Spontaneous Fermentation at EatUpATL

The inaugural event for EatUpATL at Lunacy Black Market was hands down one of the best meetups I have been to. My pleasant experience can be attributed to many things but what really resonated with me was the distinctive vibe in the room. Everyone was there to have a great time eating and drinking with their extended friends. Some networking certainly took place but it was more of an afterthought and occurred spontaneously.

The amazing food was served up by small plate master Chef Paul Luna. Cabbage salada with gorgonzola and toasted walnuts, fried okra, fresh homemade sweet potato fries and roasted mushrooms in a crushed tomato sauce just to name a few. View photos of the event on Facebook.

Drinks for the event were provided by Montaluce Winery, Tower Wine & Spirits, and yours truly. The beer and wine was covered so I decided to bring a few different homebrews to share. Cotton mead, Chai-Spiced Cyser and Dunkelweizen was my selection.

Everyone really enjoyed the brews so naturally much of my spontaneous networking at the event centered on fermentation. I really enjoyed talking about the processes I use, sourcing local ingredients, and the importance of local sustainable alcohol production. Rob and Brent from Montaluce even started cooking up the idea of brewing local mead and Chef Luna waxed poetic about pairing my brews with his food.

I will certainly attend more events like this in the future as they fit much more deeply into what I am doing here at Rationally Creative (building community and deepening connections with the earth and the food we eat) than purely networking events.

<<Crossing my fingers that I could possibly start brewing for sale soon>>

Photo credit: EatUpATL