DRAFT Magazine

By Noah Davis

SF Beer Week kicks off its second annual festival on February 5th. In preparation for the glorious 10-day experience, we caught up with beer writer Jay Brooks who helped found the event last year. He talks to us about his favorite events, using social media to recruit the masses, and why too much choices is a good thing indeed.

What’s your role in SF Beer Week?

I’m one of the founders. It stemmed out of two different ideas. I used to be the GM of the Celebrator beer magazine and we had an event that we ran for six or seven years called Beerapalooza. We had a few events that took place over the same week. Then, some of the folks in San Francisco — most notably Shaun O’Sullivan and Dave McLean — who have strong beer months during the month of February had also looked at events like Philly Beer Week and thought that the format might work well in San Francisco. There were six of us initially last year and reconfigured Beerapalooza as SF Beer Week and made it a new event and made it what it is now.

How much work is it? Is it ever overwhelming?

It’s pretty overwhelming. [Laughs] I think last year, it succeed in spite of ourselves. We paid for all of it ourselves, each of the people who founded it. We didn’t have sponsors the way we do this year. It was hard work.

This year, there are a lot of people working hard still, but because we’ve had some sponsorship money, we’ve been able to develop the Web site in a better way, more streamlined. We were able to have a small paid staff that was responsible for taking care of those things and not just have people try to fit it in wherever they could around their other job. That’s made a big difference I think we’re a little more prepared this year than we were last year.

What’s different this year?

The biggest one is probably that last year, there were a lot of people and breweries who didn’t quite get what we were trying to do ahead of time at least. Now that they saw how successful the first SF Beer Week was, we have a lot more people coming to us and saying, “Hey, I want to be a part of this.” They saw how it went, that it did bring people into the city, and that everyone who put on events had good attendance. Everything worked out kind of the way we expected, which was that you throw a lot of great events and people are helpless not to come.

You have a pretty comprehensive Web presence with a Twitter feed, an iPhone app, and a fun Web site. Can you talk a little bit about the social media aspects of planning Beer Week?

That’s a product of really looking at the importance of social media to events and really bringing in people who are really good at it. Gannett SF is the company we turned to. That’s something we couldn’t afford last year, but this year we could and it was important to have that eye-catching site. I mean hell, we’re in Silicon Valley. If our Web site didn’t look good, we’re doing something wrong.

Are you noticing the social media efforts helping to reach new people?

It’s hard to tell. There certainly are new venues and people who are putting on events that are different from last year. We’re certainly seeing involvement from groups who weren’t involved last year, who took more of a wait and see approach. So yeah, but it’s hard to tell who’s going to attend and whether that’s going to change and grow. We certainly hope so. We’ll see.

You have roughly 20 events per day. How do you suggest people choose what to attend?

I think there are two ways that people can look at that. One is what’s close to them. For people who are in the South Bay, maybe it makes sense to look at what’s there. The second way is what’s most exciting to you. It’s hard to choose. That’s our No. 1 complaint, and that’s a complaint we like to hear: “There’s too much. I can’t decide!” I think that’s great.

The fact that there are overlapping events that lots and lots of people would want to go to speaks well of what we’ve tried to do with our beer week. This is certainly not to pour alcohol on other beer weeks, but something we set out to do was to not have the “Pint Night” sort of events. We didn’t want to have happy hour type of events, but to have all the events that are going on showcase beer in a really good light. There has to be something to it. We have less events than some of the other beer weeks but we think that the quality of all the events really is our goal, and for that I think we are succeeding.

Any events you’re specifically looking forward to?

Lots of things. One of the most fun events I went to last year was a cheese and beer event at the Bistro in Hayward. The cheese event was very different from any one that I’ve ever been to. What they did was they got five different cheeses and five different breweries, and they asked brewery to pick one of their beers to pair with each of the cheeses. Everybody got a lump of cheese and then five small pourings of a beer from each brewery. Basically, you sat down with one cheese and five beers and tried that cheese with each of the five beers trying to decide which one paired best. They tallied that up and at the end — I don’t think there were any losers, but they said which one most people seemed to think worked best with the cheese.

Usually when you do a cheese and beer pairing, it’s one cheese and one beer. This was a way to make it much more fun and educational in so far as you tried a range of beers with the same cheese and you saw what worked and what didn’t work in a much more real-time sort of way that I hadn’t seen before. I’m looking forward to that again.

When you wake up on the morning or the afternoon of February 15th, how will you know SF Beer Week has been a success?

I think it’s the passion of all the people in the Bay Area. Every community has it’s own vibe for its beer scene, and ours is one of people who are really passionate about what they are doing. You see the same people event after event, and we’re all here for the same reasons: It’s fun, it’s enjoyable, it enriches our lives.

– Noah Davis is editor of DRAFTMag.com.

By Sarah Whitmire

Sure, baseball may be the “official” American pastime, but when it comes to a sport that people actually play in their homes? That sport is beer pong.

“The Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong” from director Dan Lindsay, follows four individuals into a realm of fierce competition and drinking (but mostly competition) at the 2007 World Series of Beer Pong. This isn’t your local frat house tournament; the die-hard pros practice beer pong full-time for the notoriety of being world champion and pocketing the $20,000 grand prize.

Beer pong, or Beirut as it is officially called, is a serious matter at this professional level. It is clear very quickly that it isn’t about the beer for these players; they passionately defend it saying, “It’s a sport. It just happens to involve alcohol.” Throughout the whole movie, not one mention was given to the type of beer in the cups, and per official World Series of Beer Pong rules, many of the cups contained water.

Endorsed by fellow beer pong aficionado Morgan Spurlock, the documentary begins in the homes of four very different Beirut players. The first is a loud-mouthed body-builder, another is an endearing Jonah Hill look-alike, the third is a computer programmer who creates statistical software to analyze his shot accuracy, and the last who calls himself “The Champ” and is known for challenging the public to play him one-on-one for a cash prize. “The Last Cup” gives you a look at how these professional beer pong player train, the culture behind the sport, and how they got so serious about a game with beer, cups, and ping-pong balls.

This film has all the makings of classic, motivational sports movie with smart, witty editing, and an added splash of drunken debauchery. While the top players purposefully pace themselves, they can’t all be winners, and the rest party accordingly. With this comic relief keeping things light, you find yourself getting swept up in the player’s stories all the way to the nail-biting conclusion that only a final, world-champion deciding match of beer pong could provide.

There are just a couple screenings left of this documentary; head to the movie’s Web site for info on where to catch it, how to host your own screening, or to pre-order a copy of the DVD that releases December 29, 2009.

– Sarah Whitmire is an editorial intern at DRAFTMag.com.

You know what? There are tons of beer weeks all around this great country of ours. It’s high time someone put together a list. Well, that’s why we’re here. Start planning your travel schedule now. (Let us know ones we missed in the comments and we’ll add them to our running tally.)

City: San Francisco
Date (in 2010): February 5-14
2009 highlight: Celebrator’s Best of the West Beer Fest

City: Seattle
Date (in 2010): May 7-15
2009 highlight: Week End Party and BBQ at The Dray

City: America
Date (in 2010): May 17-23
2009 highlight: The Declaration of Beer Independence

City: Philadelphia
Date (in 2010): June 4-13
2009 highlight: Beer Balderdash at Standard Tap

City: Oregon
Date (in 2010): July 18-25
2009 highlight: Oregon Brewers Festival

City: Washington D.C.
Date (in 2010): Tentatively August 14-19 (August 16-21 in 2009)
2009 highlight: Washington Nationals v. Milwaukee Brewers, D.C. Beer Week Special

City: New York
Date (in 2010): Tentatively September 10-19 (September 11-20 in 2009)
2009 highlight: Gotham Cask Festival

City: Denver
Date (in 2010): Tentatively September 17-26 (September 18-27 in 2009)
2009 highlight: Beer College at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

City: Baltimore
Date: Tentatively October 7-17 (October 8-18 in 2009)
2009 highlight: Go and let us know.

City: Los Angeles
Date (in 2010): Tentatively October 14-24 (October 15-25 in 2009)
2009 highlight: TBD

City: Detroit
Date (in 2010): Tentatively October 15-23 (October 16-24 in 2009)
2009 highlight: TBD

City: Cleveland
Date (in 2010):
2009 highlight: Tentatively October 15-23 (October 16-24 in 2009)

City: San Diego
Date (in 2010): Tentatively November 5-14 (November 6-15 in 2009)
2009 highlight: TBD

By Gary Hayden

The Vietnamese love beer. I mean, really love it. With a passion.

One of the first phrases I learned when I came to live in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was ‘Mot… hai… ba… yoh!’ This translates ‘One… two… three… yoh!” and is followed by clinking of glasses and wholesale quaffing of beer.

But despite their enthusiasm, most Vietnamese drinkers tend to be conservative in their choice of brews. The majority of bars and restaurants carry only a limited range: most often Heineken, Tiger, and a couple of Vietnamese products like Saigon and 333.

But as Vietnam grows more prosperous and cosmopolitan, punters are becoming more adventurous. Some pubs are expanding their selection of ales, and a number of microbreweries have sprung up and are proving very popular.

No surprise, then, that 2009 saw the inaugural Annual Beerfest Saigon. This three-day celebration of ‘Beer, Fun and Food’ took place from 11th to 13th June at the Windsor Plaza Hotel — a venue already well-known to Saigonese beer-lovers since it hosts the joyously riotous Oktoberfest Vietnam.

The idea behind Beerfest Saigon was, in the words of Windsor Plaza’s general director, Mr. Duong Duy My, to “Introduce the public to, and promote, beer culture.” A ticket cost 400,000 Vietnamese Dong (about US$20), and entitled the bearer to food, entertainment, a souvenir mug, and up to 28 samples of beer. Most, if not all the exhibitors, took ‘sample’ to mean a 330ml glassful of their brew which made this possibly the best-value beer festival I’ve attended.

Punters got to try 18 brews from nine countries:
• Legend, Le Cochon D’Or, Saigon, 333 and Gold Ben Tanh from Vietnam
• Tiger from Singapore
• Foster’s and Cooper’s from Australia
• Krombacher, Eku, Oettinger and Warsteiner from Germany
• Guinness from Ireland
• Gammer from the Czech Republic
• San Miguel and San Miguel Light from the Philippines
• Corona from Mexico
• and Moa from New Zealand

The First Hobby Brewer Club Vietnam, a bunch of local enthusiasts who meet twice monthly to test home-made beer, also manned a stall.

All in all, the 1st Annual BeerFest Saigon was characterised more by fun than serious tasting. But when all’s said and done, beer’s meant to be fun. This three-day festival of ‘Beer, Fun and Food’ has done a lot to widen Vietnamese beer-drinkers’ horizons. And I, for one, can’t wait for next year.

– Gary Hayden is a freelance writer. He previously covered the Singapore Beer Festival for DRAFTMag.com.

By Tim Cigelske

The gas station in unincorporated Paoli, Wisconsin, is like any small town gas station.

Inside, you can take your pick of frozen pizza, various junk foods, and an entire wall of Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Lime, Miller Light, Miller High Life, MGD and… Oh, wait– what’s this? New Glarus Brewing Co.?

One of these beers is not like the other.

Make way, Miller. Watch out, Bud. And memo to Wisconsin’s gas stations, liquor stores, and beer vendors: Start clearing more room for the upstart craft brewer from south central Wisconsin.

“We’ve been growing 20 percent per year,” says brewmaster Dan Carey, which includes a production of about 75,000 barrels last year. Its 2008 sales volume ranked 21st in the nation among craft brewers (just ahead of Dogfish Head), according to the Brewers Association.

OK, OK. So New Glarus is not out to single-handedly battle the major brewers. For starters, you can still only find its signature Spotted Cow and its terrific full line of craft brews in Wisconsin (hence the proud slogan “Drink Indigenous”).

But make no mistake, its thumbprint just got a little bigger. June 13, 2009, is a bit of a historic day in Wisconsin brewing history, for this is the day New Glarus hosts the seven-hour grand opening party for its new, second brewery complex.

And holy (spotted) cow, do they know how to celebrate. A live band encouraged crowds to dance, long lines formed for souvenir pint glasses of beers on tap, and crowds backed up their vehicles to the gift shop to stock up on crates of beer.

The $20 million, 75,000 square foot, 100,000 barrel-capacity (with ability to expand) Hilltop facility looks like an Old World village, complete with towering stone walls and mini waterfalls. It appears like a castle rising up over the countryside, maybe no coincidence since Carey served his apprenticeship in Munich.

Founded in 1993, the brewery reached a point by 2005 where they would soon run out of room for their operations in an old warehouse, so they built a second complex in a cornfield on the outskirts of the quaint Swiss-influenced town. They broke ground in 2006 while running at capacity at their original brewery.

The expansion didn’t come without a steep price.

Dan Carey

“It was like waging a war,” Carey said. “You win some battles, you lose some battles. And it nearly killed us.”

There were no utilities, no electricity, no roads. They had no legal department, no marketing department and no accounting department. The herculean task of building a brewery from scratch fell squarely on the shoulders of Dan and his wife, Deb.

The job would be difficult enough under the best of circumstances, but then prices in construction materials went haywire. Dan and Deb worked seven days a week to deal with problem contractors and government regulation while continuing production at their original brewery.

“There were points we were dubious it was even going to happen,” Dan says wearily. “There were so many obstacles.”

The growing pains may have left a few scars on the Careys. But for Wisconsin beer drinkers, it’s a welcome new era for New Glarus.

– Tim Cigelske writes DRAFTMag.com’s Beer Runner blog.

By Zak Stambor

With people hawking tamales to the thousands of passersby (many clutching beer bottles or growlers) who strolled through a seemingly middle-of-nowhere industrial park lined with cars, trucks, and RVs, Dark Lord Day — the one-day-a-year festival marking Three Floyds Brewing Co.’s release of its uber-rare Dark Lord Imperial Stout — looked as much like the parking lot scene of a Phish show as a beer festival. (See DRAFTMag.com’s Friday Field Trip of the day here.)

And that’s not unexpected. Fandom is fandom.

Like Phish, Dark Lord has followers who travel across the country. Those followers vigorously debate which iteration — the draft-only oak- or vanilla bean-aged Dark Lord — is best, how long to age this year’s output, and whether the beer is the best beer in the world — currently it’s the highest rated beer on RateBeer.com — or merely among of the best. (It’s the fourth-highest rated beer on BeerAdvocate.com.)

Those followers include people such as Paul Strassburger.

A year ago the Hoffman Estates, Ill. home brewer arrived at Munster, Ind.’s Three Floyds Brewing Co. itching to buy up as many bottles of Three Floyds Dark Lord Imperial Stout as he could (the limit was six). But with about 50 people between him and the cashier, the brewery sold the last of its 22-ounce bottles of the thick, viscous brew.

All was not lost, however, as Strassburger was able to try the beer on draft.

“It blew me away,” he said while waiting in line at this year’s Dark Lord Day.
Arriving at this year’s festival around 10:30 a.m., Strassburger found himself behind more than a thousand people in a queue that wound from the brewery to the parking lot of the building next door.

While people throughout the line beers shared their bottles and growlers of everything from tiny Lakewood, Ohio-based Buckeye Beer Engine’s Aquarius Double IPA and Brewery Ommegang’s Rare Vos to brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser American Ale, Straussburger wheeled a cooler rigged with a tap connected to his five-gallon keg of what he dubbed a Dark Lord clone.

He brewed the beer with ingredients that included Caribou Coffee Mocha Java coffee beans (the actual Dark Lord uses Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso beans), as well as blackstrap molasses and oak chips, just for the festival.

“It was such a great beer I decided to see if I could make something like it myself,” he said.

Throughout the nearly two and a half hours in line, Strassburger filled dozens of plastic cups for those curious to taste the concoction.

Strassburger, who was wearing a black T-shirt with a print of the Dark Lord label on the front, was just one of thousands of beer fiends eager to debate, drink, and ponder the wonders of beer.

Many, if not most, of the crowd had never tasted the limited production Dark Lord, and some had never even had any Three Floyds beers (the brewery’s distribution is limited to Northwest Indiana and the Chicago and Indianapolis metropolitan areas).

Way back when
Dark Lord wasn’t born a phenomenon. But the beer, of which the brewery only produced five barrels in its first year of production, was born abnormal.

“It’s a massive, massive stout,” says brewmaster Barnaby Struve. “It’s a Russian imperial stout times two or three. To make it we use different sugars, a ton of vanilla extract, and Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso. But none of those flavors come through pronounced. They come together in a muck — in a good way.”

Three Floyds first brewed Dark Lord in 2002, not long after the launch of beer rating sites such as BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. Since Dark Lord arrived, the beer and the sites have had a mutualistic relationship. As rave reviews of the beer grew, so did its mystique.
Each year, Three Floyds increase its output of Dark Lord. This year, the brewery produced more than 100 barrels. But that’s not enough for the demand.

“Every year we make more and more of it just to keep up with the demand,” says Struve. “But people don’t realize that we only have six full-time employees. We’re trying the best we can, but we also need to make Alpha King, Dreadnaught, and all our other beers.”

To prevent people like Strassburger from missing out on the beer, this year the brewery sold 4,000 golden tickets, which they released, and promptly sold out, of on March 17. The tickets guaranteed its holders the chance to buy four bottles of Dark Lord per ticket, and each person could use two tickets.

Music, kilts, beer
When the brewer’s owners created Dark Lord Day they didn’t want it to be just another beer festival. To allow festivalgoers the chance to try other beers they otherwise couldn’t, they decided to allow people to bring their own beers — to pour and to trade (the brewery even set up a tent to house “tasting tables”).

The result is an enthusiastic, yet eccentric, crowd.

Dotting the line were men in kilts (my unofficial count was seven in total), homebrewers (and homebrewer clubs, like the so-called Mystic Brewers of the Inebriati) sharing their output, and beer geeks looking to swap one obscure beer for another. And before 6 p.m., when the brewery opened Dark Lord sales to those without a ticket, every person had a purple golden ticket.

Despite occasional rain and clouds, the party raged as bands including Pelican and the Waco Brothers played on a stage set up inside the brewery until 11 p.m. On the brewery’s taps were 2008 Dark Lord aged with vanilla beans or in oak barrels, along with guest taps featuring unusual brews such as Founders’ Canadian Breakfast Stout and Stone’s Brandy Barrel-aged Double Bastard.

To most of the crowd, it was as close as Northwestern Indiana gets to paradise.

“This is why we love to drink beer,” says Struve.

Zak Stambor is showing patience and restraint by not popping open one of the four bottles of Dark Lord that he took home from Dark Lord Day.

(Photo courtesy of Tyler Lay.)

Tomorrow, Beer Wars — the greatest, or at the very least, the best-marketed movie about craft beer ever made — will be shown across the country on 440 separate screens in a one-night only engagement. The documentary, directed by Anat Baron, follows the trials and tribulations of Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and New Century Brewing Company’s Rhonda Kallman (one of the founders of Boston Beer Works) as they battle the big corporations.

“Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers,” the Synopsis page reads. “This contemporary David and Goliath story is ultimately about keeping your integrity (and your family’s home) in the face of temptation.”

Following the screening, a live panel will take place and be beamed to the 440 theaters. Ben Stein (more on him later) will moderate, while Stone Brewing Company founder Greg Koch, Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian, Ambitious Brew author Maureen Ogle, and Beer Advocate founder Todd Alstrom will join Calagione and Kallman. Baron attempted to recruit Tom Long and Dave Peacock, the heads of MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, respectively, but they declined the invitation.

Thanks to a huge marketing campaign, outlets from beer blogs to New York Magazine have jumped onboard the hype train (we’re guilty as well). But will Beer Wars be any good?

Well, that depends on whom you ask.

The majority of the craft beer community seems pleased the movie exists. Simply put, the more people who learn about brews beyond those that the Big Three produce, the better. It will be interesting to see what kind of audience the film draws. Does it have the crossover appeal that Baron (and distributor Fathom Events) hope? If so, Beer Wars could do wonders for increasing the visibility of Dogfish Head and the rest of the beer world.

That’s not to say, however, that everyone in the beer community is pleased with the film.

After suggesting a couple ways the film could succeed, Andy Crouch on the BeerScribe.com worries:

If, on the other hand, it merely repeats the tired, dated refrain of big versus little and misses the nuances involved (including that the fillmmaker appears to improperly lump New Century in with all craft brewers), then it will be a lost opportunity and a lot of work for an hour-and-a-half long craft beer infomercial.

Alan McLeod at A Good Beer Blog sums it up more simply, writing, “Going to a movie about beer, to quote Steve Martin, seems a lot like dancing about architecture.”

The Mad Fermentationist, whose long, well-argued post is ground zero for the recent rash of negative reaction, thinks Beer Wars is perhaps too much of a promotional vehicle for craft breweries that have made it:

First off it bothers me to see a bunch of people who run pretty big businesses (Sam Adams, Stone, and Dogfish Head) drumming up anti-corporate sentiments about larger corporations (Bud, Miller, Coors) that they compete against. Could you imagine a movie with great wine makers taking shots at Thunderbird, or great cheese makers making fun of Kraft? I understand that marketing is important, but I think there are better ways to go about it.

And then, of course, there’s the issue of why Ben Stein. Well, Baron explained his presence (as well as other problems people might have with his film) in a post:

Ben Stein was hired to moderate the panel. That’s all. My partner required a celebrity host as part of the deal. We had a list and stopped once someone was available. Everyone on the list had pluses and minuses. Please be assured that this is MY movie, not Ben’s. And that this is not a forum for him to discuss any of his beliefs but rather to act as an impartial moderator to the cast of characters that make up the panel. If his involvement is what’s stopping you from attending then I hope you’ll reconsider.

Our take: We think it’s great that craft beer is creeping into the spotlight. Sure, there are problems with the documentary, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Would Beer Wars have been more timely two years ago? Of course. Does Stein’s involvement confused us just a bit? Sure. Will hearing someone from the relatively massive Boston Beer Co. rail against A-B be strange? Quite possibly. But all and all, Beer Wars will do more good than harm. And that’s really all you can ask.

So, enjoy the show. (And let us know what you think.)

(For a list of theaters showing Beer Wars, click here. You can buy tickets here but don’t stay too long as the trailer will make you go insane.)

– Noah Davis is editor of DRAFTMag.com

In case you’ve been under a rock for the past month (or under the influence since San Francisco Beer Week), we wanted to let you know about Philly Beer Week, which hits the City of Brotherly Love starting on Friday. The second annual celebration of all things beer features over 650 events, so to help you decide what to attend, we picked some of our favorites. Feel free to let us know what you’re attending in the comments section.

Friday, March 6
What: Maudite Midnight Madness
Where: Devils Den
1148 S. 11th Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19147
Why: Because you have to kick Philly Beer Week in style.

Saturday, March 7
What: New Holland’s Burlesque Show
Where: P.O.P.E.
1501 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, Pa 19147
Why: Because there’s no better combination than Burlesque and beer.

Sunday, March 8
What: Extreme Beer and Extreme Wii Sports with Boulder Beer
Where: The Institute
549 N 12th St.
Philadelphia, Pa 19123
Why: Because it’s important to stay in shape.

Monday, March 9
What: Dogfish Head Tasting
Where: Misconduct Tavern
1511 Locust St.
Philadelphia, Pa 19102
Why: Because at least one thing here will blow you away. Probably many more than one.

Tuesday, March 10
What: Meet 12 Percent Imports
Where: Eulogy Belgian Tavern
136 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106
Why: Because go big or go home.

Wednesday, March 11
What: Revolution was brewing! Ales & recipes of Washington, Jefferson & Franklin
Where: City Tavern
138 S. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106
Why: Because everyone loves a history lesson.

Thursday, March 12
What: Sweet 16 Competition of California Craft Beers, North vs. South
Where: Tir Na Nog
1600 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19103
Why: Because there’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.

Friday, March 13
What: Friday the Thirteenth: Bulls, Blood, & Bud
Where: The Khyber
52 South 2nd Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106
Why: Because it’s better than seeing “Friday the 13th” in theaters.

Saturday, March 14
What: The Brewery Bike Ride
Where: Starts at Nodding Head
1516 Sansom St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Why: Because bicycles, bicycles, bicycles

Sunday, March 15
What: Sly Fox and The St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Where: Kite and Key
1836 Callowhill St.
Philadelphia, Pa 19130
Why: Because St. Patty’s Day!

Noah Davis edits DRAFTMag.com.

On Friday, San Francisco Beer Week (technically, San Francisco Beer 10 Days, but that doesn’t have the same ring) kicks off. DRAFTMag.com scoured the Web to bring you the best events of each day. Because with so much beery goodness in the City By The Bay, you’re going to need a plan.

Friday, February 6
What: Park Chalet Toga Party With the Hallway Ballers
Where: Park Chalet
1000 Great Highway
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 386.8439
Why: Because Toga! Toga! Toga!

Saturday, February 7
What: Bistro Double IPA Festival
Where: The Bistro
1001 B St.
Hayward, CA 94541
(510) 886-8525
Why: Because DRAFT’s own beer director, Rick Sellers, will be judging. If that’s not enough, there’s also a media tent to help you plan your entire week.

Sunday, February 8
What: Around the World in Eight Beers
Where: Ol’ Factory Cafe
1725 Contra Costa St.
Sand City, CA 93955
(831) 394-7336
Why: Because you need a little culture.

Monday, February 9
What: East Coast/West Coast Slam With Dogfish Head and 21st Amendment
Where: 21st Amendment Brewery & Restaurant
563 2nd St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 369-0900
Why: Because both breweries exemplify everything that’s right with craft brewing. Plus, you can do it.

Tuesday, February 10
What: San Francisco Afternoon Beer Walks Series-Golden Gate Park & Ocean Beach
Where: Beach Chalet Brewery Restaurant
1000 Great Highway
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 386-8439
Why: Because you’re gonna need some exercise.

Wednesday, February 11
What: Sierra Nevada Meet the Brewer at The Page
Where: The Page
298 Divisadero St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 255-6101
Why: Because you want to know this man’s secrets.

Thursday, February 12
What: Two Brewers and Five Old Thuderpussy’s
Where: Magnolia Pub & Brewery
1398 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-7468
Why: Because that’s hands down the best event name of anything happening during the week.

Friday, February 13
What: Alembic Bar Meets The Bruery, Beer Drinking Ensues
Where: The Alembic Bar
1725 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 666-0822
Why: Because this is the second best-named event.

Saturday, February 14
What: Toronado Barleywine Festival
Where: Toronado
547 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 863-2276
Why: Because Rick’s judging this event as well, this time with his wife. Awwwww. (NOTE: The festival runs through 2/20.)

Sunday, February 15
What: Best of the West Beerfest
Where: Oakland Convention Center at Marriott Hotel
1000 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 538-2739
Why: Because 50 breweries will be on hand pouring the best local beers, plus a $100 cash prize for best costume.