensen)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
TW Salt Mill by Wil...
Which Wall Color Gives the Best Sleep?
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Excellent party idea! Kudos! And great food suggestions.
There are a variety of cheeses that pair very well with beer. For instance blue cheese goes very well with an IPA. For the end, chocolate and stout go great together as do raspberries.
If it a casual event I suggest a fun pretzel necklace, pretzel rounds on string. Maybe a fondue would work.
We recently had a beer tasting party and had a "make your own bar mix buffet," with all the essentials: pretzels, peanuts, rice crackers, sesame sticks, cashews, spiced popcorn, etc. We had little bags by the buffet so guests could create their own mix and then easily carry it around the house throughout the beer tasting - it worked out great and the guests loved the buffet :)
How about making soft pretzels?? There is also a recipe on joy the baker's blog on how to make pretzel dogs...i made them this week and they were awesome! There is also an article on this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine on how to host a beer tasting party...I forget what recipes were on there, but I think buffalo shrimp was one of them.
Thanks for the great ideas! We held the event this past weekend, and it was just great. We had pretzels, chunks of white baguette, and water for the palate cleansers, and made drunken mushrooms on polenta (with blue cheese on top), the Stone Ruination IPA Roasted Garlic Cheese soup, and a turkey-kale chili with cornbread. A guest also brought Guinnes chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The cheese soup was awesome, and incredibly rich. It was great as a dip for pretzels later! We got lots of positive feedback on the food - thanks for the advice!