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San Francisco Beer Week is a Mecca for Brewers and Aficionados alike.

It’s a Friday evening and I’m inside the Forum Room of the Yuerba Buena Center for Arts Opening Gala of San Francisco Beer Week. The room is packed with tables encircling the parameter. Every inch of table space is covered with promotional schwag; beer taps with brewers pouring two-three different hand crafted beers. I stroll amongst the various brewery tables and notice the sense of camaraderie that’s in the room. Craig Wathen of City Beer is conversing with Claudia Davis of 21st Amendment. Master brewers mingle with patrons. Local legends like Dave Keene, of the Toronado, socializes with various brewers while even pioneering craft brewer Don Barkley pours his own creations from Napa Smith Brewery taps. “We loved the strong sense of community surrounding San Francisco Beer Week. Everyone was enthusiastic and engaging in the creative exchange of ideas with one another, which made for a vibrant calendar of unique events. The heart of the beer community is full of locally owned businesses dedicated to the craft,” explains Beth Wathen of City Beer.

In its second year running, SFBW has grown at least double the events from the 2009, and that’s not by accident. Couple the event’s success with the explosion of social media tools and the overwhelming growth of the craft beer industry, and you have a recipe for success. According to the Brewers Association, overall craft beer sales grew from $6.32 in 2008 to $6.98 billion in 2009. Not mention that in 2009 there were more than 1,585 active breweries in America, the highest since before Prohibition. Then there are social media tools like Twitter to catapult events to help build a following and camaraderie in the craft beer community. “I followed the buzz pretty closely on Twitter and the steady flow of conversation really helped create a buzz and confirmed the feeling that there were great events happening simultaneously everyday,” says Dave McLean of Magnolia Brew and Gastropub. There was even a free SFBW iPhone application to help attendees to navigate the 230 plus events.

Of course, with over 230 events taking place, it’s hard to get to all of the events. But, as I navigated and studied the schedule and netted out at some great events to attend. As K. M. Weaver of HopPress said, “No matter what events you ultimately decide to attend, you’re going to be missing out on something great.” A few of my favorite events were the charcuterie and beer pairing night at Magnolia Brewpub, the sampling of Strong Beer month at 21st Amendment and Magnolia and the closing ceremonies at the Trumer Brauaerei. But, there was also The Barley Wine Festival at Toronado, The Double IPA festival at The Bistro in Hayward.

The charcuterie and beer pairing night at Magnolia Brewpub was not to be missed. The flight of meat and beer included six different meats and six different beers ranging from a potted pork paired with the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild Imperial Common, a fantastic Salame Gentile paired with their Kalifornia Kolsch, to my favorite the Sweetbread Terrine paired with the Cole Porter.

The next event I attended was at 21st Amendment to take part in sampling of some really nice strong beers that included the Two Lane Blacktop IPA and the 21st Amendment and Elisabeth Street Brewing collaboration Imperial Jack, a strong bitter beer named in honor of ESB’s Richard Brewer-Hay’s late grandfather Jack. “Having a beer that I collaboratively brewed with the 21st Amendment guys was the personal highlight and a true honor,” noted Brewer-Hay. I could not agree more, definitely one of the highlight beers of the Strong Beer Month offerings.

A few days later, and the one event that’s not to be missed each year, is the always action-packed Barley Wine Festival at the Toronado. Now in its 17th year, the Barley Wine Festival offers 48 barley wines from all over, and is judged by a selection of top local beer judges. What I like about this event is that I can order small samplers of really good barely wine’s that I’ll never get a chance to taste otherwise. Not too mention that I can order a sausage next door and pair it with a really tasty barely wine. This year’s winners included: 1st Place: Big Woody, Glacier Brewhouse, 2nd Place: Abacus Blend, Firestone Walker, 3rd Place: Old Gnarlywine 2008, Lagunitas Brewing and the Honorable Mention: ODB, Oskar Blues Brewing.

Over the bridge in Hayward, the Bistro held its 10th annual Double IPA festival. $35.00 gets you access to the event and a souvenir glass to sample five of the 58 double, triple and Imperial IPAs on tap, nearly all of them from California. Just like the Barley Wine Festival, all of the beers are judged and are given ribbons. This year’s winners included the following: 1st Place: Welcome Back Wipeout IPA, Pizza Port Brewing, 2nd Place: HopSauce, Rubicon Brewing and 3rd Place: II Max Imperial IPA, Triple Rock Brewing. And, of course, The People’s Choice Award went to “cultish” Russian River Pliny the Younger.

Of course, a big festival like this deserves a big closing out party and that was the Closing Ceremony and the Celebrator News Magazine’s Anniversary Party held at the Trumer Pils Brauerei out in Berkeley. Again, another array of beers were on tap for the patrons, some tasty barbecue, and tours of the Braurerei. Some of my favorite beers on tap included the new Ranger IPA from New Belgium, San Diego’s Mission Breweries double IPA, the Stone Old Guardian, Lagunitas Red and the always-satisfying Pliny the Elder from Russian River.

Luckily, San Francisco Beer Week is only a weeklong. After hydrating and plenty of sleep, I’m ready for next year’s event. As Beth Wathen puts it, “San Francisco — the luscious beauty and full commitment to local flavor the lovely city offers — makes a wonderful destination for beer lovers to unite and embrace their joy over beer. Who doesn’t want to add another stamp to their passport book in the name of fine brew?” 2011, here we come!

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