Brewing As A Gateway
Brewing is one of humanity's oldest and most sophisticated culinary arts. Like every great culinary tradition, brewing rewards not only technical skill, but an endless appetite to keep learning.
Yet even among those of us who spend our lives talking about beer, our conversations often become surprisingly narrow. We debate hop varieties and forms, celebrate the return of local maltsters, and argue over genetically modified yeast strains or water chemistry. These are worthy conversations—that’s why we've explored many of them here in The Brew Deck.
But spend enough time around accomplished brewers and a pattern begins to emerge. The people who become obsessed with brewing rarely stay obsessed with brewing alone.
The brewer who begins as a homebrewer obsessing over classic Belgian styles eventually finds themselves making sourdough, asking questions about koji, tasting natural wines, roasting their own coffee, talking to cheesemakers, or spending time back in their home kitchen attempting to master different kimchi recipes.
This isn't a coincidence.
The better you understand fermentation, the better brewer you become. Eventually, that curiosity refuses to stay inside the brewhouse.
During the sourdough renaissance of 2020, many of us who had spent years around craft beer experienced a strange sense of déjà vu. Suddenly everyone seemed to be feeding starters, discussing hydration level, and proudly sharing photos of their perfectly imperfect first loaves. This was a familiar flavor of joyful obsession. Two decades earlier it revolved around mash temperatures, typical beer ingredients, and homebrew club meetings. The medium had changed. The curiosity-fueled thrill of DIY exploration had not.
It is no accident that so many of the Bay Area's most accomplished brewers are also deeply interested in wine, bread, cheese, coffee, chocolate, sake, and fermented foods from around the world. Once you begin to understand fermentation as a living process—part science, part art—the boundaries between these disciplines begin to dissolve.
Perhaps no Bay Area brewery embodies that instinct more completely than Barebottle. Even today, every Barebottle label carries the beer recipe and often the name of the brewer who developed it—a quiet reminder that the company still thinks like a homebrew club as much as a production brewery.
When the Barebottle team began planning their tenth anniversary, they could have done what most breweries do: release a commemorative IPA, throw a party in the taproom, and call it good.
Instead, Barebottle chose to celebrate the broader world of fermentation that first inspired its founders to become brewers.
That's the idea behind Suds Francisco: A Funk & Fermentation Festival.
Over the past month, we've introduced you to some of the remarkable people who will help bring that idea to life: the sake brewers, sourdough bakers, kombucha producers, kimchi makers, breweries, winemakers, musicians, and other fermentation artisans who have each devoted themselves to mastering a different craft. If you missed those introductions, they're well worth a read before you join us at Salesforce Park.
On Sunday, August 23, roughly twenty-five outstanding breweries will be joined by sake makers, kombucha producers, sourdough bakers, chocolatiers, kimchi producers, winemakers, and other fermentation artisans from across the Bay Area. Not because these crafts are separate from brewing, but because they are part of the same long conversation about culture, preservation, flavor, tradition, and transformation.
There may be no American city where that conversation feels more at home than San Francisco.
Around here, we all know modern craft brewing begins with Northern California Steam Beer. Long before that, San Francisco sourdough became one of the country's defining travel-worthy culinary traditions. Today, that same spirit animates companies like Sequoia Sake, Rize Up Bakery, Volcano Kimchi, Wise Jun Kombucha, Dandelion Chocolate, and dozens of other craftspeople whose work continues to shape the region's culinary identity.
Suds Francisco celebrates what happens when people devote themselves to mastering a culinary art.
It turns homebrewers into lifelong students.
It encourages conversations across disciplines, revealing common ground between brewers, chefs, bakers, sake makers, cheesemakers, chocolatiers, coffee roasters, and kimchi producers.
It creates communities of craftspeople who recognize one another's curiosity, even when they work in different mediums.
At the Bay Area Brewers Guild, we spend a great deal of time thinking about beer. Increasingly, we've come to believe that one of the best ways to celebrate beer is to place it back where it has always belonged: alongside the other great fermentation traditions that continue to define how—and why—we gather around food and drink.If this way of thinking about beer resonates with you, we hope you'll join us at Salesforce Park on August 23.
To celebrate, we're reopening our Brew Deck subscriber discount for 100 additional readers.
Enter code WeWantTheFunk to unlock discounted VIP tickets, or simply click here: Reveal Brew Deck VIP Tickets 🎟️🎟️🎟️🎟️🎟️🎟️
We can't wait to welcome you to Salesforce Park on Sunday, August 23.
Meet the Makers Before You Meet Them in Person
Before August 23, take a few minutes to get to know the people behind the festival:
- 🍶 Five Fermentation Masters Coming to Suds Francisco — Meet some of the sake brewers, bakers, fermented food producers, and artisans who inspired the festival's lineup. Five Fermentation Masters Coming to Suds Francisco
- 🎸 The Sound of Suds Francisco — Why a P-Funk All-Star and one of San Francisco's most exciting emerging artists are headlining the afternoon. The Sound of Suds Francisco
See Everyone Who Will Be Joining Us At Suds Francisco
Want to see every brewery, bakery, winery, sake producer, kombucha maker, chocolatier, coffee roaster, and fermented food artisan joining us at Salesforce Park?
View the complete participant list here →https://SudsFrancisco26.eventbrite.com
🍻 Upcoming Events Featuring Our Member Breweries
🎉 Public Events This Week!
Saturday, 8/8—Cavalcade and Backyard Grand Opening by Old Caz
(Petaluma, CA)
The grand opening of Old Caz Brewing's new "Backyard" location in Petaluma. The festivities start at 10AM with a "Cavalcade" from the brewery's SoMo Taproom in Rohnert Park to the new spot.
More Info –> Grand Opening & Bike Ride in Petaluma!
Sunday, 8/9—Harmonic Jam at Harmonic Thrive City
(San Francisco, CA | 11AM - 6PM)
Sip delicious Harmonic brews on the Chase Center Thrive City Esplanade while enjoying an afternoon of free live music from a number of artists, including Stu Allen & Mars Hotel.
More Info –> Harmonic Jam at the Chase Center!
Sunday, 8/9—Pet Adoption at Discretion Brewing
(Soquel, CA | Noon - 5PM)
Animal Shelter Relief Rescue Santa Cruz will be bringing adorable adoptable animals to the Discretion beer garden this Sunday. Live music from JADe Trio starts at 3PM.
More Info –> Find Your Next Pet in Soquel!
📅 Save the Dates
Wednesday, 8/12—Country Karaoke Night at Del Cielo
(Livermore, CA)
Country Karaoke Night is taking over DC's Livermore Taproom. Whether you’re ready to belt out a heartbreak ballad, a country classic, or your favorite sing-along hit, the mic is yours.
More Info –> Country Karaoke in Livermore!
Saturday, 8/15—Lúpulo Brew Fest: IPA Block Party at Del Cielo!
(Martinez, CA | 1PM - 5PM)
DC's 3rd Annual Lúpulo Brew Fest is back featuring an incredible lineup of IPAs from 15+ breweries, live music by Inner State 80's. Proceeds from the festival benefit Bay Area Bike Project.
Tickets & More Info –> IPA Block Party In Martinez!
Saturday, 8/15—Pitch-A-Friend at Headlands Brewing!
(Walnut Creek, CA | 8PM)
Think "Shark Tank" only your friends are pitching you!
Sign Ups & More Info –> Pitch-A-Friend In Walnut Creek!
Saturday, 8/15—Virtuoso IPA Release Party and Concert at HenHouse Brewing!
(Santa Rosa, CA | 6PM - 9:30PM)
To coincide with each new release from their Conservatory West Coast IPA Series, HenHouse is hosting a monthly musical showcase featuring 4 local bands.
More Info –> Virtuoso Showcase In Santa Rosa!
Sunday, 8/23—SUDS FRANCISCO - A Funk & Fermentation Festival hosted by Barebottle Brewing at Salesforce Park!
(San Francisco, CA | 2PM-7PM)
A summertime celebration of funk and fermentation held beneath the SoMa skyline!
Tickets and More Info –> Suds Francisco 2026!
Saturday, 9/19—It's The Malt - Craft Malt Festival at Admiral Maltings!
(Alameda, CA | 1PM-5PM)
Admiral Maltings' third annual celebration of artisan beer, American Single Malt whiskey, floor-malting, and California grown grains.
Tickets and More Info –> It's The Malt 2026!