Wine (Tim Rutherford, left) vs. Beer (Oscar Wong of Highland Brewing),

As craft beer continues to ingrain itself into the national culinary consciousness, a growing number of beer-pairing dinners are filling the calendars of foodies across the country.

“Craft beer is helping beer reclaim its place at the dinner table, and today’s culinary professionals are starting to get it,” wrote Julia Herz, craft beer program director of the Brewers Association, in her recent  “Musing on a Year of Craft Beer” column.

Beer dinners are still catching up with wine dinners in the halls of fine dining establishments, but an interesting subset of the culinary experiences has recently emerged: Beer versus wine dinners.

I attended my first one over Labor Day weekend at the Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Savannah, Georgia, during the 2011 Savannah Craft Brew Fest. Oscar Wong, founder of Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina, chose and introduced the beers. Brew Fest Chairman and wine columnist Tim Rutherford carried the banner for the wine portion.

Between the quality food, beer and wine, and the hosts’ good-natured bantering, the dinner provided solid entertainment as the final event of the festival.

This was the first time the dinner was held during the Brew Fest, and its popularity will likely keep it on the schedule.

Each of the five delicious courses was accompanied by a beer and a wine selection, with diners voting on each course to determine the winner.

Here’s a video I shot that will give you an idea of the good-natured competition that night.

The fifth annual Savannah Craft Brew Fest will be August 31 to September 2, 2012. It’s a Road Trip for Beer worth putting on your itinerary, and I’ll be sharing more of my experiences there in the next few months.

Disclaimer: Visit Savannah compensated me for the cost of the dinner. Any opinions expressed above are all mine.

Learn How to Make Your Own Beer at the Homebrew Academy.