Craft Beer Week: Alton celebrates brewers

ALTON - Craft Beer Week is in full swing in Alton, Alton Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Executive Director Brett Stawar said Tuesday morning. 

The event, which celebrates craft beers, has its emphasis on local brewers. Alton-based Old Bakery Beer Company has already ran out of their commemorative glasses since the event began on Nov. 4. Stawar said both Old Bakery and Tony's Restaurant have reported seeing an increase in sales since the event started. Old Bakery and Edwardsville-based Recess Brewing are joining forces to help create a craft beer-themed dinner at Morrison's Irish Pub Tuesday evening. 

"We're having a craft beer dinner tonight," pub owner Mary Vankirk said. "We are pairing with Old Bakery Beer Company and Recess Brewing. It will be a five-course beer pairing dinner." 

Vankirk said there was still room for as many as 10 additional diners at the event, which starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets for the dinner are $50 a person. 

"From 5-6 p.m. we'll have our social hour, during that time, we will send out bread with butter compounds for people to snack on," she said. "Brewers from Old Bakery and Recess will explain things about the beer as they are paired." 

Morrison's kitchen manager George Thayer said the social hour will feature various bread loaves sourced from local bakeries. A honey and cinnamon compound butter will be paired with Irish soda bread from Lucianna's. Duke's Bakery will provide a jalapeno cheese loaf, which will be paired with a cilantro and lime compound butter, and a sun-dried tomato loaf paired with a roasted red pepper compound butter. 

Most of the items on the five-course dinner spread will include the addition of local beers into the recipes. 

"The appetizer is a traditional Irish pasty, which consists of seasoned ground beef, carrots, celery, shallots and spices," Thayer said. "It will have a beer gravy made of Old Bakery's A-Town Brown." 

Following the appetizer will be a raspberry, peach and goat cheese salad served with a vinaigrette made from Recess's IPA. The main course will be fettuccine noodles with a pumpkin cream sauce and sage and Parmesan lamb meatballs. 

"We will have Recess's Pumpkin Porter in there," Thayer said. "We're also doing a salted apple cinnamon bread pudding with a salted caramel beer glaze. The beer that's going to be in that is Old Bakery's Rye Bock." 

Tony's, Old Bakery Beer Company and Morrison's are just three of the bars and restaurants in Alton participating in this year's Craft Beer Week. Elijah P's, Bowl Haven Lanes, Chez Marilyn, Great Rivers Tap and Grill, the Argosy Casino's Hops House, local brewer Main St. 4204 and the new location of  are also participating. 

Many restaurants have "Keep the Glass Specials," which come with a special glass commemorating Craft Beer Week. Those are available while supplies last, Stawar said. Craft beer week continues until Nov. 13. 

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