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Derek Mahoney, regional sales director for Ballast Point Brewing, pours beer during the kickoff of San Francisco Beer Week.
Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle
Sitting on a park bench just behind the Barebottle Brewing tent surrounded by beards and beanies, Burlingame resident Fermin Ballesteros was sharing a chicken and rice dish with his 5-year-old daughter, Quinn.
Ballesteros, his wife and their three kids had taken BART to San Francisco’s Salesforce Park; they’d heard about theSan Francisco Beer Weekevent from, of all people, their kids.
“My kids go to school with his kids,” said Ballesteros, 39, referring to the owner of Barebottle Brewing, a craft brewery with locations in Santa Clara and San Francisco thatrecently opened a taproom at the park atop the Transbay transit center.“There’s such good vibes here … and to see other parents with kids … you rarely have an event where you can take your kids to,anddrink.”
Quinn seemed to be enjoying herself too, though she couldn’t authoritatively say anything about the libations.
Adriana, who declined to give her last name, drinks Orange Nouveau sauvignon blanc by Woods Beer & Wine Co. during the kickoff of Beer Week. At left is Kelsey Morgan.
Noah Berger/Special to The ChronicleThe Salesforce Park event, which expected 1,000 visitors, kicked off a weeklong celebration of suds with hundreds of events around the Bay Area hosted by about 150 local craft breweries through the nonprofitBay Area Brewers Guild. Other kickoff events were held in the North Bay, East Bay and Silicon Valley, and on the coast.
For 39-year-old Kirby Jacobs and 45-year-old Angie Englert, both nurses who have been friends for 15 years, a day spent drinking outside in San Francisco was a welcome respite. Both were about six drinks deep, they said, and feeling great.
“We should drink more!” joked Englert, of Redwood City, as the two listened to the DJs planning dance floor funk, soul and pop favorites.
“I like the vibe,” said Jacobs, of Union City, adding that the two had gotten a hotel room for the night in San Francisco. “It feels mellow, but fun.”
Englert, who had never been to Salesforce Park, said she was taken with its beauty and with the excitement of being able to enjoy the sunshine with friends outside, with drinks in hand. Neither of them had been out much throughout the pandemic, they said.
They didn’t have much planned for the rest of the day, they said, except for one thing that was nonnegotiable: pizza.
Shay Clark drinks beer during the kickoff of Beer Week. At left is Lauren Phipps.
Noah Berger/Special to The ChronicleSporting a handmade trucker hat that said “Wet February,” San Francisco resident Steve Shapiro, who was enjoying the festivities with his wife, said he was there because he’s been a “beer appreciator for years.”
So much so, in fact, that the 72-year-old has penned a blog since the early 2000s about beer, called “Beer by Bart.” He had personalized cards on hand.
“Beer has always been the kind of beverage that people gather around,” he said. “When I was growing up, beer didn’t have much flavor, it just served as the lubricant for socializing.
“But in the last 25 years, it’s actually come into its own as a culinary art, where there are flavors all over that people who thought they didn’t like beer are finding things that they actually like,” he said.
Among the farthest travelers to the festivities may have been Whitney Beck, 26, and Pine Watt, 31, of Arroyo Grande (San Luis Obispo County). The couple drove to San Francisco on Saturday for beer week because Watt used to work for Barebottle and wanted to see its new location, he said.
Rebeca Rocha toasts with Daniel Arreguin and other friends.
Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle“This park feels like being in a forest or a garden above the clouds, elevated from the rest of the city,” said Watt, who still works in the beer industry.
Reach Annie Vainshtein:avainshtein@sfchronicle.com;Twitter: @annievain
Reach Carolyn Said: csaid@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @csaid
