Imperial Common: One Beer to Drool Them All

There's no turning back now. You felt that disturbance in the Force, yesterday. It was the brewing of the SFBW10 official beer. The beer is a collaborative brew from the SF Brewers Guild. Yesterday morning, we mashed in at 6 AM at Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, and by the end of the day, 30 barrels of Imperial Common had been brewed. A lager fermented at SF's ambient temperature, it's going to be a beautiful, copper-colored, 10% abv beer aged in St. George Spirits whiskey barrels. A little juniper might sneak into the barrels, too. There'll be a tapping ceremony at the SF Brewers Guild Opening Gala on February 5th, and the beer will be on tap during SF Beer Week at great beer bars and restaurants throughout the Bay Area. Get thirsty.

SF Beer Week planning is still rolling along. Here are a few exciting events being added to the calendar.

• Beer dinners at Spruce, Scala's Bistro, and Starbelly
• Week-long beer pairing tasting menus at Starbelly and Delarosa
• Pre-Superbowl Beerunch at Kelly's Mission Rock with Mateveza, Dogfish Head, and others
• A beer and jazz event at CODA, the Mission jazz club.
• Events at Beer Revolution, a brand-new beer bar in Oakland to open in time for SFBW10
• Homebrewing demonstrations and "Environmentalism and Homebrewing" roundtable at Seven Bridges Organic Homebrew Supply Co-op in Santa Cruz

If you're pin(t)ing for more information on these events and on SFBW10, your wishes are our command, as we're about to unveil our new supercharged website. www.sfbeerweek.org, the little website that could, is about to "go to eleven." During the last week of the month, it's gonna go live with a calendar, maps, video, apps, lions, tigers, and bears. Oh, the suspense!

Keep in mind, SFBW10 runs February 5th through the 14th. Clear your calendars and take the week off work. SF Beer Week is presented by the SF Brewers Guild, and a big continuing thanks to our official sponsors 21st Amendment, Gordon Biersch, Magnolia, Speakeasy, and ThirstyBear. Go grab a beer at any of them, and tell 'em SF Beer Week says thanks.

Curing what ales ya,
Rich Higgins
Lobbyist, SFBW for America