Get Excited About Toast to Heal Hearts

Featured Brewer: Boscos Restaurant and Brewing Company

Toast to Heal Hearts is excited to add craft beer to the tasting this year and is thrilled to welcome Boscos Restaurant and Brewing Company to the event as our featured craft brewer.

Boscos opened in Germantown, Tennessee, in 1992, the first post-prohibition restaurant brewery in Tennessee. Since opening, Boscos has garnered numerous awards for their craft brews, including the prestigious 2012 World Beer Cup Gold Medal for “Boscos Hefeweizen!”

Boscos has long been recognized as a craft brewing innovator and pioneer. Boscos Brewing Company's head brewer and co-founder Chuck Skypeck was awarded the Brewers Association Recognition Award, the craft brewing industry's highest individual award for contributions to craft brewing. Other awards for innovation include two gold medals from the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in the competitive “Experimental Beer Category” as well as national acclaim for the development and brewing of a traditional Stone, or “Steinbeer.”

According to Boscos head brewer who is certainly an expert on the topic, craft brewing is all about freshness and variety. On average, Boscos has on tap a new beer every week or two, brewing 50 styles of beer each year. It is this variety and excellence that has brought Boscos such acclaim.

Come join your hosts, “Friends of the CAC,” for an evening of wonderful beverages, delicious food and fabulous entertainment all in support of Healing Hearts Child Advocacy Center – healing the hearts of DeSoto County’s abused children, one child at a time.

Why Craft Beer?

In the past few years, craft beer has found its way into the hands and hearts of many Americans who formerly relied on locally produced or imported beers to quench their thirst for that special beverage.  In fact, until recently, most beer drinkers were still satisfied with mass produced beer, unaware of the many craft beer now available.

            What is considered a craft beer you may ask?  Craft beer is a beer brewed by a craft brewery.  Sounds simple enough.  More specifically, the Brewers Association defines an American Craft Brewer as small, independent, and traditional.  Basically, this  means the brewery produces less than 6 million barrels of beer annually, has less than 25 percent of the brewery owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not a craft brewer, and the brewer has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

            More than you wanted to know?  Then let’s consider this, what makes craft beer such a delicious option in the beer market? The very first and foremost reason is all craft beer is created from the very best ingredients—from the right kind of filtered water to the very best selection of hops—each ingredient’s quality makes a huge difference in the final product’s taste.  Because the brewers are not concerned with mass production, they are able to focus on each and every batch of beer making sure that you get the very best beverage every time you open a bottle or enjoy a cold glass from the tap.

            Your health is another great reason to drink craft beer.  Everyone knows that a glass of wine a day is healthy for you, but studies show that craft beer may have even more health benefits than wine.  However, not all beers are created equal and some beers have more good things like antioxidants than others.  According to the Beer of the Month Club, craft beer has up to 30 times more hops, an ingredient containing polyphenols, an antioxidant which helps lower cholesterol and fight certain types of cancers.  Beer can also help lower your blood pressure.  A Nursing Health study of over 70,000 women between the ages of 25 and 42 found that those who drank moderate amounts of beer had lowerblood pressure than those who consumed other alcoholic beverages, including wine.  Craft beer has been shown to help with cognitive function and memory disorders.  A study at the Rush University Medical Center found “moderate drinkers are 23% less likely to develop memory problems, Alzheimer’s disease, or other types of dementia.”  Since most cognitive disorders are not reversible, so it is important to prevent them or at least hinder their advance, meaning you should begin your moderate beer consumption and other preventive measures as soon as possible.  Sounds like a great reason to find a favorite craft beer.

            You may not be completely convinced of the healing benefits of craft beers and that is okay.  Because the last great reason to drink craft beer is experimentation and enjoyment.  There are so many craft breweries out there it would take a lifetime to try them all.  Do not let that discourage you—think of it as a friendly challenge to find some craft beers that you love and just as importantly, figure out what you don’t like and why.  Do not ever hesitate to ask for help or go to your local brewery and talk to the brewers about their brewing process.  Maybe you will even discover that you would like to try your hand at home brewing.

            In the meantime, come try some of the Mid-South’s best craft beer at Toast to Heal Hearts.  Check out the Meilgaard’s beer flavor wheel below.  Even if you’ve never tried craft beer, you can come to the event and talk as though you are a well-versed connoisseur.

(photo credit)