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Our 2012 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines event host is the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa, and they have again enthusiastically wrapped their arms around both of our Brewmasters’ Dinners. A guest chef will collaborate with the Executive Chef on one of the dinners, and the other he will design solo. The details are in the works!
At the end of his apprenticeship, Todd cooked for several different chefs as business required. Started working at the Bristol Hotel Company's flagship hotel in 1987 as a Sous Chef. During his 16 year tenure at Bristol Hotels, Todd held the following positions, Sous Chef, Executive Chef, Food and Beverage Director, Director of Convention Services, Rooms Director, and General Manager. As GM, Todd was responsible for renovating and repositioning 5 properties, all with heavy food and beverage operations in Jackson MS, Atlanta GA and Omaha NE. Todd completed the American Hotel Motel Association's Certified Hotel Administration program in 1996. He was awarded as "Hometown Hero" by the Jackson MS Chamber of Commerce and inducted into the Chamber's Leadership Jackson program. Todd moved back to Texas in 2000 and started working as District Manager and Corporate Executive Chef for Alonti Café and Catering managing 8 stores. In 2005 Todd Moved to Hot Springs to join the Homestead Culinary where he worked as the Banquet Chef and Executive Sous Chef. In 2011 Todd moved to Vail Colorado to work with Destination Hotels and Resorts Vail Cascades Property. Todd is an Eagle Scout and worked at Philmont Scout Ranch as a Ranger. Cheff Todd has included his entire team in the Brewmasters' Dinner preparations, and has in fact divided his team in half. He has teamed with Executive Sous Chef Jay Spickelmeyer to create the menu for the Brewmasters' Dinner, while Chef du Cuisine Stephen Belie and Chef du Cuisine Maria Sacconi are creating the menu for the Calibration Dinner.
Todd Usry has devoted his 20-year brewing career to Breckenridge Brewery. In 1991, he invested in the expansion of the brewery from Breckenridge, CO, to Denver. It was during those first years with Breckenridge Brewery that he completed his brewing studies at the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago and his apprenticeship under a Canadian brewmaster. Today, Todd has a dual role at the brewery as Brewmaster/Director of Brewing Operations and also as the head of Sales and Marketing. During Todd's career, the brewery has grown in production from 3,000 barrels a year to 32,000 barrels. What was once (and still is) a quaint brewpub in the mountains of Colorado is now the 45th largest craft brewery in the U.S. Breckenridge Brewery distributes into 32 states and employs several hundred people in its breweries and restaurants in Colorado. Todd and his wife, Terry, moved from Virginia to Colorado in the late 1980s to live in Steamboat Springs as ski bums after completing college. It was in Steamboat that Todd's dream of opening a Colorado craft brewery was conceived. That dream led him to the newly opened Breckenridge Brewery in 1990. At the time, Breckenridge Brewery was the 3rd craft brewery to open in the state of Colorado. Todd's simple research mission to Breckenridge grew into a lifetime career, and hopefully, the key to getting his two children through college...and a comfortable retirement for Todd and Terry on a beach in North Carolina! In running Breckenridge Brewery, Todd blends his Virginia roots with his Colorado lifestyle. This is most evident in the family atmosphere that he fosters at the brewery among his staff. Subtleties of his roots also come through in the beer he creates. In developing Autumn Ale, for example, Todd's goal was to create a flavor and aroma that reminds him of raking leaves in Virginia in the fall. Yet, 471 IPA reflects his adult pallet with its craving for big, full-flavored hoppiness. Most important to Todd as brewmaster is creating beers that are clean, consistent, well-balanced, and highly drinkable. Creativity is important to Todd and his staff, too, so look for more barrel-aged creations and interesting small-batch concoctions in Todd's future at Breckenridge Brewery.
John has served in numerous capacities over his 20+ year brewing career; he was head brewer of Boston's Commonwealth Brewery, Brewmaster at the Old Dominion Brewing Co in Ashburn VA and founder and President of SAAZ, an equipment and service provider for breweries both large and small. John serves on many technical committees including Master Brewers Association of the Americas, the Brewer's Association and the American Malting Barley Association, Inc. He has lectured and written extensively and is a widely known consulting resource. John has served as member of the Extended Faculty of Siebel Institute of Technology since 1995. In 2002, he was the recipient of the Institute for Brewing Studies Russell Schehrer Award for brewing innovation. _____________________________________________ Calibration Dinner In turn, both welcoming us to the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa and opening our 12th Anniversary weekend, the Calibration Dinner on Thursday night will begin in the Library and Mountainside Room, and continue in Atwater on Gore Creek. As is traditional, Adam Avery and Sam Calagione will be co-hosting the opening festivities. Sam Calagione, Founder/President, Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats, Milton, DE Adam Avery, Founder/Brewmaster, Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, CO Now that you are familiar with this year’s Hosts, here’s the lowdown on the Dinners themselves: The format of the Brewmasters’ Dinners is rather unique. It is a “double” beer pairing in the full sense of the term. The chef for each dinner is challenged to design a menu around the creations that the Brewmasters offer. Each course features one beer from each brewery, therefore considerably more difficult than a single pairing for each. And Chef is pairing five courses for each dinner, which makes for an incredible beer adventure as well! This year the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa, Avery Brewing Co., Bell's Brewing Co., Breckenridge Brewery and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery have all agreed to follow the historical precedent of donating product and assisting us with our special event, and it has made it possible to keep the cost of dinner to our guests quite reasonable. The cost of dinner will be $75/person, plus tax and gratuity. There are a couple of different options for purchasing tickets. You can purchase them online by going to our Big Beers Festival Tickets page. You also have the option this year of purchasing directly from our event coordinator by check. Cancellations are fully refundable, providing that we can rebook your seat. (Thus, refunds will only be issued after the replacement reservation has been paid in full.) _____________________________________________ Previous Brewmasters' Dinners 2011 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner 2011 Calibration Dinner 2010 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner 2009 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner Centre V Restaurant in the Arrabelle at Vail Square, Vail, Colorado
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2008 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner 2008 Calibration Dinner
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2007 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner
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2006 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’ Dinner Lord Gore Restaurant, Vail Village, Vail, Colorado
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2005 Big Beers, Belgians & Barleywines Brewmasters’
Dinner
For further endorsement, here’s what Marty Jones said about the 2005 Brewmasters' Dinner in the February/March 2005 issue of Celebrator:
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Home | Events & Schedule | Purchase Tickets | Brewmasters' Dinner | Tasting Event | Seminars | Commercial Brew Participation | Homebrew Competition | Press & Photos Lodging & Transportation | Winners | Sponsors | Contact  Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival is organized by High Point Brewing, Gypsum, Colorado Site by Fluid Elements |
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If you love big beers, you must come have dinner
with us! The 2012 events will be a tremendous treat. The original weekend event was suggested by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and much ado has been made of them by our guests.
Our Twelfth Annual 'International' Featured Brewmaster is John Mallett, Production Manager for Bell's Brewing Company in Kalamzoo, Michigan. [Although not hailing from overseas, Bell's products can be just as difficult to get as international products if you live in Colorado!]
When Sam Calagione opened Dogfish Head in 1995 it was the smallest commercial brewery in America making 10 gallons of beer at a time. Today Dogfish Head is among the fastest growing breweries in the country. Dogfish Head has focused on brewing stronger, more exotic beers since the day it opened as the motto “Off-centered ales for off-centered people” attests to. Dogfish Head has grown into a 94 person company with a restaurant/brewery/distillery at the original site in Rehoboth and a 103,000 sq foot, 240,000 bbl capacity regional brewery in Milton Delaware. Sam’s book, Brewing up a Business, published by Wiley, is now available in paperback. Sam’s second book “Extreme Brewing” (Nov. 06) is already in its second printing. A third book, “Beer or Wine?” (Spring 2008) is co-written with female sommelier Marnie Old. Sam has been named Small Business Man of the Year by the SBA and was recently named Entrepreneur of the Year by Delaware Today Magazine and The State Chamber of Commerce. 
