Event review - Brews on the Bay

Back in 2004, several of the craft breweries and brewpubs in San Francisco formed the San Francisco Brewers Guild, and one of their first events was Brews on the Bay, a beer tasting fundraiser for liberty ships, hosted aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, a liberty ship moored at the Hyde Street Pier, just around the corner from the Barbary Coast Brewery.

This year was the 9th annual Brews on the Bay, but the first time that I've attended. With me were Dr. P, our friends Anna and Aish, their friend Lee visiting from New Zealand, and Dr. P's friend Claire.

Over the years the Guild has expanded; this year, BotB included 15 breweries (including several homebrewers who've made the jump to commercial brewers) serving almost 60 beers, as well as four local food trucks and two bands. The $50 ticket price gets you unlimited tastings; the food is extra.

Overall, I thought this was a good event - we had good weather (which can be dicey in SF in September), the crowds weren't too bad, and the setting of the Jeremiah O'Brien is pretty spectacular, right on the water with great views of the City and the Bay.

I ended up tasting about 20 of the beers. Obviously I can't give you a full review, but believe it or not I did take notes! (Actually, those who know me will probably have little trouble believing this...). I rated each beer 0 (meh), + (good), or ++ (outstanding). Here's what I had, and what I thought of them:

21st Amendment, 21A Saison: ++
21st Amendment, Hop Crisis Imperial IPA: +
Almanac, Honey Saison: +
Almanac, Extra Pale Ale: +
Almanac, Bier de Mars w/ Fennel: +
Beach Chalet, Catcher in the Roggen: 0
Beach Chalet, Harvest Pale Ale: 0
Beach Chalet, Bier de Garde: +
Mateveza, Black Lager: +
Magnolia, Proving Ground IPA: +
Pacific Brewing Laboratory, Squid Ink Black IPA: +
Pizza Orgasmica, IPA: +
Schmaltz, He'Brew Hop Manna IPA: +
Schmaltz, Albino Python: +
Southern Pacific, IPA: +
Southpaw BBQ, Mild at Heart:0
Southpaw BBQ, Matchhead Red: 0
Speakeasy, Scarlett: 0
Thirsty Bear, 2012 Wet Hop Hopmeister:+
Thirsty Bear, Brown Bear (cask conditioned): ++
Triple Voodoo, Grand Cru: 0

Beer Event Review - The Bistro IPA Fest

The other day, as I was walking around downtown, I overheard someone say that he was "somewhat ambivalent" about something or other, and the thought popped into my head, "Wow, somewhat ambivalent? He's even wishy-washy about being wishy-washy! Just once I'd like to hear someone say that they're 'wholeheartedly ambivalent' about something!"

Sometimes it's hard to be me.

And so, this leads us to the fact that I am somewhat ambivalent about "beer festivals." At its best, a beer festival is a great place to go and try lots of new beers, in particular from breweries that you've never heard of, or ones that you have heard of but whose beers you can't get locally; or to try special beers from breweries you know but that they don't normally bottle or maybe even that they've made just for that festival. If you're lucky, you might even strike up an acquaintance with a fellow festival-goer or brewery employee, swapping brewing secrets, tall tales, favorite beers, or even get an invitation to an after-hours brewery tour or brewers camp (where the brewers serve the stuff they brought to impress their fellow brewers).

At their worst, however, you get big crowds of people who don't know very much about beer, coming to get drunk (which always baffles me, since it's easier, cheaper, and safer to do that at home), which usually includes loud, stupid, rude, and vomitous. Also, you get sponsorship by the big breweries, or craft brewers bringing the beers that you can get in any local store, bad food sold at a high mark-up, and so on.

So, I try to pick my festivals carefully. Generally, the more you have to pay, or if you have to pay by the beer, the less likely you are to get "amateurs." Avoid big brewery (or even big craft brewer) sponsorship, and look for smaller venues. Also, festivals that target particular styles of beer tend to draw a better crowd of people (although if there's ever a "pisswater pilsner" festival, I'd avoid it like flaming, plague-carrying zombie pit-bulls).

One place I consistently like to go for beer festivals is The Bistro in Hayward. It's a great little beer bar about a 5-10 minute walk from the Hayward BART station, with 12 taps plus around 30 bottles, mostly Belgians. They do several festivals every year, and have been doing some of them quite a long time, all of them style-targeted: Double-IPAs in February, IPAs in August, wet-hopped in October, west coast barrel-aged in November. They block off part of the street, so it's outside under awnings, and they typically have 50-75 beers to sample. $30 gets you a commemorative glass and 5 tastings, $40 gets you 10 tastings. Pair up with a friend or two, and you can sample quite a few beers.

This past weekend, they had 61 beers for their 15th annual IPA festival. Most were from Norther California, but there were beers from New Orleans LA, Juno AK, Missoula MT, Boulder CO, Cleveland OH, Reno NV,  Brooklyn NY, and San Diego CA. The craft brewers you'd expect were there - Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Deschutes, Stone, Bear Republic - but also a number of start-ups that were little more than ambitious homebrewers.

I try to take notes at these things, but it's hard, since there's not much room on the cheat sheet, and after the first few... well, you know how it goes. I'll just list what I had, and say that my favorites were from a couple of startups - Sant Adairius Rustic Ales in Santa Cruz, and The Dandy from Societe Brewers in San Diego. If you want more detail about a particular beer (ABV, IBU, hops used) just ask!

• 21st Amendment, SF, Batch 800
• Ale Industries, Concord CA, East Bay IPA
• Beach Chalet, SF, Presidio IPA
• Beachwood, Long Beach CA, Laurel IPA and Fahrenheit 342
• Bear Republic, Healdsburg CA, Triskel Rebellion
• Drakes, San Leandro CA, Aroma Prieta IPA
• Golden Road, Los Angeles CA, Point the Way IPA
• Knee Deep, Lincoln CA, Citra IPA
• Marin, Larkspur CA, Three Flowers IPA
• Oakland, TBD, Sticky Zipper
• Russian River, Santa Rosa CA, Hop Father IPA
• Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, Santa Cruz CA
• Sierra Nevada, Chico CA, Floral IPA and Flip Side Double IPA
• Societe Brewers, San Diego CA, The Apprentice and The Dandy