San Diego Beer Week
San Diego recently completed a hugely successful inaugural Beer Week. Over 40 breweries participated in 300 beer events across San Diego County for ten days. “It was amazing to see the community support our local craft beer industry in such a strong way. The buzz was great and I think a lot of new people were exposed to San Diego’s beer scene,” says Colby Chandler, President, San Diego Brewers Guild.
San Diego Beer Week was hosted by the San Diego Brewers Guild, a non-profit consortium of local breweries with the common goal of promoting the region’s craft beer. “A few other cities have hosted Beer Weeks and we felt that it was our time to showcase San Diego craft beer on a larger scale,” says Colby. Building on the momentum of being named the country’s top beer city by Men’s Journal, San Diego Beer Week propelled craft beer into the spotlight by hosting hundreds of beer events at 40 local bars, 45 restaurants, and 10 hotels. Additional events were held at more than 20 local breweries and several specialty liquor stores.
“We were amazed to see the response for San Diego Beer Week,” says Jeff Rossman of Terra restaurant in Hillcrest. “We had people coming in asking for local beer. The demand was so great that we’ve decided to only serve San Diego beers going forward.” Similar stories were heard across the county, with participating bars and restaurants reporting an increase in sales and a groundswell of demand for craft beer. San Diego Beer Week hotel partners also stated an increase in sales during this usually slow period, noting an interest in beer tourism to the region specifically for Beer Week.
Events throughout Beer Week ranged from cask nights to beer dinners. Highlights included the Brewers Guild Festival kick-off event, where more than 80 local beers were poured. Due to popular demand, the festival was expanded into three sessions over two days. Two thousand people attended the event—a 30% increase in attendance over 2008. Beer Week concluded with the Chef Celebration of San Diego Beers where sixteen local chefs paired small bites with eight local breweries. Guests were also invited to attend seminars on cooking with beer and beer 101, presented by chef panelists from The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, O’Brien’s Pub, and Roseville in Point Loma. The event was so well received that plans are in the works to expand the concept next year.
“Our first Beer Week was a great success and I am proud of the way our brewing community came together to pull it all off,” says Colby. “In 10 days, we managed to host more than 55 beer dinners, 30 cask nights, 25 meet-the-brewers, and so many other unique events. I know that Beer Week is only going to improve going forward.” The San Diego Brewers Guild plans on hosting Beer Week annually, with next year’s festivities taking place November 5-15, 2010. For a complete list of events, photos, videos, and information on how to get involved next year, visit the official website, sdbw.org. Cheers.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
