Beer Lovers Revel in S.F. Festival

By Jeyling Chou
Staff Writer

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

That single, drawn out syllable encompasses the glory that is the San Francisco International Beer Festival. It was the periodic, spontaneous cry of festival-goers who were allowed to drink their fill of 300 types of beer from around the world.

Throughout the three-hour, all-you-can-drink, all-you-can-eat bonanza at Fort Mason, we raised our tasting mugs high in the air and yelled at the top of our lungs. S.F. Beerfest brings out exuberance and wild abandon at its best.

All you can drink. All you can eat. Over 300 beers. I thought those facts were worth repeating.
It is unfortunate that this story is in the past tense, and we will all have to wait another year before Beer Fest comes to the city. Hundreds of eager beer enthusiasts were waiting outside Fort Mason in the blustery wind this past Saturday. Despite the massive turnout, it was a pretty exclusive event. At $60 a pop, tickets went on sale on St. Patrick’s Day and barely lasted 24 hours.

At around 6:30 p.m., they started to let people file in… to a holding corral with only a fence separating us from the beer and the all-you-can-drinking of it. The anticipation was barely containable. As maps of the stalls of beer and food were handed out, strategizing and road mapping commenced immediately. The boyfriend drew a beeline from one Belgian brewery to the next.

How successful we were at walking any kind of line within the next 45 minutes, however, was questionable.

Once the fences were open, I went straight for the Pizza Orgasmica stand. After one delicious slice of pizza, I filled my tiny tasting mug with a delicious stout. Then there was a porter. An ale of some sort from Germany, perhaps. Chimay. Yum, shrimp cocktail! IPA. A stout with the essence of double chocolate? Gimme. Pretzel sticks and mustard! Corndogs! Chicken wings!

Despite any initial sense of urgency about the time limit, believe me when I say that three hours is a long time. Long enough to necessitate two trips to the bathroom and to lose everyone in your party a few times and find them again.

When the clock struck 10, Beer Fest was sadly over. Post-Fest plans were somewhat dampened by the cold and relentless winds. Some of us poured out into the Marina bars. Some were doubtlessly carried by their friends to taxis and home. I, somehow, ended up at my friend’s warm apartment playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

It was a great time at a great event for a great cause. The money raised from Beer Fest went to fund the teaching and learning programs at the Telegraph Hill Cooperative Nursing School. Now I think that is just some kind of wonderful icing on the cake (or foam on the little tasting mug). If you missed it this year, experience it for yourself next year, my friends!