San Francisco Beer Week is beginning a lot later than common this yr, thanks largely to Feb. 8’s Tremendous Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Regardless of the late begin, the lineup nonetheless gives a various array of thrilling beer-focused occasions.
Ten years in the past, the final time the Tremendous Bowl was held within the Bay Space, multinational companies took over seemingly each restaurant and bar in each city in the course of the week, making it tough for our little beer week to compete.
An extra problem is that the Bay Space Brewers Guild, which places on SF Beer Week, is presently run by a single individual, Sayre Piotrkowski, who took over as govt director final summer season. So, lengthy story brief, to keep away from being overshadowed by the most important soccer recreation of the yr and to present all people a bit extra time to plan for the managed chaos of 10 days of beer occasions, this yr, SF Beer Week runs from Feb. 20 to March 1.
I spoke to Piotrkowski to get the news on this yr’s SF Beer Week and his perspective on the state of native craft beer.
Whereas the complete listing of occasions remains to be being finalized, to date about 100 occasions have already been confirmed. Whereas the opening gala isn’t any extra, the festivities actually get occurring Feb. 21 with SF Beer Week Fest 2026 at Salesforce Park. Hosted by Barebottle Brewing Co., the occasion options limitless tastings from at the very least 35 breweries, reside leisure and a commemorative glass.
Piotrkowski talked about a couple of highlights. For instance, he’s coordinated a number of unique collaboration brews of six completely different IPAs with launch events all through the week that can inform the story of Twenty first-century IPA in six pints. Different fascinating occasions to date embrace a Drake’s Pace Relationship Occasion on Feb. 25, a Fort Level Dim Sum Beer Brunch at Hong Kong Lounge on Feb. 28, a Brewers’ Cup Golf Event within the Presidio on Feb. 23 and a Beer Metropolis Half Marathon in Santa Rosa on Feb. 21. And talking of Sonoma County, you possibly can join a Santa Rosa Beer Passport, and a free shuttle service will transport beer week individuals among the many county’s breweries each weekends.
There will likely be beer dinners (for instance, the Honest Isle Brewing Dinner at Anchovy Bar in San Francisco on Feb. 25), meals and beer pairing occasions, video games, most likely some stand-up comedy or wrestling matches and positively reside music. And Piotrkowski, the person coordinating all of it, will even be internet hosting his personal occasion, a Beer vs. Wine Dinner at Outdated Skool Café on Feb. 28, the place he’ll be selecting the beers in a pleasant competitors.
In our dialog, Piotrkowski emphasised how excited he’s about native craft beer, and the way he needs to remind all people concerned of the time once we had been all enthusiastic about it, earlier than COVID made issues tough for the business. Through the pandemic, many breweries had fewer alternatives to coach clients about what makes craft beer so particular.
With the financial system in its present state, many breweries have been closing, however the small brewers that concentrate on serving their area people and making a reference to them are those nonetheless thriving, he says. They make their clients really feel like they’re a part of one thing — which, after all, they’re. California, and particularly the Bay Space, was floor zero for the craft beer motion with pioneering breweries like Anchor Brewing, New Albion, Triple Rock, Buffalo Invoice’s, Sierra Nevada, Pete’s Depraved Ales, Lagunitas and Russian River.
Should you love Bay Space craft beer, attending occasions throughout SF Beer Week is a good way to point out your assist for quite a few small companies and the native beer group as a complete. I hope to see you on the market.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
