You could say it feels like beer week every week. But when someone slaps on a very official "Beer Week" label, you know these seven days will hold some good times for you. SF's second Beer Week kicks off this Friday—and since you can't be in 200 places at once, we've put together our top picks for you.
This weekend, if you work your way through Anchor & Hope's 60-plus beer list with rarities like Allagash Curieux and Anchor Old Foghorn, a dollar from each one will go to earthquake relief in Haiti. So in the spirit of good will, keep the rounds coming.
A feast ranging from confit of veal tongue to Thunderpussy ice cream (we won't tell you what's in that) prepared by Chez Panisse vet chefs is appetizing enough. Add brews from Magnolia as well as a roster of Dogfish Head beers never before poured on the West Coast, and you've got one amazing dinner.
You can expect 21A's IPA and Watermelon Wheat by the can on Monday—all for $2 each. Other brews in the lightweight, shatterproof container lineup include pale and brown ales from Oskar Blues, Anderson Valley, Buckbean, Uncommon and Big Sky. Think of them like kegs, only single-serve.
If you're lacking a little Temptation, Supplication and Damnation in your life, we suggest grabbing a stool at Pi Bar, where these cult wine-barrel-aged beers and ales will be flowing. Russian River's releasing Pliny the Younger and Rejection—it's their Valentine's beer, but don't read too much into it.
The only abbey brewery in the US will be pouring three unhopped beers at Monk's Kettle. They'll pit these brews flavored with redwood tips, bergamot and mugwort against a cask of Misspent Youth (their hoppiest pale ale, and the story of your life). Cedar-plank seared scallops will be on hand for pairing, though you can never go wrong with the giant pretzel with cheddar ale sauce.
Seven courses of everything from Lamb Merguez Crepinettes to Duck Liver Ravioli paired with beers from nine breweries—the last "beer" being a flight of imperial stouts aged in three different whiskey barrels. Not quite 99 bottles of beer, but real close by our estimation.
We're not sure about eating 20 dozen oysters in one sitting, but drinking a stout brewed with 20 dozen Hog Island Sweetwaters sounds entirely doable. Pair a few pints with actual oysters prepped raw, fried, marinated, BBQ'ed or in chowder, then call it dinner.
If this weekend's Guinness Ginger Bread Ice Cream was any indication, the guys at Humphry Slocombe have a way with churning up tasty beer-laden ice creams. To honor Beer Week they'll turn two dozen craft brews into new flavors and release them over the course of the week...slow and steady like a morphine drip.
