Northern California is known the world over for its wine, but beer is coming on strong from a variety of brewers, which has become cause for celebration. All around San Francisco this week, beer enthusiasts are getting their fill with a weeklong tribute to suds.
San Francisco Beer Fest is a series of events that brings beer makers like Santa Rosa’s Russian River Brewing Company into the city for theme nights at bars like the Toronado in the Lower Haight.
“From the brewers perspective, San Francisco beer week is about getting the brewers, the bars, the restaurants, the bottle shops and the consumers all together, meeting, greeting, drinking and just having a great time while promoting American craft beer at its best,” says Natalie Cilurzo, who owns and operates the Russian River Brewing Company with her husband Vinnie Cilurzo.
The key to SF Beer Week is that these are craft beers and there’s an impressive buzz around the city for an event in just its second year. “It’s pretty amazing that in the second year this thing has really taken off,” says Toronado owner David Keene, adding, “there is an amazing amount of events and what’s amazing to me is the amount of restaurants who have picked this up.”
