Gus Thompson (Food & Beverage Manager) and Karl Prohaska (Culinary Freight Train and Director of Debauchery) are busy setting up for this Sunday’s Mission Valley Craft Beer and Food Festival at the Handlery Hotel. They teamed up to provide us some answers to these five questions:
Who is behind putting on this event?
It’s more of a “what” is the driving force behind all this. It’s a love of craft beer and food that makes all this happen. We simply organize the thing.
Peter Rowe wrote that this will be the last MVCBF. Do you have anything else beer-related coming up?
Lots of things actually. We have Chef Karl’s Country Boil with Societe coming on the 21st of April. New Kids On The Block 2, celebrating San Diego’s newest breweries, is on June 27th. We’re also planning “The Fall Pig Out”, a whole hog event that is going to turn tasting events on their ear. Biggest news of all is we’re re-concepting our restaurant, currently Postcards American Bistro, to become a craft beer-centric gastropub.
Can you tell me about the special Hess beer created specifically to pair with your dish?
After we got over the initial surprise that Mike and the gang at Hess wanted to collaborate on a festival beer, we thought that a blood orange trippel would be a great choice since we both enjoy the style and think they are really food-friendly. We’re going classic with it and pairing the Ursus Augustus with stuffed green lip mussels from New Zealand and drizzling a trippel beer butter on top.
What breweries are you looking forward to trying this weekend?
We’re really looking forward to trying some of the new stuff like Iron Fire, and Cold Bore. Societe is bringing their new “Madam” down, and you can NEVER go wrong with the old guard like Stone and Ballast Point. We’re really looking forward to the cask-conditioned Wreck Alley Imperial Stout with Jameson-soaked oak chips by Karl Strauss as well.
Your final lineup of brewers/chefs?
Chef lineup:
Nicholas Dapper/Amore Cheesecake, Eron Baker/Baker Shake Foods, Stella Midori Makofski and Joe Russo/Bernardo Winery, Steven Molina/Delicias, Hanis Cavin/Carnitas Snack Shack, Olivier Bioteau/Farmhouse Cafe, Karl Prohaska/Handlery Hotel, Tyson Blake/O’Briens Pub, Rich Sweeney/R Gang Eatery, Tommy Fraioli/Sea Rocket Bistro, Nathan Farkas/Slaters 50/50, Alex Carballo/Stone World Bistro, Nico Caniglia/Sweiners, Jeff Rossman/Terra, Nate Soroko, Toronado, Mark Liautad/URGE Gastropub, Colin Murray/Brooklyn Girl, Evan Bennett/Saiko Sushi (VIP only) and Nick Brune/Local Habit.
Brewery lineup: AleSmith, Ballast Point, Belching Beaver, Cold Bore Brewing, Coronado Brewing, El Cajon Brewing, Golden Mead Company, Green Flash Brewing, Hangar 24, Helms Brewing, Hess Brewing, Hillcrest Brewing, Iron Fire Brewing, Karl Strauss, Latitude 33, Lightning, Mad Lab, Manzanita, Monkey Paw, On-the-Tracks, Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Prohibition, Rough Draft, Saint Archer, San Diego Brewing Co, Societe, Stone Brewing Co., The Beer Company, Thorn St, Wet-n-Reckless.