Hop Chef Philly, Brewery Ommegang’s beer and food pairing challenge, which never fails to get the local culinary community a-Twitter with endless rounds of shit-talk in 140 character missives from its competitors, is set to return to Union Transfer on Tuesday, July 8, at 6 PM.

As with previous rounds of the annual showdown, the competition's organizers have put together a mighty impressive roster of chefs. One difference this year though, the contest will have its first female competitor. Chef Jennifer Choplin, who recently assumed the role of top toque at Dock Street Brewery, will join the typically sausage-centric Hop Chef Philly ranks. Her y chromosome-heavy competition includes Jeremy Nolen of Brauhaus Schmitz and forthcoming Whetstone; Townsend Wentz of Townsend; Chad Vetter of City Tap House; Jonathan and Justin Petruce of Petruce et al; James Kenngott of Strangelove’s; Ben Puchowitz of Cheu Noodle Bar and the upcoming Bing Bing; and former Top Chef-testant, Travis Masar of Sampan and the Independence Beer Garden.

Each chef will prepare and serve an innovative, original dish inspired by one of the brewery’s five pairing principles. Local food experts will judge the plates, and the strongest entry will win a trip to Cooperstown to compete against winners from other cities and take home the title of Hop Chef 2014.

Chefs and their dishes will be judged on: Simple Pairing, a direct interaction between food and beer; Incorporation, utilizing beer in the cooking process; Mimicking, matching the flavor profile of a dish with the flavor profile of a beer; Story Telling, tracing the history of the dish and the beer; and Experimental, making beer the star of the dish.

Judges for this year’s competition include Collin Keefe of Drink Philly; Danya Henninger of Zagat Philly; Nicholas Elmi, Top Chef winner and chef-owner of Laurel; Arthur Etchells of foobooz.com; Caroline Russock of Citypaper’s Meal Ticket; Will Blunt of starchefs.com; and Carly Szkaradnik of Eater Philly.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and contest begins at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $50 per person, and includes food and beers. To purchase them, click here.

Event Date: 07/08
Event Time: 6 PM
Location: Union Transfer
Price: $50
Type: Beer,Food
Website: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/599103?utm_medium=bks