Scenes from SF Beer Week 2020 Preview Event Featuring East Bay and North Bay Breweries

SF Beer Week 2020 is coming up, beginning Friday, Feb. 7 with the Opening Gala and continuing through Sunday, Feb. 16.

Earlier this week, Andrea and I had the good fortune of attending an SF Beer Week preview event at the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley Marina, featuring about a dozen or so breweries from the East Bay and North Bay.

What a pleasure meeting – and chatting with – Lars Larson, master brewer at Trumer Brewery in Berkeley…

and with Trumer Brewery’s Field Marketing Manager Chrissy Reinthaler.

I tasted their Märzen – twice. Having enjoyed a fair share of Märzens over the years, the Trumer Märzen vaulted to being one of my favorites of the style.

Trumer Märzen debuted this past Oktoberfest season as Doppelgänger Märzen and served as their first new beer – after the legendary Trumer Pils, of course – since the opening of the Berkeley brewery 15 years prior in 2004.

According to Lars, look for another new beer to be released in time for SF Beer Week – Doppelgänger Doppelbock (6.6%, 24 IBU), brewed with Aurora, Tradition and Spaet hops with Pilsner, Munich, Caramel and Chocolate malts.

Plus, Trumer will once again host the invitational ‘Celebration of Craft‘ beer festival with over 30 California breweries on Saturday, Feb. 15 and will pour:

• Trumer Pils
• Unfiltered Trumer Pils
• Dry Hopped Trumer Pils
• Doppelgänger Doppelbock
• Doppelgänger Infused Doppelbock

Oh, and the Märzen paired beautifully with Korean glazed chicken wings (gochujang honey glaze, sesame seeds, chive) prepared by the hotel’s onsite restaurant The Berkeley Boathouse.

Russian River Brewing Company Intinction, ale aged in Merlot barrels with Merlot grapes…

which paired well with The Berkeley Boathouse’s Brussels Sprouts (kung pao sauce, peanut, sesame and chili threads) on multiple levels thanks to the beer’s tart and earthy notes.

There was also a mockup of a bottled Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Younger Triple IPA. After its first release 16 years ago in 2005, Pliny the Younger has been available on a limited basis each year on draft only. This year, Younger will be available on draft for the first time at their new Windsor location (which opened in October 2018) and will also be bottled for the first time.

The bottles, to be packaged in Russian River Brewing’s signature 510ml bottles, will be available at the start of SF Beer Week (Friday, Feb. 7) at their two breweries – the aforementioned Windsor location and their downtown Santa Rosa brewpub. Check their recent post for detailed Pliny the Younger bottle purchasing information.

Original Pattern Brewing out of Oakland will be hosting a number of SF Beer Week events along with special beer releases, including:

• Splatter Pattern West Coast IPA (7.4%) – Collaboration with Ghost Town Brewing, tropical, passionfruit, grapefruit, berries, dank, New Zealand Moutere, Mosaic hops.
• Hazelnut Nectar Hazelnut Brown Ale (6%) – Collaboration with Jack London Brewing District (Federation, Oakland United, Independent), hazelnuts, caramel, chocolate.
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Wee Man Wee heavy (9%) – Bourbon, vanilla, caramel, dried fruit, malty.
• Alien Outrage IPA (6.9%) – Stonefruit, citrus, pine, Idaho 7, Citra, Centennial hops.
• Clouds of Cashmere Hazy IPA (7%) – Pineapple, passionfruit, Cashmere, Mosaic, Idaho 7 hops.
• Punk Rock Saves Lives Hazy Pale Ale (5.5%) – Berries, citrus, Mosaic, Citra hops, a charity fundraiser.
• Into the Darkness Nitro Stout (6.8%) – Chocolate, roast, caramel, served on nitro.

Original Pattern Brewing Company head brewer Andy Crocker, founder & owner Max Silverstein and sales and operations manager Tim Bokanowski.

New beers slated for release from Oakland’s Temescal Brewing for SF Beer Week include:

• Two ‘Fresh Concept IPA’ collaborations with Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse and Humble Sea Brewing Company – each exploring the boundaries between ‘West Coast’ and ‘Hazy.’
• Two Temescal Pils variants – Rose Pils and Barrel-Fermented Pils.

Temescal Brewing founder Sam Gilbert pouring Temescal Pils Barrel Fermented Pilsner.

The beer releases from West Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing include:

• Idealist Hazy Double IPA (8.2%) – Experimental 10416, Citra hops.
• Realist West Coast Double IPA (8.3%) – Sultana, Mosaic hops.
• Subduction Hoppy Pilsner (5.8%) – Nelson, Strata hops.
• Hericide IPA (7.2%) – Galaxy, Mosaic hops.

Ghost Town Brewing co-founder Ryan Nosek and head brewer Justin Burdt.

Drake’s Brewing Company out of San Leandro will be extra busy during SF Beer Week with a plethora of events. In addition to the events will be four special release beers:

• Rice Stratasphere IPA (7%) – Bay Area Brewers Guild East Bay Chapter collaboration, Strata, Citra, Denali hops with jasmine rice added.
• There Can Only Be Hops West Coast IPA (7%) – Collaboration with Beachwood Brewing, Chinook, modern Citra hops and a bit of Simcoe cryo.
• Kinda Special Bitter Classic English Bitter (5%) – Collaboration with HenHouse Brewing.
• D.G.T. Crispy Boi Lager (4.5%) – Collaboration with Ghost Town and Temescal Brewing, Extra Pale Pilsner malt, Chinook, Mosaic, German Amarillo hops.

Drake’s Brewing brewmaster John Gillooly and Tour & Education Manager Eric Ortega.

Richmond’s East Brother Beer Co. will be participating in a number of events during SF Beer Week. Special beer week releases include:

• English Strong Ale (7.5%): Rich malt flavor, notes of caramel and dark fruit.
• California Common (7.8%): Collaboration with Admiral Maltings and GigaYeast, classic Cluster hop profile full of floral and spice.

East Brother Beer Co. sales manager Jarrod Jayne.

Berkeley’s The Rare Barrel will host a number of special events and will be open each day of SF Beer Week (they’re typically closed Monday to Wednesday). Look for their first release using the smaller 375ml bottle size, starting with Map of the Moon, a golden sour beer aged in oak barrels with fresh apricots. Future bottled releases will most likely come in these 375ml bottles to provide ‘more accessibility and approachability’ to their beers.

The Rare Barrel chief operating officer Danielle Byers.

I also chatted with Sonoma Springs Brewing Company operating partner Robert Raney. Sonoma Springs will release their Triple IPA during SF Beer Week.

SF Beer Week media outreach Gail Ann Williams and Bay Area Brewers Guild executive director Joanne Marino, who has led the way in unifying the local brewery regions (San Francisco, Silicon Valley, North Bay, Coast and East Bay) under one Bay Area umbrella.

Last tasting – Temescal Brewing Barrel Aged Dessert Imperial Stout with Coffee…

which paired perfectly with lemon creme brulee.

Thank you to the Bay Area Brewers Guild for having us out, the DoubleTree by Hilton for the venue and hospitality and to the brewery folks who indulged my questions. Wished that I was able to visit with all the breweries at the preview.

Looking forward to Beer Week.

Cheers! Prost! Gunbae!

~Andy