Sharing Good Beer For A Good Cause

The annual auction gala for our son's school was held this weekend. This is always a fun event and helps to raise much needed funds for the school. The auctioneer is the 2006-2007 International Auctioneer’s Championship winner and he is quite adept at getting the crowd excited. It's a good time for school parents to dress up, leave the kids at home, and have some fun for a good cause. This year's auction raised about $50,000 for the school. Historically, there are usually one or two wine dinners to be auctioned off. Last year, Colleen and I decided to donate beer tasting. The beer tasting was well-received and we were asked to repeat the donation for this year's auction.

The beer tasting is an event for 6 people, in the winner's home, that includes 6-8 different beers. We provide food pairings for each beer, along with some (hopefully) informed narrative. This year our donation includes a couple of glasses and a copy of "Ultimate Beer" by Michael Jackson. We also threw in a bottle of Delirium Noël for the winner to enjoy now. Although the offer states 6-8 beers, last year we ended up including 11 different beer and food pairings. You can read the beer menu from that event here.

The bidding for the beer tasting this year was very lively. In the end, the couple who won the tasting event last year walked away with the highest bid. They had been telling us they had such a good time that they would be fighting hard to win this year. And they did just that. Their winning bid was $850. That's $500 more than last year! Needless to say, Colleen and I are quite pleased. It's a thrill to be able to help raise money for the school, and at the same time do something we enjoy very much. I look forward to "paying up" on this donation.

BTW, this year Colleen and I successfully bid on a six course wine dinner. It's a gourmet dinner to be held lakeside in the Spring. I look forward to it as well.