There are a million different ways to throw a party, and we want whatever you do to be uniquely you (with a little of us thrown in!). If you choose to celebrate by pouring one teaspoonful of Saison Dupont and call it a celebration, that’s fine by us. Should you choose to make your celebration more extravagant, we’ll be doubly happy.
Click on the headings below to explore more Coast to Coast Toast themes. And, regardless of what themes you choose to use, please make sure to peruse our films and music – a fun way to set the atmosphere and transport your customers to the countries we love and import from.
Would you like to join an estimable group of pioneering women? Stay tuned. Better yet, if you are a woman and own/operate a pub or shop, sign yourself and your place up on Eventbrite: this is going to be one momentous expression of girl-power! Here’s a sampling of our leading lady luminaries in the world of beer: Did you know that women own and run two of the breweries whose beers Vanberg & DeWulf imports? Annick Castelain heads up Brasserie Castelain, while 26-year-old Anne-Catherine Dilewyns runs Dilewyns, the brewery that makes the fabulous Vicaris beers. And let’s not forget that Vanberg & DeWulf’s Co-Founder, Wendy Littlefield was the first American woman ever inducted into the Belgian Brewers’ Guild.
One of the special themes of this year’s C2CT is to focus on the contributions that women are making to the world of craft beer. To give credit where credit is due, we are partnering with women we adore and admire who own or operate some of the best specialty beer spots in the nation.
Did you know that Wendy Littlefield (Co-Founder of Vanberg & DeWulf) and Ruth Van Waerebeek (author of Everybody Eats Well in Belgium) collaborated on an as yet unpublished manuscript on cooking with Belgian beer? Stay tuned – we are going to let some of these beautiful recipes see the light of day for the very first time. Don and Wendy have Don hundreds of beer dinners over the years, led trips for food writers to Belgium and are known to have one of the largest collections of books on Belgian cooking in North America.
Create a beer dinner menu of your own or revive one of our great beer dinners of yore. By October, we will provide you with lots of examples of great beer dinners from the past and tons of recipes in two big fat Classic C2CT food files. Feel free to re-create or adapt. Til then head over to the blog and the portfolio to peek at some recipes and menus.
Have fun while doing good and turn your event into a fundraiser for a charity (or other worthy cause). Last year, Tom Peters – the Greatest Philanthropist of the First Coast to Coast Toast – turned Monk’s Café’s celebrations into a fundraiser for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, an organization that combats childhood cancer. We toast you, Tom!
Appoint yourself the official Headquarters for a Coast to Coast Toast pub crawl in your town. Last year, Anne Becerra effectively did just this, making The Ginger Man the starting point for a citywide beer tour. Partner with your neighbors and spread the love. Consider having each location feature beers from a different brewery in our portfolio. Cross-promote your events and you’ll all benefit.
Feature all Vanberg & DeWulf beers on tap, just as our Most Generous Tapper of the First Coast to Coast, Greg Engert, did at ChurchKey. This year, Greg is doing something equally spectacular. Are you up for such a bountiful celebration? In addition, a Vanberg & DeWulf tap takeover is happening in Brussels at Moeder Lambic – our first international venue – with more surprises to follow.
Our beers never fail to make the gift guides for beer lovers. Consider extending the Coast to Coast Toast celebration throughout the month. In store, feature a beer from each brewery, a handful of your absolute favorites, or a selection of our Christmas beers to key into the holiday season. Vanberg & DeWulf holiday gift baskets are perennial favorites and have been featured in national media like Wine Spectator, New York Times, All About Beer, Beer Connoisseur, The Today Show, Tasting Table, Imbibe, Mutineer, to name a few. For a more complete list, check out our press section. Tap into that exposure – there is tons more coming up. Did you know that last year the NY Times named Saison Dupont the perfect beer with your Thanksgiving bird? Wouldn’t a grouping of our beers make a magnificent stocking stuffer for beer lovers? Do a tasting in store (where permitted). Launch it all on Coast to Coast Toast Day. Don’t forget to download our shelf talkers. No collection of beers is as decorated with medals as ours.
Focus on one brewery from our collection and go deep. For example, host a Coast to Coast Toast Dubuisson Night and feature Scaldis, Scaldis Blond Tripel, Scaldis Refermentee, Cuvee des Trolls, Peche Mel, Scaldis Prestige, Scaldis Prestige de Nuits, Scaldis Noel, and Scaldis Noel Premium. Dedicate your beer dinner to one particular brewery, like Les Caves (Corvallis, OR) will do for Brasserie Dupont. Isn’t it sweet that they took the name of the place from the name of the bar across the street from Dupont!
Pour one beer from all 11 breweries we represent. Explore Belgium with Brouwerij Dilewyns, Brasserie Dubuisson, Brasserie Dupont, or Brouwerij Slaghmuylder. Travel across the border to France with Castelain. Have a taste of the Italian countryside with Birra Amiata. Take your tongue on a trip to the Arctic Isle’s Ring of Fire with Olvisholt. Taste the handiwork of the promising Belgian brewers of the Vanberg & DeWulf special selections: Scheldebrouwerij and Hop Ruiter, Vanberg & Famille’s Lambickx, and Brouwerij De Troch and Lambrucha.
Did you know that, this summer, Vanberg & DeWulf beers headlined exclusively in the Beertail Seminar at the Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. Star mixologists Adam Seger (who will be headlining at an event in Chicago for the C2CT2), Francesco Lanfranconi and Doug Frost taught us a ton about how to ensure a winning combination. We are sharing this wisdom in the beer cocktail section of the toolkit.
Imbibe recently observed that, until recently, beer and cocktails occupied two completely different areas of drink menus. Today, more bars and menus are fusing the two into one. Jump on the bandwagon.
Strut your stuff cheese people! We’re sharing pairing ideas from events over the years and compiling them in a chart. We’d love you to host a beer and cheese event and tell us about your favorite pairings. We have done tutorials at Murray’s, advised Steve Jenkins, seen our pairings featured in Wegman’s magazine, had the rinds of some of the best American cheeses washed in our beers, and done staff trainings at Whole Foods. What’s stopping you? Hold an event at work or at home.
Build your party around the most obscure and rare beers in our collection. For instance, have you tried Jade, the organic session beer from the Castelain Brewery? Chances are you have not. Take a note from Jimmy Carbone’s page: bring together all the Vanberg & DeWulf beers and see what people like best in a Vanberg & DeWulf Beer Tournament. Did you know Beloiel is a castle near by Brasserie Dupont? After Versailles it was thought to have the most magnificent formal gardens in all Europe. Dupont makes the beer for them.
Last year, Jimmy’s 43 hosted an event called “The Battle of the Belgians.” Little La Biere de Beloiel took the top prize among 50 beers cognoscenti sampled. Consequently, this year’s Jimmy’s 43 C2CT party poses the question: “Will La Biere de Beloiel Become the Next Saison Dupont?” Jimmy is serving the least well known beers from the Vanberg & DeWulf portfolio to see which one emerges as the next rising star.
