San
Francisco has long been a nexus for experimentation and innovation with alcoholic
beverages, from wine and craft beer to creative cocktails. The Mimosa, Mai Tai,
Irish Coffee, Pisco Punch, Cosmopolitan and even the venerable Martini are all
reputed to have early ties to the Bay Area.
In May
2007, three San Francisco bar owners—H. Joseph Ehrmann of Elixer, Jeff Hollinger of Comstock Saloon and Duggan McDonnell
of Cantina—concocted San
Francisco Cocktail Week to celebrate San Francisco’s ongoing love affair
with mixed drinks. Now in its sixth year, the San Francisco Cocktail Week
benefits the Barbary Coast Conservancy for the American Cocktail (BCCAC), a non-profit
organization begun by the founders of Cocktail Week dedicated to preserving the
cultural heritage of saloons and cocktails in San Francisco. It’s located at
The Boothby Center.
Craft Beer Into Whiskey
All
alcoholic beverages undergo a fermentation process to convert sugars into
alcohol. For beer, the journey typically ends with the addition of hops, while
whiskey continues to distillation, a process that separates alcohol from water.
But some distilleries are experimenting with making whiskey from craft beer.
At
Cocktail Melee on Sept. 17, Marko Karakasevic of Charbay Distillery in St. Helena will talk about
his “hop whiskey,” called R5 Aged Whiskey, made from Bear Republic’s Racer 5
IPA. According to Charbay, 6,000 gallons of Racer 5 was distilled in double
copper alambic charentais pots for nine days before being aged for 22 months in
French oak to produce 590 gallons of whiskey. K&L Wine Merchants describes
R5 Aged Whiskey as “a wonderful crossover for the beer geek/whiskey geek.”
Another
whiskey maker, St. George Spirits
of Alameda, which also will be at Cocktail Melee, distills Sierra Nevada ale
into a single-malt whiskey.
Cocktail
Melee should be a good opportunity to learn more about spirits, with
educational spirit and cocktail classes throughout the event. In addition to
Charbay and St. George, distilleries will include Hangar One Vodka, House
Spirits, Craft Distillers and Oxley Gin.
Karakasevic
will also present a seminar discussing his R5 Whiskey at The Beverage Academy
on Wednesday.
Bottle-Ready Beer Distilled into
Whiskey
The Story of R5 Whiskey, Clear and Aged
Styles
Wednesday,
Sept. 19, 5-8 p.m.
The
Beverage Academy, 501 Jones St., San Francisco
$25
Cocktail Melee
Saturday,
Sept. 22, 2-5 p.m.
Cigar
Bar & Grill, 850 Montgomery
$35
in advance, $45 at the door
The Artisan Tasting
Cocktail
Week actually kicks off, appropriately enough, in a brewery: the seminal Anchor Brewing Company, one of the
pioneers of craft beer and still going strong. At the Artisan Tasting event,
patrons will explore Bay Area artisan spirits paired with food. Distilleries,
including Square One, Hangar One Vodka, St. George Spirits, Craft Distillers,
Oro Pisco, Old World Spirits, Sgt. Classic Rum, Tempus Fugit and Charbay, will
show off their spirits along with special cocktails.
The Artisan Tasting
Monday,
Sept. 17, 6-9 p.m.
Anchor
Brewing Company, 1705 Mariposa St.
$45
in advance (no tickets sold at the door)
PROMO CODE FOR 20% OFF
Spirited Food Trucks
The
spirits/food pairing theme continues on Tuesday with Spirited Food Trucks,
which combines two Bay Area’s obsessions: food trucks and mixed drinks. Rye on
the Road will serve bottled cocktails, Elixir will dispense carbonated
cocktails out of soda siphons, Jasper’s Corner Tap will provide kegged
cocktails and 15 Romolo will serve cocktails canned onsite from the Can Van.
Patrons will get a food voucher for the food truck of their choice.
Spirited Food Trucks
Tuesday,
Sept. 18, 6-9 p.m.
SoMa
StrEat Food Park, 428 11th St. San Francisco
$45
in advance, $55 at the door, with food from the trucks available for purchase.
Best of the West
Wednesday
will feature some of the best bartenders from San Diego to Washington State,
including Kevin Diedrich of Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen in San Francisco,
Annalisa Huante of Cincin in Reno, J.R Starkus of RM Seafood in Las Vegas, Christian
Siglin of Craft and Commerce in San Diego, David Shenaut of Ronin-Mercenary in
Portland, Naomi Schimek of Spare Room in Los Angeles, Chris Sinclair of Red
Rabbit in Sacramento and Andrew Friedman of Liberty in Seattle.
Best of the West
Wednesday,
Sept. 19, 6-9 p.m.
Tradition,
441 Jones St., San Francisco
$45
in advance, $55 at the door; VIP table for four for $100 per person.
Totally
Awesome East Bay to the Max
Thursday
will highlight the best bartenders from the East Bay creating “classic” concoctions
from the 1980s (Slow Comfortable Screws, Fuzzy Navels and Slippery Nipples)
reimagined for contemporary drinkers. A DJ will re-create an ‘80s ambience with
music from the decade. Period costumes are encouraged.
Totally
Awesome East Bay to the Max
Thursday,
Sept. 20, 5-8 p.m.
The
New Parish, 579 18th St., Oakland
$45
in advance, $55 at the door
The Legends Awards
On
Friday, the second annual Legends Awards will recognize the Bay Area’s top
cocktail innovators, influencers, mentors and historians. The event will re-create
a 1960s experience with special tableside cocktails and punches, dinner and
show.
The Legends Awards
Friday,
Sept. 21, 7:30-10:30 p.m.
The
Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market St., San Francisco
$85
in advance and $95 at the door
The
California Altered State Fair by Jupiter Olympus
On
Saturday, Jupiter Olympus will hold an adults-only state fair-style event that
will feature games, food and contests “from the midways of our youth, finally
made inappropriate for children.” Cocktails will be inspired by the bounty of
California and “the fried crap of the county fairs”: a Salt-Water Taffy Old
Fashioned, a Manhattan Sno-Cone, Smoked Watermelon Punch and Jupiter
Olympus-made vegetable liqueurs in kale, radish/fennel and corn on the cob
flavors. The winner of the California State Cocktail will also be announced at
the fair. Festive attire is encouraged.
The
California Altered State Fair by Jupiter Olympus
Saturday, Sept. 22,
8-11pm
Mission
Dispatch, 1975 Bryant St., San Francisco
$45
in advance and $55 at the door
St. George Spirits: 30 Years to Life
The
grand finale of Cocktail Week will be held at St. George Spirits, which is
celebrating its 30th anniversary with a prison theme in which “the
Bay Area’s most dastardly outlaw bartenders will be serving up criminally
delicious cocktails using St. George’s stolen-from-Kentucky Breaking &
Entering Bourbon and in-the-clear gins.” Expect outdoor games in “the yard” of
St. George Spirits, a prison tattoo station, squirt gun target practice and
live music by Hot Pocket. Food will be
available from food trucks. Shuttle buses will be available to and from the
Ferry Building and West Oakland BART ($5).
St. George Spirits: 30 Years to Life
Sunday, Sept. 23, 1-5 p.m.
St.
George Spirits, 2601 Monarch St., Alameda
$45
in advance and $55 at the door.
In
addition to these main events, Cocktail Week will feature Spirited Dinners at
Michael Mina, Twenty Five Lusk and Millennium.
Black Lily
The
official cocktail of SF Cocktail Week is the Black Lily, an homage to legendary
San Francisco eccentric Lillie
Hitchcock Coit (1842-1929), created by Remy-Cointreau mixologist Kyle Ford.
Ingredients:
1.5
oz Cointreau
1
oz Fernet Branca
.75
oz fresh lime juice
Method:
Add
all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake into a rocks glass. Garnish with
orange peel.
For a complete list of San Francisco Cocktail Week
events, including updates, visit sfcocktailweek.com.
Most breweries and brewpubs
stay away from making pilsners, largely because they take a long time to brew because unlike ales, they need to be lagered
(German for “storage”). Pilsners are also a challenge for brewers, since any mistake will be readily apparent and will render the beer undrinkable. Proper German or Czech pilsners bear no resemblance to
the insipid mass-produced swill from industrial brewers. And imported
lagers are often subject to spoilage in transit or go "off" due to improper storage.
Pilsners are meant to be drunk fresh.
Perhaps the best pairing of
the night was the dessert course, olive oil plum cake with Red Beauty plums,
blackberry sauce and Framboise caramel, paired with Social Kitchen’s Anniversary
Oud Brune, a hoppy Belgian brown ale bottle-aged for four months. 
