One hundred forty-four beers from 72 breweries and dozens of delicious hors d’oeuvres. This weekend’s game plan was to analyze the participating brewery list for SAVOR 2011, and sample as many as possible from an impressive array of many of the nation's most well-regarded brewers …. all in a span of four hours.

The dark beers were luscious. The Alaskan Smoked Porter from Alaska Brewing Co. in Juneau, Alaska paired beautifully with smoked seafood and cheese. The Cherry Bock Schwarzbier from Bohemian Brewery in Midvale, Utah proved a good session beer with its toasted malt. Pub Dog Wild Cherry Porter from Dog Brewing Co in Baltimore, MD, was aged for one year in French oak red wine barrels with sour cherries. Vanilla Stout from Elm City Brewing in Keene, New Hampshire, paired well with sour cherry and vanilla bread cheese.

Forget about the chocolates; some of these beers were a liquid dessert in themselves. Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. of Kiln, Miss., brought Pecan Nut Brown Ale, which paired nicely with banana-nut bread. Original Orange Blossom Ale from Buckbean Brewing in Reno, Nevada, had the flavor and aroma of real orange tree flowers.

Normally, I shy away from hoppy beers, but Hop God, from Nebraska Brewing Co. of Papillion, NE, was a mini-explosion on the palate of spiciness, tropical fruit and a firm citrus bitterness imparted by Belgian Duvel yeast. Despite its name, the hop character was complex and restrained. And my favorite beer of the night was from Devil’s Backbone brewpub in Roseland, Va., who served a balanced, vastly drinkable Vienna Lager with a clean, lightly toasty flavor.

There were plenty of excellent hors d’oeuvre-style items to compliment the two-ounce beer servings, plus an artisan cheese table, an oyster bar sponsored by Choptank Oyster Company, and – new this year – even a sushi bar.

I took a break for a sit-down interview with Fr. Thomas X. Davis, 77-year-old former abbot of the monastery Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, Calif. He shared with me an Abbey-style Dubbel from the Ovila series of abbey-inspired ales brewed at Sierra Nevada in Chico, Calif. This collaborative effort will help fund the reconstruction of a 12^th-century chapter house at the Trappist California monastery. Fr. Davis’ story of the sacred stones used in the reconstruction effort was ripe with intrigue, history, and divine inspiration. (You can read more at www.sacredstones.org)

Earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman and his brother Steve to discuss their plans for an East Coast brewery to supplement production.

“We have been considering the idea for six or seven years because of energy cost considerations, an eastern market that is growing faster and is less developed, plus the long-term economics of continuing to ship west to east from an environmental perspective,” said Ken.

“There is a Virginia business development contingency visiting in Chico this week,” said Steve.

Altogether, they said they have considered 200 potential sites for the expansion. “We will be making a decision in the next six weeks,” Ken added.

The evening had barely started when time came for an educational salon with Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Co., and Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Del. The two superstars, with media circus in tow, talked about their collaboration, SAVOR Flowers, which was on tap during the event, and distributed to guests in a 750-milliliter bottle as a parting gift. It will not be found anywhere else.

In brewing the beer, the two used rose water made from hundreds of pounds of fresh and dried rose petals from South America in place of regular tap water, along with a tincture of hibiscus, lavender and jasmine flowers that yielded a spiced aroma, with a fragrant honeyed base and a “dry slightly astringent finish that makes you want to have another sip,” according to Koch. “You might also taste a bit of the rose lemon syrup that I found in Italy,” said Calagione. “The honey flavor comes from the addition of Scottish heather honey, beestings not withstanding,” added Koch. (For more, check out the video at www.winemag.com/#videos.)

Commenting on the success of this year’s SAVOR, Julia Herz of the sponsoring Brewers Association said, “I know of no other event that truly offers the attendee many of the actual faces behind today’s U.S. craft breweries who personally serve while they strategically pair their craft beers with food and at the same time deliver such a high-caliber selection of educational salons and private tastings.”

Many found getting tickets to SAVOR 2011 this year frustrating, but attending was pure bliss.

You can read more at www.sacredstones.org and http://www.ovila.com/#/home