Blended sour ales such as The Lost Abbey’s Cuvee du Tomme were the talk of the festival. Photo Craige Moore

Think for a second about that scene in Willy Wonka when they first get inside the candy factory. But instead, substitute all of those amazing sweets with 68 small and independent brewers showing off their company’s best with food pairings selected for each. Oh no, you’re no Charlie – you’d be seconds behind Augustus Gloop, into the pool and up the tube. And damn would you be happy.

Last Saturday, the Brewers Association hosted the second annual SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience at the National Building Museum. It was quite an experience, with roughly 150 beers to sample paired with a variety of appetizers, entrees and desserts. It’s a surprise that anyone made it out alive. The smart approach would have been to take a sample, have a seat, hold a discussion with the beer maker, and a discussion with some friends while taking notes. The reality was you would be sampling a delicious bittersweet milk stout (like Arcadia’s Cocoa Loco Triple Milk Stout) and overhear a brewer next door talking about hand smoking malt every other year in an oven. Suddenly there’s a different glass of beer in your hand that tastes like a campfire in the fall (Left Hand Brewing’s Smoke Jumper Imperial Porter). Just as you realize this is the first good smoked beer you’ve had, friends are walking up and pointing at some “must drink!” tables. A.D.D. and beer sampling make for dangerous bedfellows.