Tidbites | A Rumpkin raffle

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Left Hand Milk Stout won gold is Europe.

A Rumpkin raffle

On Sunday, Sept. 22, Avery Brewing Company will host a Great Rumpkin Raffle benefiting the Foothills Flood Relief Fund, to help those in Boulder and Broomfield counties who suffered losses from the recent floods.

Raffle tickets will be sold for $10 during the Rumpkin Release Party at the Avery Tap Room, and each ticket will include a free pint. The raffle’s Grand Prize will be an entire case of Rumpkin ($288 value), and other prizes include six-packs of Rumpkin, two pairs of IPA Fest tickets and some Avery gear.

Raffle tickets will be sold from 2 to 5:45 p.m. Prizes will be announced at 6 p.m., and you must be present to win.

Twisted fundraising

Jill Brammer lost everything she owned when the floodwaters swept through her Jamestown home. She was lucky enough to be rescued by the National Guard with only the clothes on her back and her two dogs.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, Twisted Pine Brewing Company will hold a Reverse Garage Sale benefit for Brammer. Among the items being sought are women’s clothing, pots and pans, linens and towels, canned goods and kitchen utensils.

No large furniture is being requested at this time, since Brammer has not yet found a new home and space is limited.

For its part, Twisted Pine is collecting donations on Saturday and will contribute a dollar from every beer purchased.

Left Hand lands gold abroad

Longmont’s Left Hand Brewing Co. has won a gold medal for its Left Hand Milk Stout in the European Beer Star competition.

The brew took top honors in the sweet stout category.

“What an amazing honor to receive our fourth European Beer Star Award for our Left Hand Milk Stout,” Eric Wallace, president of Left Hand Brewing Company, said in a press release. “We are incredibly proud to produce such a widely acclaimed sweet stout both in the United States and in the European Union. We hold the European Beer Star competition in high regard and it is very rewarding to be recognized on the international stage for our efforts.”

More than 1,500 beers from 40 different countries were evaluated by 102 beer and brewery expert judges. In all, 23 American craft breweries, all members of the Brewers Association’s Export Development Program, won 36 awards in 22 categories.

The honorees were announced on Sept. 18 at “drinktec” in Munich, Germany.

Dine Nordic

One of Europe’s most beautiful countries gets a pretty bad rap — self-imposed though it may be.

Iceland, which can never quite escape its own name, is home to a rich heritage, including a unique take on Nordic cuisine. And Denver restaurant Coohills will again participate in a celebration the Icelandic palate with A Taste of Iceland Sept. 26-29.

Coohills will host guest chef Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson, head chef at LAVA Restaurant in the Blue Lagoon Spa, for a fourcourse dinner “showcasing the best of Nordic cuisine,” a press release says.

Coohills owner/chef Tom Coohill will join Vigfusson in presenting Icelandic Arctic char, cod and langoustine, better known around the U.S. as scampi, in the first two courses. The third course is free-range lamb, while the dessert is ice cream with peanut blueberry mousse.

Each course is paired with wines from around Europe, including a Hungarian blend and a French white. The dinner is offered Sept. 26-29 and costs $65, or $95 with the wine pairings.

More information is available at www.icelandnaturally.com.