Category: Festivals Page 1 of 2

List of breweries participating in this year’s SF Beer Week Gala

On January 18, 2020

The Bay Area Brewers Guild has released the list of breweries who will be pouring their beers at the SF Beer Week Opening Gala. This year the list consists of 125 of the region’s best and brightest:

COAST
Alvarado Street Brewery
Brewery Twenty Five
Discretion Brewing
Fruition Brewing Co.
Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.
Hop Dogma Brewing Co.
Humble Sea Brewing Co.
New Bohemia Brewing Co.
Other Brother Beer Co.
Peter B’s Brewpub
Promised Land Brewing Co.
Sacrilege Brewery + Kitchen
Soquel Fermentation Project
Steel Bonnet Brewing Co.
Uncommon Brewers
Woodhouse Blending & Brewing

EAST BAY
21st Amendment Brewery
Admiral Maltings
Alameda Island Brewing Co.
Ale Industries
Almanac Beer Co.
Altamont Beer Works
Armistice Brewing Co.
Berryessa Brewing Co.
Bruehol Brewing
Calicraft Brewing Co.
Canyon Lakes Golf Course & Brewery
Cleophus Quealy Beer Co.
Danville Brewing Co.
Del Cielo Brewing Co.
Drake’s Brewing Co.
East Brother Beer Co.
Eight Bridges Brewing
E.J. Phair Brewing Co.
Elevation 66 Brewing Co.
Epidemic Ales
Federation Brewing
Five Suns Brewing
Ghost Town Brewing
Gilman Brewing Co.
Heretic Brewing Co.
Lucky Devil Brewing
Novel Brewing Co.
Oakland United Beerworks
Ocean View Brew Works
Original Pattern Brewing Co.
Pennyweight Craft Brewing
Perching Bird Brewing Co.
The Rare Barrel
Shadow Puppet Brewing Co.
Temescal Brewing
Triple Rock Brewing Co.
Trumer Brewery

NORTH BAY
3 Disciples Brewing
Adobe Creek Brewing Co.
Barrel Brothers Brewing
Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Cooperage Brewing Co.
Dempsey’s Restaurant & Brewery
Fogbelt Brewing Co.
HenHouse Brewing Co.
Indian Valley Brewing
Iron Springs Pub & Brewery
Mad Fritz Beer
Marin Brewing Co.
Moylan’s Brewing Co.
No Quarter Brewing Co.
Old Caz Beer
Parliament Brewing Co.
Plow Brewing Co.
Pond Farm Brewing Co.
Russian River Brewing Co.
Seismic Brewing Co.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Sonoma Springs Brewing Co.
Steele & Hops Public House
Tannery Bend Beerworks
Third Street Aleworks
Wolfhouse Brewing
The Woodfour Brewing Co.

SAN FRANCISCO
Armstrong Brewing Co.
Barebottle Brewing Co.
Barrel Head Brewhouse
Bartlett Brewing Co.
Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant
Black Hammer Brewing
Cellarmaker Brewing Co.
Ferment.Drink.Repeat
Fort Point Beer Co.
Harmonic Brewing
Headlands Brewing Co.
Hop Oast Pub & Brewery
Laughing Monk Brewing Co.
Local Brewing Co.
Pacifica Brewing Co.
Pedro Point Brewing
Pine Street Brewery
San Francisco Brewing Co.
Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery
Social Kitchen & Brewery
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
Standard Deviant Brewing
Sunset Reservoir Brewing Co.
ThirstyBear Organic Brewery
Triple Voodoo Brewery
Woods Beer Co.

SILICON VALLEY
Alpha Acid Brewing Co.
Blue Oak Brewing Co.
Campbell Brewing Co.
Clandestine Brewing
Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co.
DTSJ Brewing
Freewheel Brewing Co.
Ghostwood Beer Co.
Golden State Brewery
Hapa’s Brewing Co.
Hermitage Brewing Co.
JP DasBrew
Kelly Brewing Co.
Lazy Duck Brewing
Loma Brewing Co.
Strike Brewing Co.
Taplands

Get Ready for SF Beer Week

By juan

On January 6, 2020

In Bay Area Beer, California, Festivals, SF Beer Week

The following is a press release from the organizers of San Francisco Beer Week, the biggest event series on the northern California beer calendar:

SF Beer Week Celebrates the Creativity of Craft Beer, Feb. 7-16

SAN FRANCISCO – SF Beer Week is back. The SF Beer Week Opening Gala on Friday, February 7, will launch ten days of community, collaboration and independence. This annual craft beer extravaganza at the historic Pier 35 on San Francisco’s waterfront, shines a light on the region’s exceptional brewing creativity.

Over 120 independent Northern California breweries will tap more than 300 select beers for tasting. Attendees may also sample five limited-release beers designed and brewed collaboratively by members of the five chapters of the Bay Area Brewers Guild.

Representing the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, Monterey Coastal region and San Francisco proper, these collab beers will pour side by side in a friendly showdown. (Tickets for the SFBW Opening Gala are on sale now at sfbeerweek.eventbrite.com).

The rest of SF Beer Week follows through Feb. 16 at venues stretching north into the Napa-Sonoma beer country, south beyond Monterey Bay and east into Livermore Valley.

All ten days of festivities are aggregated at sfbeerweek.org, where craft fans select from events that express the latest and most compelling examples of beer creativity.

Find a brewery pouring experimental beers you may never taste again – or that may be a harbinger of the next big trend in the craft beer world. A flight of extreme special effects beers designed to amaze taste buds and eyeballs alike will be on tap at the Barebottle Brew Co. Experimental Beer Night. Mon., Feb. 10, SF.
Look for smaller festivals among the many happenings. Almanac Beer Co. is hosting an artisan Valentines night market at their Alameda brewery. The Almanac & Friends Night Market brings locally crafted beers, foods and gifts together with a cosy town square vibe. Fri., Feb 14, Alameda.
Dine marvelously with beer, the most food-friendly family of beverages. This time of year, chefs get the green light to design dishes to elevate classic beer styles and new creations alike. Look for multi-course dinners as well as specific culinary pairings such as the Uptown Funk Beer and Cheese Pairing at Drake’s Dealership. Tues., Feb. 11, Oakland.
Along with the opportunities to take beer seriously, you’ll find plenty of events that are just plain entertaining. Share a beer and laugh, sing, stretch your brain or perhaps exercise your eye-hand coordination at Pinball and Pints. Support the Pacific Pinball Museum as you sip from 20 select beers and play unlimited pinball on over 100 vintage machines. Sun., Feb. 9, Alameda.
Raise a toast for a cause! You’ll find plenty of fundraisers listed. The generosity of the Bay Area brewing community relies on enjoyment of beers they donate, so bring some friends to fundraiser events for a win-win night out. One cherished tradition is SF Beer Week edition of the California Academy of Sciences NightLife, an evening out for adults supporting the science museum, aquarium and planetarium in Golden Gate Park. Sip beers, explore fermentation science and beyond. Thurs., Feb 13, SF.

Build a custom itinerary at SF Beer Week.org

SF Beer Week is produced by the Bay Area Brewers Guild, a non-profit trade association whose mission is to promote local, independent craft beer and breweries throughout the greater Bay Area. Stay on top of the region’s craft beer scene year-round at DrinkBayBeer.com.

Continuing SF Beer Week …

By juan

On February 7, 2019

In Festivals, SF Beer Week

Jester King flight with cheese pairing at Øl Beer Cafe and Bottle Shop, in Walnut Creek (CA) on Sunday.

San Francisco Beer Week Opening Gala

By juan

On February 3, 2019

In Bay Area Beer, Events, Festivals, SF Beer Week

On Friday night I attended the San Francisco Beer Week Opening Gala for the first time, courtesy of the Bay Area Craft Brewers Guild, and the first descriptor that comes to mind is “Wow!”

With nearly 130 breweries represented, and almost 400 beers on offer, the Gala is an amazing experience. As very brewery brings their best beers, many of them brewed specially for Beer Week, the event is truly a showcase not only of the breadth of the Bay Area’s craft brewing community, but of the quality and skills that make it a leading force in craft brewing nationally.

I was, of course, happy to find my friends Luis Castro, owner and brewer at Del Cielo Brewing Company, and Matt Sager, head brewer at Danville Brewing Company, pouring their beers side by side. Another friend, Craig Danielson, head brewer at Shadow Puppet Brewing Company, was also nearby.

Luis was pouring one of the IPAs that he makes so well, along with Guava Dreams, a kettle sour, and Coffee State, a coffee-infused blonde stout.

Matt was pouring three beers that I really like a lot: his GABF medal-winning Chux double IPA, Tres Diablos, a triple IPA brewed specifically for Beer Week, and his amazing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. I swear that that one tastes just like the oatmeal raisin cookies my mom used to make!

Craig, for his part, shared Livermorium, a really nice collaboration IPA produced at Shadow Puppet by brewers from all the breweries in Livermore.

Although all the big-name players in Northern California craft brewing were, of course, represented, and I did sample some very tasty beers from them, after a while I opted for hitting the booths of smaller breweries and ones I was unfamiliar with.

That strategy led to some pleasant highlights.

One such was finding Blue Oak Brewing Co., from San Carlos, present and serving their excellent Cordilleras Kriek.

A nice discovery was Ocean View Brew Works in Albany. They’re a fairly new brewery, and were having a great time at the Gala. They poured me a very tasty brut IPA, Mosaic Fizz. The brewery’s first anniversary will be celebrated with an event on Feb. 10th.

Another pleasant discovery was Woodfour Brewing Company, from Sebastopol. Woodfour was pouring bottles of their Sour Farmhouse Ale. John Roberts, the brewery’s Bay Area sales manager, explained that the beer is produced via spontaneous fermentation in oak barrels that are not isolated from the external environment, and then blended in what he described as a “reverse solera” method. He also pointed out that they are producing other beers in open-topped wood foeders, and are the only brewery in the region that practices spontaneous open fermentation year-round.

All in all, having attended, it amply clear why the Gala is one of the most anticipated beer events in the local beer calendar and why people come in from all over the country to attend it and SF Beer Week.

Sutter Buttes Brewing (Yuba City, CA)

By juan

On September 20, 2018

In Breweries, Brewpubs, California, NCHF

Last weekend, on my way to Dobbins for the Northern California Homebrewers Festival (NCHF), I stopped for lunch at Sutter Butter Brewing, in Yuba City.

Founded in 2011 in downtown Yuba City, Sutter Buttes is, as far as I can discern, that city’s only commercial brewery, and I know it to be a frequent stop for homebrewers and beer geeks on the way to Chico or to NCHF.

The tap room is pleasant, if a bit dated in its decor style, but it’s got it going on where it counts. The staff is pleasant and friendly, the food is good (try the Reuben sandwich), and the beer is spot on.

I ordered a flight and let my server choose the beers for me. She selected the hefeweizen, Annie’s Almond Brown, Riley’s Red Ale, and Franklin DIPA.

The hefe (5.5%, 10 IBU) was quite good. It had everything one expects and looks for in hefeweizen. Riley’s Red (6%, 55 IBU) was also very good. The brewery’s blurb says it “has all the best features of an American craft red ale, but still grounded with Irish style”. I’m not that familiar with the style so I’ll have to take their word on it, but I can say that I liked it and you’d not go wrong in ordering it. The Franklin DIPA (8%, 100 IBU) was also very good. Not as malt-forward as some DIPA’s but also not a face-puckering hop bomb. It’s a DIPA that one could easily drink several of. As for the brown (5.5%, 20 IBU), a beer “dry hopped” with local almonds, it was tasty, but honestly, I was not able to detect any almond notes.

The star for me, however, was the glass of Blackie Ford’s Hop Riot. Named after the leader of the Wheatland hop workers strike of 1913, it is an 8.8%, 90 IBU, imperial black IPA.

It is strong, hoppy, and dark-tasting, if that’s a thing, but without the roastyness of a stout or a porter. I can’t say that I’m super keen on black IPA’s as a style, but Blackie Ford’s is solid example of what can be achieved with the style.

Sutter Buttes Brewing
421 Center St
Yuba City, CA

http://www.sutterbuttesbrewing.com