More than 100 San Francisco breweries and pubs are organizing SF Beer Week, Feb. 6-15 to celebrate good beer, good food and the early roots of the craft brewing industry.
The 10-day celebration will showcase the Bay Area’s brewing heritage with as many as 150 events. The week will be anchored by the Bistro Double IPA Festival, and the Toronado Barleywine Festival and will end with a new full-blown Bay Area Beer Festival. In between there will be beer dinners, cheese and beer pairing events, other gourmet food events savoring world-class cuisine, special releases, meet the brewer evenings, homebrewing demonstrations, music, films, a brewery bike tour and even a museum exhibition exploring the history of Bay Area brewing.
“We want the public to know that San Francisco is a hot spot for artisan and craft beers. It is an artisan environment,” said Dave McLean, owner and brewer of Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, and the Alembic bar. “San Francisco has the top examples of artists – from cheese, to wine, to arts and culture – and beer is a part of that excellence.”
Just to name a few of the events, the Alembic will feature brewers who distill fine spirits and focus on beer cocktails. Gordon Biersch will host a Bavarian Beer Breakfast showcasing Hefeweizen – there will be four or five varieties, which is brewer John Tucci’s specialty. Seabright Brewery will host a beer and chocolate pairing. Lagunitas Brewing will have a “Beer Circus.” There will be a San Francisco Beer Ride which will take cyclists on a bicycle ride throughout the city making stops at some of the city’s finest breweries. A “sour”-style Barrel-Aged Beer Tasting at the Triple Rock in Berkeley. Terence Sullivan of Sierra Nevada Brewing will give a Mixology & Sensory Appreciation course at the Bistro. And that’s just a few of the events.
The celebration will culminate on Sunday February 15th with a grand “Best Beers of the West Beer Fest” that will showcase a huge variety of beers from around the world that are available in the Bay area. Included at the fest will be the California Small Brewers Association’s 2nd annual Silent Auction that will auction off VIP brewery tours, private brewmaster dinners, rare and unusual beers, beer trips and more.
America’s craft beer movement began in the San Francisco Bay Area of course with Anchor Brewing Company’s rescue by Fritz Maytag in 1965 and the founding of the country’s first microbrewery, New Albion Brewing in 1976.
More info here sfbeerweek.org
