This event featured seven brunch dishes paired with seven craft beers, listed below:

• MateVeza & Mill Valley Beerworks Morpho Herbal Ale (Aged with Lactobacillus) with El Porteño Pollo Empanadas
• Cascade Apricot Ale with Pear and Kumkwat Salad with Taragon
• Moonlight Toast (Slightly Burnt) with Chicken Waffles with Salsa Verde
• Kern River Just Outstanding IPA with California Deviled Egg
• Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter with Churro Dusted Mexican Truffle
• Allagash Curieux Bourbon Barrel Aged Tripel with Pigs in a Puff-pastry Blanket with Spicy Honey Mustard
• Marin Three Flowers IPA (Cask) with Potato Chip Crusted Fried Mac & Cheese

One of my favorite pairings was the Moonlight Toast with the Chicken Waffles. The chicken salsa verde was actually in the waffle itself. It may sound a little odd but it was very delicious. Moonlight Toast paired just perfectly with the flavors in the waffle.
A special treat was the availability of Cascade Apricot Ale, which is a sour lambic fruit beer. Cascade can be found in the SF Bay Area but it can be hard to come by. Another favorite of mine was the GABF Award Winning Marin Three Flowers IPA and the deep fried mac & cheese both were very delicious offerings.

My only criticism of the event was that food ran out well before the end of the event. Given that it is brunch on the first weekend of SF Beer Week, I’d actually rather have them run out of beer first and run out of food second. You can always buy another beer at the bar but when the food is gone it’s gone.

Despite not being able to completely gorge myself, which was probably a good thing, the food was creative yet comforting and the beer selection was superb. I highly recommend attending Beerunch the next time it comes along.

Full disclosure: Public House gave me a complementary ticket to attend this event. I did, however, purchase a ticket for my wife.

More Photos from Beerunch

Friday, February 10, 2012 marked the beginning of SF Beer Week with the Opening Celebration and it started off with a bang. This festival expanded on the previous years to become one of the best beer festivals I have attended.

The highlight of this festival was the strong presence of over 50 (likely close to 65) breweries from the San Francisco Bay Area and neighboring counties. Not only were they pouring some of their favorites but each brewery brought special and rare releases of beer. I’ve never been to a festival with such a high percentage and variety of special, seasonal, or limited release offerings. The Barrel-Aged Beer Festival at The Bistro in Hayward comes close but all of that beer is barrel aged. The Great American Beer Festival has a large number of special releases but the breweries are also their to show off and compete with their everyday selections. It was fantastic to be able to try Drake’s Hopocalypse Black Label Triple IPA, Triple Rock’s Rodger’s Last Stand, Russian River’s Pliny the Younger and Beatification, and more. The stand out beer of the evening, for me, was Speakeasy’s Massacre, a black wheat wine made with cherries and aged in bourbon barrels.

On top of great beer there was great food at reasonable prices (for a beer festival). I tried options from both Rosamunde Sausage Grill and TomKat Asian Street Food. The food was great and the price was about what I would expect if I went directly to the food vendor.

One great thing about the Opening Celebration is that the organizers listened to and learned from the feedback from the Opening Gala last year. This year there was plenty of water, tons of food options, and a large open space. The only problem this year was the lack of bathrooms, which can even be a problem at the Great American Beer Festival.

 More Photos

View all Beer 47 SF Beer Week photos on Flickr.

Special Thanks

A special thanks goes out to Dom and Brian from Uber. They were curious about my photography and posed for a couple of great photos. They were nice enough to offer me a complementary ride home on Uber, which I shared with some fellow Bay Area Beer Bloggers (John Heylin and Dave McAcoy), at the end of the evening. Uber is not cheap but if you have the means, I highly recommend using their car service during SF Beer Week.

For my second beer dinner of SF Beer Week, two friends, my wife, and I coordinated on which beer dinner to attend. We decided on the Sierra Nevada Dinner at Bar Crudo and it turned out to be a wonderful evening.

Bar Crudo is a small restaurant that serves all sorts of delicious seafood cuisine alongside a superb beer selection. This dinner featured seafood paired with  seasonal and special releases from Sierra Nevada. Representatives from Sierra Nevada, including head brewer Steve Dresler.

May favorite dish of the night was also paired with my favorite beer of the night and both were changes which were not reflected on the menu online. The dish was butterfish over rustini pasta (a made of name for a pasta that was very much like spaetzle ) served with Sierra Nevada 2 by 4, a barrel-aged Belgian-style quadruple blended with a Belgian-style dubbel.

I’ve provided the menu below from the evening below.

Last year for SF Beer Week I completely missed out on the beer dinner experience so I was eager and ready to sign up for at least two beer dinners. My first beer dinner of the week was on Monday, February 14, 2011 at The Summit for the Beer & Nosh Dinner, where my wife and I had a wonderful 7 course dinner.

As it turned out, I had intended to sign up for the the Almanac Beer Co. dinner at Flour + Water, but I was in such a rush that I made a small error, I signed up for the the Beer & Nosh Dinner instead. It turned out to be a wonderful mistake.

The dinner featured food by Chef Eddie Lau, desserts from Maison Mitchell, and beer from Almanac, Drakes, Dogfish Head, Highwater, Firehouse, and Speakeasy. The theme for the dinner was “Outside the Lines,” described on the Beer and Nosh website as, “a collaborative beer dinner dedicated to creativity and breaking rules that were only made to be broken anyway.”

One of my favorite dishes of the night was the cream-puff-like pastry that was made with tallegio cheese laid on top of a pineapple compote and an IPA reduction. Chef Gabriel Mitchell explained to the group that his desserts skirt the line between sweet and savory and this dessert really exemplified that.

Not only did the dinner feature great food and beer but it was also a benefit for charity, in particular The Food Pantry of San Francisco.

I would like to give a special thanks to Jesse Friedman, of Beer & Nosh, for organizing such a great event.

For your reading enjoyment I have provided the menu from the evening below, the original can be found on the Beer & Nosh SF Beer Week page. Following the menu are more photos from the evening.

Menu

scallop, ale carbonated citrus, turnip
Almanac Beer Co. Summer 2010 Blackberry Ale

uni, mint, ravioli, sweet brined cornichon
Drake’s Brett Butler Barrel Aged Triple

espresso mole pancetta, spring radish, baby carrot
Dogfish Head Bitches Brew

vadouvan, shortrib, wild mushroom, lentils de puy
SF Beer Week Collaborative Bourbon Barrel Common

tallegio, pastry, pineapple, indian spices
Highwater Brewing Retribution Double IPA

foie torchon, duck egg sabayon, candied kumquat
Firehouse Brewing Pete Support Belgian IPA

espresso, balsamic, porter featuring Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream
Speaskeasy Payback Porter infused with TCHO Chocolate

Monday Febuary 14th, 7pm
Tickets: $100 including service and tax
The Summit 780 Valencia San Francisco @ 19th

]]> http://beer47.com/2011/02/beer-nosh-dinner-at-the-summit-sf-beer-week-2011/feed/ 3 http://beer47.com/2011/02/casks-quesos-at-thirsty-bear-for-sf-beer-week-2011/ http://beer47.com/2011/02/casks-quesos-at-thirsty-bear-for-sf-beer-week-2011/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:30:19 +0000 David Jensen http://beer47.com/?p=1751 Continue reading →]]>

This is the second year that I’ve attended Casks & Quesos and like last year this was a great event. All of the beer at this event was cask conditioned and masterfully paired with a cheese and bread.

Just like last year, Thirsty Bear set up 5 tables, each with 3 casks of beer and three types of cheese. Most of the beer was from local breweries but one surprise this year was a cask of BrewDog Dogma.

A slight change change from the previous year was that Thirsty Bear moved the event from Saturday night to Sunday at noon. They also moved it downstairs, which is much more roomy than upstairs. This made it seem much more mellow of an event although attendance was probably about the same as last year.

Another addition this year was including, at each of the tables, artisan bread, made by the San Francisco Baking Institute. The highlight of these breads was a spent-grain bread made from the spent-grains used in the brewing process by Thirsty Bear. It was a little nutty yet not too dense. It was quite delicious.

I took some time to make a few tasting notes while I was there and they are as follows:

Local Brewing IBA. This bear was brewed in Thirsty Bear’s brewery. It is roasty, earthy, and herbal. It has some floral aroma with very little citrus. It is on the drier side and has a distinct crisp bitterness. I really good take on this new style of beer.

Half Moon Bay Brewing McMaverick Scotch. Jammy, malty, very sweet aroma, almost like ollaberries and maple. It is great when paired a smoked cheese like the one provided at the event. This is a great beer and not too strong at 6% abv.

Drake’s Pinnacle Pale. Smells grassy, lemon, and resinous.  It is crisp, refreshing, and not terribly bitter.

Thirsty Bear Meyer ESB. Dry hopped w/Cascade gives it an almost mimosa like aroma and flavors.

Gordon-Biersch Heller Bock in a wood cask. Refreshing, light-bodied, a little bitterness and a little sweetness. A little woody.

If you’re interested in my coverage and photos from last year, check out Casks & Quesos at Thirsty Bear, SF Beer Week 2010.

SF Beer Week didn’t officially start until today, Friday, February 11 but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any SF Beer Week related events going on last night. So I got a head start by visiting Humphrey Slocombe for beer ice cream and Shotwell’s for a first taste of Cherry Voodoo’s Triple.

It was ice cream that inspired this SF Beer Week Eve adventure, specifically Passion Fruit Lambic Sorbet. It is actually made with Lindeman’s [sic] Framboise. The alcohol is cooked off before adding but it still retains an ever so slightly sour flavor. The passion fruit flavor is strong and I didn’t pick up any flavors of raspberries. I also had a small sample of Magnolia Stout ice cream, which was creamy, malty, and delicious.

The next stop was Shotwell’s for a glass of Triple made by the new Bay Area brewery, Cherry Voodoo.

Tasting notes: Almost like a Belgian IPA. Some cloves and very little banana. Not too sweet. Grainy Belgian nose with some fruity, herbal nose. Smells a bit like Triple Karmeliet but Americanized.

One of my favorite events at SF Beer Week in 2009 was the Canned Craft Brews event at Jug Shop so when I saw that it was returning for 2010 on April 13, I had to attend. Although I was quite beered-out from the many many other events earlier in the week, I still had a great time sipping on a few beers, taking a few photos, and talking with the representatives from the breweries. It was a great event and a wonderful way to promote craft beer in a can, a movement that I strongly support.Since I had tried everything else being poured, the beer I was most looking forward to were the ones from Maui Brewing Co. especially the Coconut Porter. I had actually tried Coconut Porter for the first time the previous night at Church Key but it was only a sip. It was nice to get another sample of this delightful beer. For me, Coconut Porter tasted like a gourmet version of an Almond Joy candy bar or like German-chocolate-cake with a touch of coffee and vanilla. It was practically dessert in a can.

The other Maui Brewing beer that I sampled was the IPA which has a nice hoppy nose of sweet citrus and herbal green hops complemented by a sweet biscuit or amber grains. It has a pleasant hoppy bitterness well balanced by a malty sweetness.

Another thing that I learned about Maui is that they are able to economically brew and ship from the island not only because they are using cans but also because they are located right next to a Ball canning facility.

I had a chance to talk to the representative from 21st Amendment and he told me about some upcoming special release beers that will be available in cans. As of February 13, 2010 this information was current, it may be out of date now. By July we’ll know for sure. First, Back in Black IPA will be available in cans in July 2010. The name of this beer says it all, it’s a dark-colored, roasty hop bomb. Next will be a special holiday beer available in October 2010, which will be some version of the “holiday spice” beer that has been offered at the brew pub. Finally, Golden Doom, which is on tap at the brew pub now, will be available in cans around of after January 2011 and is a Belgian-style beer.

All told, there were tastings of beer at this event from Oskar Blues, 21st Amendment, Big Sky Brewing, and New Belgium. The complete list of what was available is as follows:

• Oskar Blues
  • Mama’s Lil Yellow Pils
  • Dale’s Pale Ale
  • Gordon Beer (still one of my favorites)
  • Ten Fidy Stout
• 21st Amendment
  • Brew Free or Die IPA (classic and available on Virgin America flights)
  • Hell or High Watermellon Wheat
• Big Sky
  • Trout Slayer Pale Ale
  • Moose Drool Brown
• New Belgium
  • Fat Tire
• Maui Brewing
  • Bikini Blonde Lager
  • Big Swell IPA
  • Coconut Porter

Although SF Beer Week ended nearly 3 months ago, I still have some photos and experiences from a few of the events that I’d like to share. On Friday, February 12, 2010 I attended the release party for Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale at Church Key in San Francisco. The event featured most of Uncommon Brewers beers including the Bacon Brown Ale, which was interesting an worth a second try when I have the opportunity.The Bacon Brown Ale is about what you would expect, a brown ale a hint of bacon in the aroma and taste and a little more viscous than your average beer. I seemed like there was a bit of sediment in the beer from the bacon that would settle to the bottom of the glass after a period of time. It wasn’t too bitter and not terribly especially sweet but favoring maltiness. I talked with the brewer, I believe it was Alec, and he mentioned that, at the time, he was considering adding more bacon to the next batch.

Also while talking with Alec, I learned about a few upcoming projects that Uncommon Brewers are undertaking. First, he mentioned that both Golden State Ale, brewed with poppy seeds, and Baltic Porter, brewed with licorice root and star anise were “coming soon” to cans and it was taking a bit extra time to get the Baltic Porter approved due to FDA guidelines regarding licorice.

Next, I learned that they are working on a few new beers. One is a sour beer called Serendipity Sour and the other sounds interesting. It will be and American special bitter with 14.5% alcohol by volume, lot’s of bitterness, and aged with redwood.

Finally, I was informed that in February they were planning on going national within 8 months (5 months from writing) with production increased to 120,000 cans per month.

Shmaltz Brewing Company started out 13 years ago in San Francisco and although they are now based out of New York, they came back for SF Beer Week to celebrate their 13th Anniversary with this event and the release of Jewbelation 13.

This event, appropriately named as their Bar Mitzvah (also the subtitle for Jewbelation 13), featured all of their Hebrew beer brands including two limited edition brews: Jewbelation 12 (2008) and Jewbelation 13 (2009). The party also included 2 live bands and cake. Although Amnesia was extremely crowded, this was a great event and a wonderful opportunity to have a vertical tasting of of the Jewbelation beer.

The following are some notes that I took for the Jewbelation beers.

Jewbelation 12 is the Shmaltz anniversary beer from 2008 made with 12 malts, 12 hops, and 12% alcohol by volume. Although it was a dark bar, it was still apparent that this beer has a deep dark color. It has a dark-roasted malty-sweet aroma and scents of bittersweet molasses. The flavor follows the aroma with a not-quite barley wine molasses flavor and astrong roasted malt flavor coupled with some pure cocao flavors. Jewbelation 12 also has notes of prunes and dark dried fruits. The smooth bitterness of this beer brings out molasses and coffee flavors. Smooth bitterness. Despite being 12% abv, this beer is not very boozy. The mouthfeel was syrupy and lightly carbonated.

Jewbelation 13 is the 13th anniversary beer made with, you guessed it, 13 malts, 13 hops, and 13% alcohol by volume. It has a similar color and mouthfeel to 12 but it has much different flavors. Since this beer has not been aged for a year, it is greener in both age, flavor, and hops. The flavor comes off much less like molasses and much more more like beer brittle. The hop bouquet is much more apparent and is spicy and earthy. It is clearly more bitter, with a more harsh bitterness, and more hoppy than Jewbelation 12. The hop flavor makes me think of a very hoppy stout with an enhanced dark chocolate flavor. It is roasty and sweet and balanced by the hops. The beer was good to drink “fresh” and will certain age well. I will definitely wait for about a year to try the bottle that I have in my beer cellar.

Thirsty Bear Brewing hosted their second annual Casks & Quesos event for SF Beer Week at their brew pub restaurant in San Francisco on Saturday, February 6, 2010. I missed this even last year for SF Beer Week but after talking to the Thirsty Bear brew master, Brenden Dobel, at the Gala on the previous night, I decided that I was not going to miss this event and I’m very glad that I attended. The focus of this event was cask conditioned beer and cheese with unlimited samples of beer and as much cheese as you could eat. No wonder the event was sold out!

Casks were brought in from several California breweries with most of them from the San Francisco Bay Area. There were 12 selections of beer from Thirsty Bear, Magnolia, 21st Amendment, Half Moon Bay, Firestone-Walker, Gordon-Biersch, Beach Chalet, Speakeasy, Sierra Nevada, Mayfield, and Triple Rock. I believe that I tried all but one. The three beers that I heard mentioned frequently as “the beers you have to try” were the 21st Amendment Imperial ESB, Thirsty Bear Bearly Legal Barleywine, and Triple Rock Hi-Top IPA. All of the beer was quite fantastic and all three of those were certainly also among my 11 favorites of the evening.

The following are some tasting notes of the beer that I tried that evening.

Thirsty Bear Bearly Legal Barleywine is a cloudy yellow-orange amber hued beer with an off-white not-quite-tan head and it a bit lighter than I expected. The hop bouquet is leafy, spicy, and noble with a hint of citrus and is likely due to dry hopping with Mt. Hood hops. There is also a subtle sweet malt and biscuit aroma. This beer has a pleasant malty sweetness but is just a bit drier than other barleywines that I’ve had. It also does not have a molasses quality to it. The bitterness from the hops is smooth and complements the sweetness very well. Despite being 10% abv, Bearly Legal Barleywine does not smell nor taste boozy. This is a full bodied beer which is surprisingly easy to drink and is an overall delicious and well made beer.

Triple Rock Hi-Top IPA is cloudy and amber colored with a sizeable head for a cask conditioned ale. The Cascade and Centennial hops provide for a wonderfully strong hoppy nose of pine, citrus, grapefruit, spiciness, and floral notes. This beer is a bit sweet and contrasts well against smooth bitter hop flavors and grapefruit. The grapefruit flavors manifest more like a sweet grapefruit juice than a the sour and bitter fruit. This medium-full bodied beer is an easy to consume session beer that is full of flavor.

Magnolia Prescription Pale Ale. I really enjoyed this ale and I thought it captured the English inspiration of both being pale and a cask ale while still having some California influence. The color was a clear amber color with not much head (as most casks ales are). The hops bouquet has a gentle hoppy, citrus, and floral quality with some malty biscuit qualities. The flavor was malty sweet balanced smoothy by some hop bitterness. On cask this is quite an enjoyable medium-bodied and low-carbonation.

Speakeasy Paypack Porter is a robust and full flavored porter. It has a dark black color with a mocha colored head. The aroma exudes copious amounts of chocolate with a hint of caramel and a bit like fresh baked brownies. There are also hints of vanilla which enhances the chocolate aromas. This beer is sweet and chocolaty almost to the point of tasting like chocolate syrup due to the thick mouthfeel. Tasting this beer reveals a roasty and caramel malty sweetness. It is a full bodied beer with the slightest hint of chalkiness, which for some reason I tend to detect in many if not all porters. It is delectable and drinkable.

Serra Nevada Stout from a cask, in my opinion, is much tastier than out of the bottle. The hoppy aromas and flavors seem a little more subdued from the cask stout allowing the dark roasty flavors to dominate. The hops still manifest bitterness which contrasts nicely against the roasty malt sweetness to produce some great coffee an espresso flavors and aromas.

Half Moon Bay Bootlegger Brown. I found this brown colored ale to have just the right amount of maltiness with a subtle hop bitterness. It smelled of toasty and roasted malts. It was a struggle to not grab another glass of this delicious brown ale.

I felt that the Gordon-Biersch Dampfbier was much better and more flavorful out of the cask than out of the keg.