With SF Beer Week looming just weeks
away, Joanne Marino seems remarkably calm.
In 2016, her first year as executive
director of the Guild, Marino wrangled some 850 events crammed into nine days.
She also had to cope with the inconvenience of rescheduling Beer Week due to
the Super Bowl, which was held in the Bay Area. “Last year because the dates
changed, it was a little bit confusing. Getting back to our regular dates this
year has been more familiar for everybody,” Marino says.
Tighter Guidelines for Events
As the number of SF Beer Week events
continues to grow, Marino and the Guild are looking for the right balance of
quality and quantity. “Venues want to make sure that their events are well attended,
and if there’s like a thousand events it can be a challenge,” she says. “For
the consumer, having a thousand events to choose from can be overwhelming. I’m
less concerned about how many events we have than the quality of the events.”
The Guild is also trying to eliminate
some of the “gamesmanship” of venues trying to secure a higher listing placement
by misrepresenting their event. For example, a venue that announces that a
brewer will be on hand must verify that the brewer will actually be there and
state how long the event will last. “We’re trying to make sure that the
information about the event is accurate and that it’s really a special
occasion, and not just somebody trying to get people in their door,” Marino
says.
More Diversity in the Guild
Beer Week and the Brewers Guild are
barometers for the state of the industry. “This is a maturing industry and
people are becoming more specialized in the products they’re offering and the
customers they’re trying to appeal to,” Marino says.
“Of course, it all starts with
making a great beer. But it’s reached a point where everyone is making great
beers. So how am I different and how do I differentiate myself? What are my
passions and what do I want to focus on? The market demands that you define who
you are and what you’re offering to people,” she says.
Among the 32 breweries that comprise
the SF Brewers Guild, several of the newer members are establishing a specific
niche:
•
Barebottle, a Bernal Heights brewery that incorporates
recipes from home brewers.
•
Sufferfest, which makes gluten-free beer.
•
Seven Stills, a brewery that makes whiskey from the craft
beer they brew.
•
Black Sands, which offers hands-on home brewing education.
•
Ferment, Drink, Repeat, a combination brewery and home
brewing supply store.
The newcomers are having an impact
on the Guild, says Marino. “All of these businesses have unique personalities,
which is reflected in their tap rooms and business models, and how they
approach producing their product. And they’re also very supportive of each other,”
she says.
“It’s true that there’s more
diversity among the members, but that means that there are also more members to
help each other, too. And they can help each other in a specialized way,” she
says. “There’s not just one brew pub out there by itself; there’s a lot of brew
pubs. It’s not just one person doing gluten-free beer, but a lot of our members
are looking at gluten free beer and are supporting each other in that process.
Old Bus is a good example. A lot of their beers are near gluten free, but a lot
of people don’t know that,” says Marino.
The Beer Week collaboration beer is
a good example of the Guild’s community spirit. “Nearly all of our members were
in attendance for the collaboration beer brew day and there was great
camaraderie,” says Marino. This year’s collaboration beer is a “post-modern
Kolsch,” brewed at Fort Point. “It’s a nod to innovation in some of the
techniques used to extract flavor from the ingredients,” Marino says. The beer is
flavored with Douglas fir tips and satsuma mandarin juice.
Planning for Beer Week
Even though Beer Week is still a few
weeks away, it’s not too early to sign up for some of the more popular events,
especially those that highlight the synergy between beer and food. “Beer and
food events show another dimension of beer for people who are less familiar
with craft beer to see how the flavors mingle,” Marino says.
Check out the SF Beer Week page for
a full list of events.
The Opening Gala
Beer Week kicks off with the Opening
Gala, which will be held at Pier 48 on Feb. 10.
Pouring at the Gala will be 125
breweries from the Bay Area and beyond (see the full list below). This event
always sells out, so get your tickets ASAP. You can purchase them here.
San Francisco
21st Amendment Brewery, Almanac Beer
Co., Anchor Brewing Co., Barebottle Brew Co., Barrel Head Brewhouse, Bartlett
Hall Brewing, Beach Chalet Brewing & Restaurant, Black Hammer Brewing Co.,
Black Sands Brewery, Cellarmaker Brewing Co., Ferment. Drink. Repeat, Fort
Point Beer Co., Harmonic Brewing, Headlands Brewing Co., Holy Craft Brewery,
Laughing Monk Brewing Co., Local Brewing Co., Magnolia Brewing Co., Old Bus
Tavern, Pine Street Brewery, San Francisco Brewing Co., Seven Stills Brewery
& Distillery, Social Kitchen & Brewery, Southern Pacific Brewing Co.,
Southpaw BBQ, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Standard Deviant Brewing LLC,
Sufferfest Beer Co., Sunset Reservoir Brewing Co., ThirstyBear Organic Brewery,
Triple Voodoo Brewery & Tap Room and Woods Beer Co.
East Bay
Alameda Island Brewing Co., Ale
Industries, Altamont Beer Works, Auburn Alehouse, Benoit-Casper Brewing Co.,
Berryessa Brewing Co., Bison Brewing Co., Black Diamond Brewery, Calicraft
Brewing Co., Cleophus Quealy Beer Co., Diving Dog Brewhouse, Drake’s Brewing
Co., E.J. Phair Brewing Co., East Brother Brewing Co., Eight Bridges Brewing,
Elevation 66 Brewing Co., Epidemic Ales, Farm Creek Brewing Company, Federation
Brewing, Ghost Town Brewing, Heretic Brewing Co., High Water Brewing, Hoppy
Brewing Co., Knee Deep Brewing Co., Lucky Devil Brewing, Mare Island Brewing
Co., New Helvetia Brewing Co., Novel Brewing Co., Ol’ Republic Brewery, Pacific
Coast Brewing Co., Rubicon Brewing Co., Ruhstaller Brewing & Taproom,
Schubros Brewery, Sudwerk Brewing, Tahoe Mountain Brewing Co., Temescal Brewing
Co., The Rare Barrel, Track 7 Brewing Co., Triple Rock Brewing Co., Trumer
Brauerei and Working Man Brewing Co.
North Bay
101 North Brewing Co., Anderson
Valley Brewing Co., Bear Republic Brewing Co., Cooperage Brewing Co., Eel River
Brewing Co., Fogbelt Brewing Co., HenHouse Brewing Co., Iron Springs Pub &
Brewery, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Lost Coast Brewery, Mad Fritz Beer, Mad River
Brewing Co., Moonlight Brewing Co., Moylan’s Brewing Co., Napa Smith Brewery,
North Coast Brewing Co., Old Redwood Brewing Co., Petaluma Hills Brewing Co.,
Plow Brewing Co., Russian River Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Sonoma
Springs Brewing Co., St. Florian’s Brewery, Stumptown Brewery, Third Street
Aleworks and Woodfour Brewing Co.
South Bay
Alpha Acid Brewing Co., Alvarado
Street Brewing & Grill, Armstrong Brewing Co., Blue Oak Brewing Company,
LLC, Camino Brewing Co., Campbell Brewing Co., DasBrew, Inc., Devil’s Canyon
Brewing Co., Discretion Brewing, El Toro Brewing Co., Firestone Walker Brewing
Co., Freewheel Brewing Co., Golden State Brewery, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.,
Hermitage Brewing Co., Hop Dogma Brewing Co., Loma Brewing Co., New Bohemia
Brewing Co., Palo Alto Brewing Co., Santa Clara Valley Brewing, Santa Cruz
Mountain Brewing, Strike Brewing Co., Tied House Brewery & Cafe and
Uncommon Brewers.
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