A couple of quick items before we get to the main event of this week’s newsletter: Foxtale Fermentation Project Heads Back to Television Our friends at Foxtale Fermentation Project are apparently becoming fixtures on culinary television. Following last week’s national appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Foxtale will
Last week, we discussed how many small breweries are evolving into hospitality-driven destinations where exceptional food, culture, and community come together around great beer. Apparently, we are not the only ones taking notice. Over the past few weeks, two Bay Area Brewers Guild member breweries received visits from some truly
Last week, we explored applied descriptive sensory, the practice of translating what you perceive into clear, specific language. That skill doesn’t just help you talk about beer more clearly. It’s also the first step toward unlocking one of beer’s greatest strengths: its unmatched versatility at the table.
Brewers don’t just taste beer for pleasure. They taste it with purpose. At the brewery level, sensory analysis—the scientific process of putting beer in front of trained tasters—is one of the most important quality-control tools we have. It helps ensure that every beer leaving the brewery is
Two weeks ago, we shared a survey through this newsletter and our Guild social media accounts. We were very pleased with the response: about 100 of you took the time to provide feedback, and most of your answers were thoughtful and detailed. Overall, your feedback was overwhelmingly positive. • 84% of
If you frequent the Bay Area’s leading brewery taprooms and beer bars, you have likely noticed an unusual faucet with a long horizontal handle that pulls toward the bartender. These are side-pull faucets, most famously made by the Czech manufacturer LUKR. They are a defining feature of beer culture
Hello Beer Friends, As 2026 SF Beer Week comes to a close, we want to begin with two simple words: Thank you. Because of your curiosity, your enthusiasm, your willingness to explore new neighborhoods, new breweries, new small businesses, and, of course, new beers, this year’s Beer Week was
Let’s start with the most important people to thank: you. Thank you to every single person who has chosen to spend part of their week celebrating Bay Area beer, community, and culture with us. Events like the amazing festival we enjoyed this past Saturday only exist because people like
One of the great joys of Beer Week is watching beer from small, independent breweries show up in places you’d never expect. For one incredible week each year, we expand our orbit and get reminded that great beer belongs everywhere. A Michelin-starred dining room. A one-of-a-kind neighborhood pinball museum.
Beer Week 2026 begins in just 10 days, and the countdown to the best 10 days of the year is officially underway. Beer Week works because, for one concentrated stretch of time, the Bay Area’s beer community moves together. Breweries, bars, retailers, and most importantly, beer drinkers align their
Sonoma County Models a Community-Grounded, Self-Renewing Beer Economy With FeBREWary underway and Beer Week on the horizon, Sonoma County’s beer advocates are once again showing us how thriving beer communities are built: slowly, deliberately, and together. In 2020, a national database ranked beer cities based on the quality and
Every February, as San Francisco Beer Week comes roaring back to life, it’s worth remembering how we got here. Beer Week did not begin as a marketing construct or a calendar placeholder. It started out more like a pilgrimage. Well before our app, before tap takeovers were passé, before
**Before we dive in, a quick reminder that our 2026 Beer Week collaboration brews begin this week, with public meet-ups following each brewday at the host breweries. You'll find details at the bottom of this email.** Roughly 18 years ago, the Bay Area beer scene experienced a paradigm
One idea we often return to at The Brew Deck is that beer styles are not fixed targets. They’re conversations — shaped by ingredients, technology, culture, and the people who show up to brew and drink them. That question was at the heart of a recent Brew Deck issue, “Should
The Brew Deck is back from our holiday hiatus, and with Beer Week approaching and clouds in our current forecasts, we figured now was a great time to dig into dark beer. The culinary world is fond of reminding us that we “eat with our eyes,” and the same is
Hello Beer Friends, As the year winds down, we just wanted to say thank you. In just a few short months, The Brew Deck has grown into a community of more than 20,000 Bay Area beer lovers, and we’ve been genuinely overwhelmed by your response. Together this year,
Last week, VinePair released its list of the 26 Best New Breweries of 2025. As usual, the Bay Area Brewers Guild was well represented, with two of our newest members, Livermore’s Heady Works Brewing and San Rafael’s Hidden Splendor Fine Beer Company, making the list. It was a
Guess what? You woke up this morning with just over seventy days between you and the country’s biggest and best regional beer celebration. SF Beer Week 2026 kicks off Friday, February 20th, and this year is going to be extra special. Your Subscriber-Only Perk Two years ago, the SF
As the holidays approach, many of us are searching for gifts that feel personal, thoughtful, and a little extraordinary. With that in mind, this year the Bay Area Brewers Guild would like to submit, for your gifting consideration, a category of beer ideally suited for the holiday season: The Keepsake
Last week, Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine released its annual accounting of the best breweries and beers, as voted on by the publication’s deeply knowledgeable readership and editorial staff. If you’re unfamiliar, Craft Beer & Brewing is the rare publication that blends technical rigor with genuine reverence for
