Gnome week rolls on in Jacksonville with a couple of great events Friday night. As you may recall from the previous Gnome Week article, this week is a celebration of a village of Gnomes discovering a spring that produces magical waters in Belgium. Enterprising spirits that they are, the Gnomes decided to brew beer with the magical water and what resulted were particularly tasty brews. After centuries of keeping the beer and the recipe to themselves, the Gnomes decided to give the formula to the founders of Brassiere d’Achouffe (literally Brewery of Gnomes) in Belgium. Now, 6,666 years since the discovery of the spring and Gnome-style brewing began, we celebrate Gnome week by partaking of the beers and, in the case of at least one event, pairing them with great food.
The first event takes place at Total Wine and More at the St. John’s Town Center where you can taste several beers from Brassiere d’Achouffe. Stop by Friday, June, 8 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and enjoy samples of these enchanted brews with Marc Wisdom, Jacksonville Craft Beer Examiner, Springfield Brew Crew blogger, and I Know Jax’s The Beer Guy. Distributor representative Carolyn Graham will also be there to answer questions and hand out cookies (think elves here – what do you want there are no Gnome cookies).
The second event takes place both Friday and Saturday, June 8 and 9 at Pele’s Wood Fire. The Riverside eatery has dubbed the two-night event as “Gnome Gnights” and Chef Micah Windham has prepared a three course meal that is inspired by and paired with the Gnome’s brews. The menu for the event is:
First course
Bouquet Flower Salad, with La Chouffe Vinaigrette
Second course
Tomato and Rabbit Cappeletti Pasta with Garden Vegetable Ragu
Third course
Warm chocolate cake with La Chouffe Gelato
The special dinner is available for $30 and is sure to be a hit.
In addition to the special dinner, Pele’s is offering La Chouffe and Houblon Chouffe on tap.
The ATL Beer Guy 