The title is a mouthful: "He Said Beer, She Said Wine: Impassioned Food Pairings to Debate and Enjoy — From Burgers to Brie and Beyond."

[Post your comment below.]

(ENLARGE)

Local brewer Crawford Moran and sommelier Gina Hopkins are hosting their own beer vs. wine showdown Wednesday evening.

(ENLARGE)

Sam Calagione and Marnie Old , authors of 'He Said Beer, She Said Wine.'

Your Turn Whaddya say? Beer or wine?   Beer   Wine   It depends   Whatever Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

LIVING Latest Headlines: Zoo raises $40K in campaign to keep pandas  Georgia Aquarium to welcome 10 millionth visitor  Aquarium adds 4 sandbar sharks to exhibit  Cellphones serve as '$300 baby rattle'  Athens ranked among best places to live  • More Living Stories • Living photo galleries • Georgia Aquarium news and photos • Zoo Atlanta news and photos

But recently, when the authors, Sam Calagione and Marnie Old, took their combination book tour, tasting panel and standup routine into the gilded reaches of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., the wildly enthusiastic crowd there devoured every word — and every morsel — from chips and salsa with German Mosel Riesling to dark chocolate with Dogfish Head World Wide Stout.

Local brewer Crawford Moran and sommelier Gina Hopkins are banking on Atlantans gobbling up their selections, as well — at a beer vs. wine showdown Wednesday evening that will be much like the battle of the sexes between Calagione, a brewer and founder of Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, and Old, a sommelier and director of Wine Studies for Manhattan's French Culinary Institute.

The exaggerated shtick at the heart of "He Said Beer, She Said Wine" (DK Publishing; $25) grew out of a series of Mars and Venus dinners and tastings Calagione and Old have been doing together that feature beer vs. wine pairings, and culminate in attendees voting for their favorites.

Working hard to win for their respective beverage of choice, the duo keep up a constant stream of trash-talking, while stirring old controversies about wine snobs and beer slobs.

"Beer is better," Calagione says, pumping his fist.

"Wine is finer," Old says with a dismissive wave of her hand.

But it's all in good fun. And after 22 matches (including the one in D.C. that brought beer back for a tie), the tally is: beer, 11; wine, 11.

"Sam and I went into this with some preconceived notions, each expecting to win hands down," Old says. "But we were both wrong. Whether we were at a beer bar, a wine festival, or a 'neutral' restaurant, no victory was unanimous."

Moran will take on Hopkins during a six-course dinner at Five Seasons Brewing Co. in Alpharetta. He's the brewer/partner at Five Seasons. She's the sommelier and co-owner (with her chef-husband Linton) of Restaurant Eugene in South Buckhead.

A while back, when the two met at Eugene to make plans for the event, Moran gave Hopkins a copy of "He Said Beer, She Said Wine." Later, the dueling duo posed for photos wearing boxing gloves.

But while each is a worthy and passionate advocate for the beverage they've chosen to honor and defend, it soon becomes apparent that they're interested in learning from each other as well as doing battle.

"I think this is certainly more of an intellectual conversation than you might gather from the boxing gloves," Hopkins says with a laugh. "It's going to be a great experience to work on this project and figure out what's going on with the local and national beer scene."

"I really do love wine," says Moran with a smirk. "Seriously, I certainly have a lot of respect for what winemakers do. Both brewers and winemakers are yeast rustlers."

Of course, as Calagione and Old point out, and Moran and Hopkins echo, the fact that beer is even in the same room with wine at a food pairing event marks a major change in American drinking and dining tastes.

A big part of the shift came as a result of the what's been called the American craft beer revolution of the '70s and '80s, when small, local breweries began springing up and making more diverse and flavorful styles, such as hoppy pale ales and robust porters.

That trend has continued and gained momentum during the past two decades, aided by a growing preference for more sophisticated foods by consumers who also enjoy the likes of artisan cheese and bread, and local and organic produce and meat.

Calagione and Old appeared in D.C. as part of Savor — a sold-out American craft beer and food gathering hosted by owners and brewers from 48 craft breweries, with educational salons on topics such as beer and cheese pairing.

The Five Seasons beer vs. wine dinner will feature a menu cooperatively conceived and prepared by Five Seasons chef David Larkworthy and Restaurant Eugene chef Linton Hopkins.

Both were recently named Rising Stars at Star Chefs.com, and Hopkins famously appeared on the Food Network's "Iron Chef."

Among their offerings are clever takes on classic dishes cooked with beer and wine, including: local beef two ways, with braised short ribs and roasted loin, barleywine horseradish butter and dueling veggies; and chocolate exotic spice cake, with red wine caramel and mocha ale ice cream.

The collaborative menu of chefs Larkworthy and Hopkins will be printed before the dinner.

But brewer Moran and sommelier Hopkins will wait until each dish is served to reveal what beer and wine they've chosen to pair with that course — thereby ensuring that diners, who will vote their choice by a round of applause, won't be quite as likely to prejudge the result.

At their Eugene meeting, Moran and Hopkins were already trying to psyche each other out.

Going six rounds is looking like a real challenge, they say. But it's bound to be a whole lot of fun — especially for the winner.

And so the argument continues.

"I think wine is easier to drink with food," Hopkins says. "Because you don't get as full."

Moran responds, "I disagree. Because I've never been too full. I can eat and drink all day long. And it seems like there are so many rules, when it comes to pairing wine. I think you can get away with a lot more things with beer."

Hopkins: "I think that wine is ideal for pairing. And the more that you explore the world of wine, the more you find the nuances. The rules are no longer the rules. The rule is, drink what you like and what tastes good."

Moran: "I always say that the perfect time to have a good wine is when you run out of good beer. That's usually when I drink wine. If I go to a party, and people are serving good wine, and for beer, they have mass-produced American lager, I'll drink wine."

Hopkins: "I feel the same way. If I'm at a party, and they're pouring mass-produced wine, I'll have a beer. But it has to be good beer."

Sure, they can toast this little moment of harmony — but on Wednesday, they'll put the gloves back on.