beer

The San Francisco Brewers Guild announced  on Feb. 9 the collaboration craft beer list to be debuted at the SF Beer Week Opening Gala on Fri., Feb. 10. This year’s Opening Gala unveils 19 unique collaboration beers, and 11 more collaborations will be released at select events throughout SF Beer Week. With over 100 breweries in the SF Bay Area and almost 900 events taking place during SF Beer Week, instead of being divisive, this craft beer community is joining forces. You will see that the names of these collaborative beers are as creative as their collaborative styles.

Photo/G. Williams

Here are the 19 beers being tapped at  the Opening Gala:

(ABV (Alcohol By Volume) measures the alcohol content and the IBU ( International Bitterness Units) measures the bitterness from hops in a beer on a scale of 0 to 100)

1. ALE INDUSTRIES + MISSION TRAIL CIDER CO
   Protect Ya Nectarine
   Sour (4.75% ABV)
2. ALTAMONT + REVISION BREWING CO.
   Hella Revised
   IPA (6.5% ABV | hoppy IBUs)
3. ALVARADO STREET + CELLARMAKER
   When Doves Cryo
   West Coast IPA (7% ABV | 50 IBUs)
4. ALVARADO STREET + AMPLIFIED ALE WORKS
   Trois Cabrones
   Double IPA (8.5% ABV | 50 IBUs)
5. CAMINO + E.J. PHAIR (pouring at both stations)
   Barista Imperial Brown Ale
   Southern English Imperial Brown Ale (7.4% ABV | 31 IBUs)
6. E.J. PHAIR + HALF MOON BAY
   Used and IBU’sed
   IPA (7% ABV | 64 IBUs
7. E.J. PHAIR + HIGH WATER
   Blueberry Pancakes
   Blonde Ale (7.7% ABV | 21 IBUs)
8. FERMENT.DRINK.REPEAT + HOMEBREWERS
   You’re Such a Tea(se)
   Hibiscus Saison (6.7% ABV | 28 IBUs)
9. GHOST TOWN + MOYLAN’S
   El Cucuy
   Saison (6% ABV)
10. HALF MOON BAY + HOP DOGMA
    Lost in the Fog IPA
    New England-style IPA (7.2% ABV)
11. HARMONIC + OLD BUS TAVERN
    Cross-eyed
    Triple IPA (11.4% ABV | 85 IBUs)
12. MAGNOLIA + EX NOVO
    Strawberry Garcia
    English Milk Stout with Strawberries
13. MOYLAN’S + HALF MOON BAY
    Haze Craze IPA
    IPA (6.8% ABV | 60 IBUs)
14. NEW BOHEMIA + HEADLANDS
    Light my Fire
    Smoked Helles (4.5% ABV | 23 IBUs)
15. NORTH COAST + ROUGE + DESCHUTES
    Class of ’88
    American Barleywine (10% ABV | 25 IBUs)
16. SAN FRANCISCO BREWERS GUILD
    New Frontier
    Post-Modern Kolsch-style Ale with Satsuma Mandarin Juice & Evergreen (5.3% ABV)
17. THIRSTYBEAR + SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN
    Smoked California Common
    California Common (5.2% ABV | 38 IBUs)
18. UNCOMMON BREWERS + HIGH WATER
    Whiskey Thief
    Smoked Strong Scotch Ale (9.2% ABV | 20 IBUs)
19. FORT POINT BEER + FREIGEIST
    Manzanita
    Smoked Altbier with Charred Manzanita (6.5% ABV | 16 IBUs)

The party kicks off with the Opening Gala at Pier 48 on 3^rd St. in San Francisco Fri., Feb. 10 from 6-10pm and will prove once again to be the largest gathering of the Northern California craft beer community, followed by a nine-day marathon of beer tastings, beer dinners and tap takeovers all over the San Francisco Bay Area. Craft Beer will be pouring all over the Bay Area Fri., Feb. 10- Sun., Feb. 18 during SF Beer Week, celebrating all the pioneers, innovators and disrupters who are driving the craft beer industry. Not to mention an orgy of tastings of their many unique, intensely flavorful and occasionally outrageous beers. More than 100 breweries operate in one of the world’s most creative regions – the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photo/J. Marino

The creativity and energy that makes the craft beer community so cool will be obvious with every single brew you taste. Tickets to the Opening Gala are now on sale. Find your schedule of Bay Area events here.

Look who’s pouring on Opening Night  at Pier 48 – 125 breweries!

San Francisco
21st Amendment Brewery, Almanac Beer Co., Anchor Brewing Co., Barebottle Brew Co., Barrel Head Brewhouse, Bartlett Hall Brewing, Beach Chalet Brewing & Restaurant, Black Hammer Brewing Co., Black Sands Brewery, Cellarmaker Brewing Co., Ferment. Drink. Repeat, Fort Point Beer Co., Harmonic Brewing, Headlands Brewing Co., Holy Craft Brewery, Laughing Monk Brewing Co., Local Brewing Co., Magnolia Brewing Co., Old Bus Tavern, Pine Street Brewery, San Francisco Brewing Co., Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery, Social Kitchen & Brewery, Southern Pacific Brewing Co., Southpaw BBQ, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Standard Deviant Brewing LLC, Sufferfest Beer Co., Sunset Reservoir Brewing Co., ThirstyBear Organic Brewery, Triple Voodoo Brewery & Tap Room and Woods Beer Co.

East Bay
Alameda Island Brewing Co., Ale Industries, Altamont Beer Works, Auburn Alehouse, Benoit-Casper Brewing Co., Berryessa Brewing Co., Bison Brewing Co., Black Diamond Brewery, Calicraft Brewing Co., Cleophus Quealy Beer Co., Diving Dog Brewhouse, Drake’s Brewing Co., E.J. Phair Brewing Co., East Brother Brewing Co., Eight Bridges Brewing, Elevation 66 Brewing Co., Epidemic Ales, Farm Creek Brewing Company, Federation Brewing, Ghost Town Brewing, Heretic Brewing Co., High Water Brewing, Hoppy Brewing Co., Knee Deep Brewing Co., Lucky Devil Brewing, Mare Island Brewing Co., New Helvetia Brewing Co., Novel Brewing Co., Ol’ Republic Brewery, Pacific Coast Brewing Co., Rubicon Brewing Co., Ruhstaller Brewing & Taproom, Schubros Brewery, Sudwerk Brewing, Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co., Temescal Brewing Co., The Rare Barrel, Track 7 Brewing Co., Triple Rock Brewing Co., Trumer Brauerei and Working Man Brewing Co.

North Bay
101 North Brewing Co., Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Bear Republic Brewing Co., Cooperage Brewing Co., Eel River Brewing Co., Fogbelt Brewing Co., HenHouse Brewing Co., Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Lost Coast Brewery, Mad Fritz Beer, Mad River Brewing Co., Moonlight Brewing Co., Moylan’s Brewing Co., Napa Smith Brewery, North Coast Brewing Co., Old Redwood Brewing Co., Petaluma Hills Brewing Co., Plow Brewing Co., Russian River Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Sonoma Springs Brewing Co., St. Florian’s Brewery, Stumptown Brewery, Third Street Aleworks and Woodfour Brewing Co.

South Bay
Alpha Acid Brewing Co., Alvarado Street Brewing & Grill, Armstrong Brewing Co., Blue Oak Brewing Company, LLC, Camino Brewing Co., Campbell Brewing Co., DasBrew, Inc., Devil’s Canyon Brewing Co., Discretion Brewing, El Toro Brewing Co., Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Freewheel Brewing Co., Golden State Brewery, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., Hermitage Brewing Co., Hop Dogma Brewing Co., Loma Brewing Co., New Bohemia Brewing Co., Palo Alto Brewing Co., Santa Clara Valley Brewing, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Strike Brewing Co., Tied House Brewery & Cafe and Uncommon Brewers.

SF Beer Week brings brewers from around the world together to learn from one another and keep the innovations rolling.

Thirst quenching beer events and dinner/beer pairings will continue throughout  the next week. You can plan your own curated beer week around these events. Unfortunately the  2017 Bridge to Bridge Run with Fort Point Beer Co. & Mikkeller Run Club (4.6 mi) is sold out – but there are plenty of viewers’ vantage points. Starting at Fort Point’s Presidio brewery — which sits in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge — the run is down the waterfront to a post-run rally at Fort Point’s Ferry Building Kiosk, near the foot of the Bay Bridge.

Bay Area home to America’s first craft beer

Beer style innovation goes back to the production of America’s first craft beer, Anchor Steam, in San Francisco at Anchor Brewing Co., whose Liberty Ale in the mid 70s laid the groundwork for America’s first IPA. Chico’s Sierra Nevada got the momentum going using the same hops varietal (Cascade) in their Pale Ale. By the 1990s more breweries were making more hoppy beers. And then the Russian River Brewing Co. made their famous, very strong, Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger double and triple IPAs. Bay Area stores receive small allotments of these desirable IPAs only once a week, with a limit of two per customer.

And now there are over 100 breweries in the San Francisco Bay Area. We all have our local favorites who will be hosting events during SF Beer Week.

For example, East Brother Beer Co. will be moving around:

Fri., Feb. 10: Opening Gala, Pier 48, San Francisco
Sun., Feb. 12: Special beer & food surprises at their taproom in Richmond
Mon. Feb. 13: Baby Brewery Night, Pacific Standard Taproom, Berkeley
Thur., Feb. 16: East Brother Beer Co, Tap Takeover at Boo Koo in Mill Valley
Sat., Feb 18: East Bay Brewers Festival at Drake’s Dealership in Oakland

And for Valentine’s Day, Tue., Feb. 14, Cleophus Quealy will be pairing their beer with Chocolate!

Find more collaborative beer tastings here