San Francisco Beer Week is kicking off on January 22 for its eighth annual showing. The 10-day festival will feature more than 700 events and is a wonderful way to get introduced to many of the Bay Area’s most beloved as well as up-and-coming beer producers.
I attended the media kickoff event and got a chance to speak with Joanne Marino, the executive director of SF Beer Week, as well as many prominent beer producers in the area.
I asked her about what trends in craft beer we could expect to see in 2016. “Sours are coming on very strong, and IPAs are still big, but people’s tastes are expanding quite a bit, which would explain the uptick in people’s curiosity around sours,” Marino said.
That seemed to be the general consensus of many of the beer makers I spoke to that night—that Bay Area beer drinkers seem to be increasingly discerning and are becoming more interested in beers that are a bit more esoteric than your run-of-the-mill IPA. With the hops shortage (and perhaps some audience boredom), IPAs may be declining in popularity, while sours and stouts/porters are on the rise. This is refreshing news for many a beer maker as well as beer drinker. IPAs are not for everyone due to the bitter undertones of the hops, but for too many years, they have been the featured beer at most Bay Area breweries.
Beers that are of interest this year offer spicy undertones and sourness or showcase seasonal, fresh citrus. Cleophus Quealy put forth a remarkable Blood Orange Saison that will be featured during the event. It was well balanced, with a hint of spice, sour orange notes and a clean after-bite.
Local sourcing is another prevalent theme. Many beer makers are now opting to brew their beer with locally sourced fruits and spices, locally made chocolate and homegrown hops. Jesse Friedman from Almanac Beer Company used primarily foraged fruits from people’s yards for his Valley of the Heart’s Delight sour blonde beer, which was brewed with apricots, dates and mulberries.
Speakeasy is featuring a stout that was brewed with TCHO chocolate. Their Black Hand Chocolate Milk Stout is a creamy, delicious beer that one might describe as an alcoholic chocolate milk.
There are a variety of places you can check out during Beer Week, but with over 700 possible events, you’ll have to plan accordingly. Here are some of the events that looked particularly interesting:
Smoothie Brews and Fruity Sours
The folks at Woods Beer Co. were inspired by various Jamba Juice smoothie flavors and have incorporated them into their latest line of sours.
This is the first time I’ve heard of a beer event featuring dim sum, and I’m puzzled as to why this hasn’t been done before. It sounds amazing and will feature Fort Point Beer paired with various dim sum dishes at San Francisco’s famed Hong Kong Lounge.
Dandelion Chocolate and Beer Pairing
Another example of a perfect pairing. Speakeasy will be featuring a lineup of five of their beers paired with the associated taste of single-origin Dandelion chocolate.
Sunset Reservoir is doing a four-course dinner (with beer tastings), and each of the four courses will incorporate beer as an ingredient!
SF Beer Week is pitting North of Market breweries against South of Market breweries to develop a custom beer specifically for the event. Team NOMA is releasing a saison featuring yuzu peel, sea salt and organic Patwin wheat. Team SOMA will be pouring a coffee porter infused with chicory. Let the games begin!