Morsels: Lucky 13 porter, fiver4food winner, Poacher's Pantry tour

Brew crew's lucky 13
Two Before Ten and the Wig and Pen have collaborated to create a coffee porter, perfect for the cooler weather. This is the second time the two venues have collaborated on a brew, with a coffee and biscuit lighter-style ale released earlier this year. Two Before Ten head barista Dan Zivaovich and Wig and Pen assistant brewer Jeremy Michael worked on the beer, named Jerry’s Lucky 13. Michael describes it as a, “combination beer – a brown porter with roast, chocolate and coffee flavours”. The beer features a healthy dose of Two Before Ten’s triple-strength concentrate of cold brew coffee, which Civic bar Molly are also currently testing out as a replacement for chocolate-style spirits. Restaurant Temporada has also been using their standard cold brew to mix into drinks. Coffee available to us in even more forms? We say yes please. The beer is available on tap from Wednesday July 23 at the Wig and Pen.

A. Baker dinner
A. Baker will hold a wine and olive oil dinner on Tuesday August 5. Chef Bernd Brademann is working with Alto olive oils and Lerida Estate WInes to create a four-course menu with matching oils and wines. Brademann will present the dinner and there'll be talks by Lerida winemakers and the Alto team. You'll also get an olive oil "mini masterclass" and a loaf of A. Baker sourdough and Alto olive oil to take home. Tickets are $100 each and the event starts at 6.30pm on Saturday, August 5. Tickets from eventbrite.com.au

Tosolini dinner
Another dinner for Tuesday, August 5. This time it's at Tosolini's in Civic, which is hosting a Mount Majura wine dinner to showcase the 2013 tempranillo. It's a seven-course meal matched to Mount Majura wines and features slow roasted beef cheeks, confit duck raviolo and Tasmanian salmon. It's $95 a person. Tosolini's has also introduced mussel nights every Tuesday – a bowl of mussels with napoletana chilli sugo and bread for $10 with tap beer for $6. Bookings on 6247 4317.

Belconnen Remedy
Some welcome news for those who live on the northside of Canberra. Remedy by Lonsdale Street Roasters will open its second store in Belconnen in the second week of August. The hole-in-the-wall coffee spot will open in the new Sentinel Apartments on Benjamin Way. As well as offering a wide selection of Lonsdale Street Roasters specialty coffees, the menu will include classic cafe dishes featuring locally sourced products plus Lonsdale Eatery's in-house smoked meats.

Fiver4food winner
Food & Wine supported the YWCA's winter food appeal this year, which aimed to raise money and much needed food supplies for the Food Hub at Lanyon. The Food Hub provides free groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables to about 100 families in the Tuggeranong area and like so many other community organisations, they've been overwhelmed by the demand for their services this winter. The YWCA ran a campaign entitled fiver4food, challenging foodies to create a healthy meal for $5 or to donate $5 to the winter appeal. We did our bit by offering a little prize for anyone who tagged a fiver4food event. On Friday, July 18, the YWCA announced the winner of the fiver4food competition – Sarina Huang, who runs the blog Weekendparent where she showcased a dazzling array of dishes that cost $5 or less, including an okinomiyaki Japanese pancake for $2. Huang took home a gift bag stuffed with cookbooks and some local muesli courtesy of The Muesli Bar. You can still donate money or food supplies to the Food Hub – go to ywca-canberra.org.au for more information.

Young chefs
Two young chefs from the Hyatt Hotel have been crowned the ACT's best and brightest. Amanda Polsen, 23, and Georgia Harrison, 20, took out the ACT award at the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award Regional Cook-offs. The pair studied commerical cooking at the Canberra Institute of Technology and now work at the Hyatt. Their winning menu included poached and seared quail with celeriac salad and a main course of braised, pulled and croquette lamb shoulder. Polsen and Harrison now move on to represent the ACT in the national Golden Chefs finals, to be held in Melbourne in September. You can follow their adventures on facebook.com/goldenchefs.

Smoked meats masterclass
Go behind the scenes at the Poachers Pantry every Saturday in August to learn all about the process of smoking meats. Susan Bruce will take you on a tour of the factory and demonstrate how meat is smoked in a mini household smoker. You'll also get to taste two smoky dishes matched to Wily Trout wines. The masterclasses run from 10.30am-noon every Saturday as part of the Fireside Festival. It costs $95 a person or $151 a person with a two-course lunch at the Smokehouse Cafe. Bookings at the Fireside Festival website.