Durham bullish on craft beer, local tastes

The Durham Performing Arts Center turned into a foodie delight Sunday afternoon for the first Bull City Food & Beer Experience.

Posted 6:29 p.m. Feb 25, 2013 — Updated 9:02 p.m. Feb 26, 2013

Jodi Leese Glusco

DURHAM, N.C. — The Durham Performing Arts Center turned into a foodie delight Sunday afternoon for the first Bull City Food & Beer Experience. Sponsors Sam's Quik Shop and Tyler's Taproom brought together their favorite craft beers and local cuisine to share with guests, who roamed the DPAC halls, quaffing brews from the Triangle and beyond while sampling small tastes custom-created as accompaniments.

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In addition to food and drink, visitors were treated to live music from Chapel Hill folk trio Mipso and keynote talks from brewers representing New Belgium, Oskar Blues and Sierra Nevada breweries.

Sierra CEO Ken Grossman drew a crowd with the plans for brewery's first east coast location, under construction in Henderson County.

Triangle-area breweries like Raleigh's Big Boss and Fuquay-Varina's Aviator sampled side-by-side with national names like Sierra and Abita.

A select number of brewers paired their pours with creative culinary choices prepared on the spot.

At the Olde Hickory table, a butcher from Mateo Tapas carved fresh prosciutto which his colleagues used to top garlic-rubbed buschetta.

Vin Rouge French Bistro served up a twist on bratwurst paired with Foothills brews from Winston-Salem.

Watts Grocery spread foie gras and pickled butternut squash on toast points to serve with Haw River Farmhouse Ales.

G2B Gastropub offered tarts that ranged from meaty to chocolate ganache.

But possibly the most off-the-wall yet perfect pairing was the Welsh Rarebit made with Mother Earth Silent Night Stout served by Six Plates Wine Bar. The classic beer-cheese sauce topped a crostini with a bit of bratwurst and was accompanied by a handful of popcorn dashed with either duck fact or chorizo.

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