Events on Tap

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts September 2003 Current Issue
September 2003
Short Cuts:Events on Tap

Microbreweries host tours, tastings and lively parties

Vat’s entertainment: The brewery at Max Lager’s

With their inexpensive pub fare, live entertainment and interesting tours, microbreweries make for fun off-site venues. Hops-lovers get the chance to sample a variety of fresh house drafts in small batches, and grape devotées often will find a selection of wines by the glass from local boutique vineyards.

At the Schlafly Tap Room and Bottleworks (www.schlafly.com) in St. Louis, attendees watch the beer-making process through wall-size windows on one end of the restaurant. Modeled after a British pub, the eatery offers such delights as sticky toffee pudding doused in a sweet oatmeal stout sauce, and goat cheese rarebit, a rich and pungent dip served with garlic toast. The Tap Room has two party rooms, hosting sit-down dinners for 40 and 120. Across town, sister brewery Schlafly Bottleworks offers tours and a party room that seats 50.

In Atlanta, groups can rent out Max Lager’s (www.maxlagers.com), a trendy 10,000-square-foot brewery and restaurant that seats 250 for dinner and hosts 700 for receptions. On-site coordinators will gladly add to the evening’s attractions with a sports- or casino-themed event. A second brewery, with a 400-square-foot private room, opened in April at the Mall of Georgia in Buford.

Pittsburgh’s Valhalla Microbrewery & Restaurant (www.valhallamicrobrewery.com), across the street from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, looks and feels like a postmodern Viking heaven. The restaurant, with space for 300, serves upscale American cuisine along with a half-dozen themed beers, such as the light Valkyrie and the dark, malty Black Forest lager.

• JONATHAN VATNER