Attention beer geeks: Deschutes Brewery has possibly one of the beer-geekiest beer dinners coming up (and for Deschutes beer events, that’s saying something!) on Friday, May 18, celebrating the release of their first collaboration beer (“Conflux #1″), named Collage, that they brewed and blended together with Hair of the Dog Brewing out of Portland. Here’s a bit about that beer:

The first beer brewed in our Conflux Series, Collage is comprised of four very distinctive brews – The Dissident, The Stoic, Fred & Adam – each 100% aged in a myriad of barrels ranging from Rye Whiskey, Cognac, & Sherry to Pinot Noir, Bourbon and American Oak.

What makes this a beer geek’s delight of a dinner? Not only will you get to drink Collage, but you’ll also be able to drink each “component” beer that went into this blend—each course is paired with one of the four beers that has each been barrel-aged in various barrels, and the final two courses will be paired with Collage. To me, that’s an incredibly interesting breakdown of the components going into a finished beer and not something you would ordinarily have access to—especially considering these are probably the only time you’ll be able to drink each of the component beers specially-aged like this.

There are six courses in all, and here’s the menu:

Poached Crab Legs – minors lettuce, smoked mussles
Paired with The Dissident (100% aged in a French pinot barrel from Domaine Drouhine)

Oak Plank Wild Salmon – ramp gnocchi, hedge hog brown butter
Paired with The Stoic (100% aged in a Rye whiskey barrel from Heaven Hill)

Hibiscus Duck Confit – flageolet beans, boar sausage, savory spinach
Paired with Fred (100% aged in a Bourbon Midwest barrel from Heaven Hill)

Cocoa Braised Ox Tail – morel mushroom flan, radish greens
Paired with Adam (100% aged in a New Oregon barrel from Francois Freres)

Smoked Beef Ribeye – brewery cured lamb bacon, crispy truffled potatoes, roasted shallot arugula salad
Paired with Collage

Obsidian Stout Chocolate Cake – chocolate ganache, salted caramel, cocoa nib bacon toffee gelato
Paired with Collage

Pretty high-end food menu too, which is to be expected.

Deschutes owner Gary Fish and Hair of the Dog owner/brewer Alan Sprints will be on-hand meeting guests and Deschutes Brewmaster Cam O’Connor will be there to answer brewing questions as well.

Tickets to the dinner are $85 per person—no, not cheap, frankly—and it will be taking place at the downtown expansion’s new “Tap Room” (their upstairs banquet space, I think they’re calling it now). If you can afford it, this is a dinner you shouldn’t pass up.

(Incidentally, while last year’s Conflux #2 White IPA collaboration with Boulevard Brewing was released before this one, Collage is #1 because Deschutes and Hair of the Dog started working together on it two years ago.)