American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
San Francisco Beer Week is one beast of an event. It takes its toll on livers, prompts “sick days,” encourages craft beer connoisseurs at any level to enjoy beer, and all in all makes for an impressive list of events and people coming together to simply enjoy great beer both day and night.
Although we use “San Francisco” and “week,” it’s actually neither. Spanning ten glorious days from February 8through 17, the event spans the entire Bay Area, including up to nine different counties. SF Beer Week is a 400+ event whirlwind that offers you every imaginable opportunity to taste, try, meet, and enjoy the fruits of the local scene in what has emerged as a major player within the growing craft beer renaissance in this country.
Things kicked off in a huge way on Friday for the opening ceremonies, where 3,000+ ticketed patrons had the chance to try 78 California breweries. This was as much a kick-off party for the drinkers as it was a coming together for the brewers, who use this night to show off specialty releases, unique aged beers, and what they’ve been tinkering with for the past year.
Not only were the pioneers of the scene present – Anchor Steam, Lagunitas, Russian River, Speakeasy – but it was also a coming out party for the crew at Pine Street Brewery, who used the event to announce their rise from garage brewers to full-fledged, large-scale brewing. In addition, they were welcomed into the San Francisco Brewers Guild as the 16th member (not a shabby week). After sampling as many as possible, the main highlights were Alamanc’s Farmers Reserve No.1, a wild sour ale brewed with a blend of Cabernet and Muscat grapes, and their Reserve No. 2, a barrel-aged ale brewed with heirloom pumpkins, crisp Fuyu persimmons, and fresh ginger. Local gypsy brewers Pacific Brewing Laboratory had a Cabernet wine barrel aged Squid Ink Black IPA that was a major hit – after aging for over two years, the sour notes were almost addictive. Local upscale BBQ restaurant and brewery, Southpaw BBQ, recently acquired a masterful head brewer to run the beer show, and their incredible smoked saison with ginger was one of the best saisons there. Phil Cutti, their brewmaster, just so happens to smoke ten pounds of ginger in-house with apricot wood, which gave the beer a very distinct pour and taste.
All along the Northern California coast from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz and out to the East Bay, days and nights are packed with beer pairing dinners & brunches, tap takeovers, specialty releases, collaboration beers, and opportunities to meet the brewers themselves.
A few highlights of my adventures:
7-Day Brew at Cervecería de MateVeza – They decided to brew a batch of beer – Safale US-05 – using a special type of yeast on Feb 9 and tapped it 7 days later. Talk about a rush job.
The very same Cerveceria worked with local favorite Bi-Rite Creamery for a Salted Caramel Ale Release, paying homage to Bi-Rite’s signature Salted Caramel ice cream.
Butchers & Beer (one of my favorites) was a pork and beer marriage in heaven. Local butcher 4505 Meats hosted a whole pig breakdown with 7 local breweries pouring unlimited tastings (Almanac Beer Co, Speakeasy, Highwater Brewing, Drakes, Pac Brew Lab, Hangar 24 and Anchor Brewing). The crowd got rowdy for the silent auction at the end to see who got to take home all those cut up hog parts that were butchered that night – as high-quality and fresh as it gets.
Tornado, the famed beer bar, hosted their 20th annual Barelywine Festival, and per Tornado events, lines were out the door & down the street.
Exploring Speakeasy’s new taproom. The feel – a vintage-style, basement speakeasy with private rooms and light fixtures made from repurposed growlers. Almost everything is handmade – from the furniture and upholstery to the lighting, art, and the bar.
One event that did not take place this year (but was my personal favorite the prior two years) was a biking and beer crawl called Beer to Breakers. It was a casual group bike ride that started with free BBQ at a local coffee roasters warehouse, made 4-5 stops at local breweries for nourishment and sampling, and created a fun, unique bike community fueled by beer. Hoping this one makes it back on the calendar for next year.
One of the biggest takeaways from the week is that people are genuinely excited for opportunities to sit with the brewers, discuss beers, sports, and life, and have the chance to put a face to a brewery. Not only does the week showcase incredible local products for people to seek out and enjoy, but it helps breweries grow valuable brand equity that cannot be replicated in other ways.
Oh, and if you happened to be out of town for the big week, don’t worry; in a beer-mad city like San Francisco, opportunities to drink are always afoot. February also happens to be Strong Beer Month, so you still have THAT to introduce your liver to.
