San Francisco Craft Beer Festival
Writing a food blog is hard work. There is all that cooking once you get done with all that shopping. Then there is the food styling and photography. When that is finished there is the writing and posting. So it is nice when a perk comes your way to reward you for all the hard work. That was the case last week when my editor (thank you, Paul) and I were invited to attend the San Francisco Craft Beer Festival at Fort Mason last Sunday. We enjoyed four hours of tasting over 150 craft beers, meads and ciders from over 75 breweries. It was a pleasure to taste the diverse brews from both local and national breweries as well as indulging in food from some of ‘Off The Grid’s’ local food vendors. Good beer is big in the Bay Area and judging by the enthusiastic and substantial crowd that showed up on Sunday it is getting even bigger!
Here are some pictures from the festival along with some practical tips.
Dress appropriately…casual is the order of the day. Try not to feel guilty that March in San Francisco can look like this:
Plan your order of attack. It is possible that you will get around to trying 150 different brews, but if you can’t, try to seek out the ones that you never tried before or are not as readily available.
On the other hand, sometimes there is nothing like indulging in your old favorite standby.
Observe the cards that describe what you are tasting. Take notes so you can remember what you liked (or didn’t like). You are on your way to becoming a Cicerone!
Stop and have a bite to eat then push on!
Take a break for a little music and games.
Ask questions, mingle, make a new friend and have a good time.
We attended the San Francisco Beer Festival as guests of Mad Dog Presents but the views and opinions we shared are as always, our own. You can visit www.handcraftedtasting.com for more information on other festivals.
WOW! Now that looks amazing!!