Beverage Manufacturing

Beer Industry Reveals SF's Relationship With the Delicious Alcoholic Beverage

California legislators are considering pushing last call back by two hours, to 4 a.m. So what better time for the beer industry to release a study announcing its economic impact on the state? Fourteen states allow residents to buy alcohol past 2 a.m. But despite the Golden State's competitive disad ... More >>

Beer of the Week: Alesmith My Bloody Valentine

Listen, we like high-concept beer as much as anybody. If a brewer makes a beer that resurrects an ancient Mesopotamian yeast, then ages it at the bottom of the Caspian Sea for three years in a barrel with curry spices and snozzberries ... well, our ears would perk up. But sometimes it's nice to ackn ... More >>

Why American Craft Beer is Better Than Ever: A Brewer's Manifesto

When someone says "I don't like beer" my reaction is almost always the same: "Challenge accepted!" It's not that the so-called beer-hater doesn't like beer -- it's that they don't like any of the beers they've had up until now. Chances are, it's been a pretty narrow selection of what's out there. ... More >>

Wine Harvest Day Tripping in Sonoma County

Harvest time in wine country is quickly approaching and it's time to start making plans to head up north to "help" -- drink wine -- with this year's harvest. While you may be thinking about Napa Valley with its sleek tasting rooms and celebrity chefs, unassuming and rustic Sonoma has just as much to ... More >>

Bottles Up

Wine of the Week: Sonoma Rookie Hits the Big Leagues

There are thousands of wines vying for your attention. Napa Valley Vintners, the trade organization that promotes and protects the Napa Valley name and runs the preeminent Auction Napa Valley, boasts 431 members alone--and those are just the Napa-based wine brands that chose to join and pay dues. So ... More >>

Francis Ford Coppola and Corey Beck on the Winemakers That Inspire Them

SFoodie's Ben Narasin interviewed Francis Ford Coppola and his winemaker Corey Beck, for a he-said/he-said view of what making wine for and with the big man is all about. Thanks for talking with us. How active are you in the wine-making process, or the direction of that process? Coppola: I partic ... More >>

In Pursuit of Balance: Celebrate the California Wines That Get Amount of Alcohol Right

​At most gathering of wine-folk, talk eventually turns to the topic of high-alcohol wines. Personally, I'm not too opinionated on the matter just so long as the alcohol is in balance as an element of the wine. But that balance is harder to achieve as the alcohol content climbs higher. If a fr ... More >>

J Rosé's New Clear Bottle Helps Holidays Sparkle

Holiday party e-vites are filling our inboxs, and the calendar is already looking like a mostly completed crossword puzzle with lots of full boxes and only inconvenient white space. All those parties means hostess gifts, or, if you are the host or hostess, the gift of expectation -- the expectation ... More >>

Fresh Eats: Cameron Hughes' Lot 300 Cabernet Sauvignon Is a Delicious Bargain

Ales Unlimited Showcases Craft Brew, City Beer Store Expands

Given the increasing popularity of craft beer, you'd think there would be specialty brew shops in every neighborhood by now. But, despite years of booming industry growth, City Beer Store and Healthy Spirits have held their footing as the city's notable destinations for craft beer shopping outside o ... More >>

New California Law Gives Brewery Tasting Rooms a Break

Jason HenryDrake's Barrel House in San Leandro was built expensively under the old law​You walk into a brewery tasting room and order a sample. The beer is delicious, but you can't help noticing that the brewery doesn't have washable tile flooring and the cashier isn't far from the dishwasher. ... More >>

Dogpatch WineWorks Replaces Crushpad

​Since Crushpad left San Francisco last year for Wine Country, folks wanting to make their own wine in town have had to go it alone -- which, in most cases, meant not making wine. And ripe smells in the Dogpatch neighborhood unfortunately haven't been coming from fermenting grapes. But now, t ... More >>

Beer a Secret Weapon in Breast Cancer Fight, Hopes Breastfest

Breastfest​Fighters of breast cancer are again pulling out their secret weapon: beer. The annual Breastfest will soon be upon us, with more than 40 breweries, several hundred beers, and live music aligning on July 2 to fight one of the most feared diseases. We can't say truthfully that the mo ... More >>

New Book Teaches the Alcoholic Art of Beer Brewing

Just Brew It. ​The best part about beer has always been, hands down, drinking it. But for many thousands of Americans, brewing beer is just as rewarding. Brewing is an intellectual experience -- it's an art, a science, a study of history, a mastery of chemistry, and a craft. And while drinki ... More >>

Outside Lands Announces Local Food and Wine Lineup w/ Flour Water, Ritual Coffee, More

Christopher VictorioBecause this will make you hungry.​ Outside Lands has always made an effort to bring in highlights of the local food and wine scene to festival goers. Every year the offerings get a little bigger, and this year's festival is no different. For its return to a three-day forma ... More >>

Barrel-Aged Beers Are Pricey. Which Ones Are Worth It?

Alastair BlandAged in wood: Mikkeller's Big Worse, left, with Paradox Macallan from BrewDog.​A year ago, a second-hand bourbon or brandy barrel was running a brewer a hundred bucks on the American market. As of March 2011, the price hadn't changed, according to an industry source. But the bee ... More >>

Heartswork Winery WELL REaD 2009 California Red

At $5.99, this is one bottle that defies the common wisdom that no-sulfites-added wines justify a higher price.​A molecule called sulfur dioxide ― aka sulfites, a common preservative ― has become the crux of an ongoing disagreement between two schools of winemakers. Those who vouch for the ... More >>

The Best Barleywine? Our Panel Picks a Winner

Jesse Friedman/Beer and NoshAmerican barleywine daddy Fritz Maytag, at the Anchor Brewery he once owned.​What began more than three decades ago as a small-batch specialty beer made by a local beer hero has grown thunderously into perhaps the most cult-acclaimed craft beer style in America: the ... More >>

Look at Art, Then Drink It

bittermelon/FlickrThe Press Club is offering tastes of wines featured in SFMOMA's current exhibit.​How Wine Became Modern, SFMOMA's new exhibit on visual and design evolution in the wine world, is a fascinating look at both the aesthetics and processes of modern American winemaking, tracing th ... More >>

Today: Organic Brewers Converge on Ferry Building for Eco Tasting

MateVeza's organic India Pale Ale.​Between the World Series and Halloween we've got a lot to be excited about 'round here. If you have time between getting your Snooki or The Situation costume together and painting a sign with clever wordplay involving Jonathan Sanchez, take a moment to celebr ... More >>

Tour de Fat: Beer-Soaked Bikefest Rolls Saturday

Brian Yaeger"Remember, this is a bicycle festival with beer, not the other way around." Sure.​What do a 6-foot-tall carrot, Sasquatch, and a gang of nuns on bicycles have in common? Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing's annual lovefest for all things bicycle (and yeah, some beer). The Tour pedals ... More >>

NorCal Brewers Score Big at the Great American Beer Festival

Brian YaegerSocial Kitchen brewmaster Rich Higgins, manning the SF Brewers Guild booth in Denver.​As the 51-week wait for next year's 30th Great American Beer Festival begins, let's look back at the last few days in Denver, where 462 breweries converged inside the Colorado Convention Center, a ... More >>

Batch 19 Pre-Prohibition Lager: Party Like It's 1919

MillerCoors​With speakeasies, Savoy cocktails, and other early-20th century booze culture touchstones back in action, it's only natural beer should get roaring. We got our first taste of MillerCoors' new Batch 19 Pre-Prohibition Lager at the First Annual Giants Brewfest, an event showcasing lo ... More >>

How to Win Friends

Altoids Stout and Chipotle Mead: A Report from the National Homebrewers Conference

Homebrewers AssociationEvery year, beer hobbyists from all over show up to geek out.​MINNEAPOLIS ―Once a year, brewmasters take a back seat to those who brew in the trenches (read: kitchens or garages). At the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC), organized by the American Homebrewers Assoc ... More >>

Will the Sale of Anchor Mean the Death of Quality at S.F.'s Revolutionary Brand?

Brian YaegerFritz Maytag in 2005.​Why, Fritz ― why did you sell Anchor Brewing? And does it mean the end of an era for craft brewing both in San Francisco and across the nation? Of the 4,000 breweries operating in America at the end of the 19th century, a little over 1,500 were back up and ... More >>

Next Week: Crushpad Holiday Showcase to Feature 20 Boutique Wineries

​Crushpad (2573 Third St. at 22nd Street) is opening its doors next Thursday for its second annual San Francisco Wine Association Holiday Showcase. You'll be able to explore the wines of 20 boutique makers, and -- if you've never been -- see for yourself Crushpad's facilities, the city's locus ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Odwalla's Mojito Mambo

​It's rare that you'll spot SFoodie chillin' with a diet drink in hand, especially one sweetened with stevia, which is arguably what one might imagine a can of Raid to taste like. But Half Moon Bay's Odwalla health beverage company has made us reconsider with its nine-month-old Mojito Mam ... More >>

Love Vino? Hang Out on Facebook? It Could Land You a Gig with Sonoma Co. Winemaker

e.t via FlickrThe winning "lifestyle correspondent" will spend six months touting Murphy-GoodeCalling all Twitter addicts with a thing for wine: A Sonoma County winemaker wants to pay you a boatload of money simply to hang out, sip Zinfandel, and send tweets. Seriously. Okay, so it calls for a bit ... More >>

Wine & Beer Events, May 1-10

Monday's 100 Cabernets for $50 = 50 cents each (if you can taste that many).

Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: 2007 Trentatre Rosso

This tastes a bit like a rustic old-school Rioja.

Wine & Beer Events, March 20-28

The Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting is this week's hot ticket.

Wine & Beer Events, March 13-22

Tuesday is St. Patrick's Day ... maybe some Ch. McCarthy?

Wine Label War: EU vs. USA

"Champagne" is usually a bad sign on a bottle of California sparkling wine, anyway.

Cheap Wines That Don't Suck: 2005 Grange Tiphaine Touraine Bécarre

Bécarre is the French word for the natural sign (♮) in musical notation.

Wine Bar of the Week: Terroir

Terroir's wines are usually delicious, always interesting, and you won't see most of them elsewhere.

City Attorney Joins "SF Weekly = Nostradamus" Bandwagon

By Matt Smith Knowing a bandwagon when he sees one, City Attorney Dennis Herrera today indirectly proclaimed SF Weekly to be a newsprint-based All Being, All Knowing, Mistress of Sight and Sound.In a Dec. 18 press release titled "Herrera, AGs Reach Pact with MillerCoors to Stop Producing Alcoho ... More >>

Another San Francisco First: Resident Winemaker Tasting

Marketers, Law Enforcement Fulfill SF Weekly Prediction; Energy Beer Declared Stupid

Riding for Keeps

Spit or Swallow

The Golden Glass Cometh: Winemaker Dinner At Fifth Floor

Three-Course Beer Dinner At Monk's Kettle

The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty

Grapes, Without the Wrath

We read "Grape," the Chron's "serial saga," so you don't have to and uncover the world champion of pizza acrobatics

Miscellaneous

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