Craft beer's big week
Gone are the days when beer drinking was about generic brands in cans, elevated if embedded deeply in ice, and the lofty bottled imports that imparted visions of Belgium or Mexico.
Major innovation and hyperlocalism have left that simpler era far behind, particularly here on the West Coast where the proliferation of microbreweries outpaces that any other state.
SF Beer Week (SFBW) from Feb. 10 to 19 is a testament to a new day that fosters thoughtful ingenuity and community support. The celebratory tradition that started in 2009 highlights hundreds of Bay Area breweries, bars, restaurants and purveyors along with the enthusiasts who embrace them.
Pond Farm Brewing Co., the expansive indoor-outdoor tasting room and retail shop in San Rafael, is the event's official North Bay region SFBW Kick Off host. From 4:30 to 10 p.m. Feb. 10, it's holding a mini beer festival featuring tastings of a curated mix of special releases, live music and opportunities to meet the brewers. The Pond Farm kitchen is open for snacks, salads and sandwiches throughout the week.
Try the SFBW Collaboration Release, a multi-brewery limitededition Hazy Double IPA, and selections from around the Bay, including from fellow Marin craft brewers Adobe Creek Brewing and Indian Valley Brewing in Novato.
Johnny Doughnuts is getting in on the SFBW action from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 12 for a no-tickets-required, one-day beer and doughnut collaboration that pairs its newest flavor, a mini blood orange doughnut, with JD's Imperial Blood Orange Doughnut Sour, and a mini maple bar with Imperial Dark Mast Double Black Lager. The neighboring doughnut shop is also serving espresso drinks and a special “Everything Doughnut breakfast sandwich” with cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, capers and a lemon wedge.
Pond Farm Brewing Co. is at 1848 Fourth St. in the West End. Find the link to purchase tickets for two Feb. 10 Kick Off event time slots, a VIP session from 4:30 to 6 p.m. ($85) and for general admission from 6 to 10 p.m. ($65), at pondfarmbrewing.com. Both include unlimited tasters.
SF Beer Week is organized by and a fundraiser for nonprofit Bay Area Brewers Guild, a trade association whose mission is to support and promote local independent craft beer and breweries throughout the greater Bay Area. Peruse the hundreds of daily activities in dozens of towns and cities at SFBeerweek.org and select from a variety of events, rare tastings, unique pairings and other activities. All attendees must be 21 years of age or older and no pets are permitted during the event.
Monk's Kettle in Terra Linda also has a lineup of tasting festivities during SF Beer Week. Find the full schedule at monkskettle.com. SFBW coincides with the restaurant's introduction of expanded service to six days a week that includes half-priced kid's menu entrees on Mondays. Beginning Feb. 13, the restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays except for Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends with brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 655 Del Ganado Road in San Rafael.
Larkspur's latest
What was once a humble corner liquor store in Larkspur converted in
2018 to Gather wine bar, bottle shop and tasting room that closed two years later. That more refined course now continues with last week's opening of Internos Beer & Wine Bar.
Co-owner Adnan Daken sold his 11-year-old Laurel Heights neighborhood wine bar of the same name in 2017 (it later closed), and after 30 years in San Francisco, moved to Larkspur a year and a half ago. He zeroed in on his next wine bar location while driving down Magnolia Avenue.
“I loved the space and signed a lease a month or so later,” he says about his latest venture that is similar in style but smaller than the city original.
The focus is on wines from smaller producers in California, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Greece and France, Daken's favorite. These are offered by the bottle or by the glass in 5-ounce or half pours. Beers are from Belgium, Germany and smaller local brewers and come in the bottle, can or from eight taps holding brews from Russian River Brewing Co., Faction Brewing, HenHouse Brewing Co., Fieldwork Brewing Co. and Moonlight Brewing Co.
Food for now is limited to packaged snacks, but the intention is to finish the back room which will serve as a prep area for an expanded menu. For something more substantial, wine bar customers can bring their own or order delivery.
An interior remodel entailed removing the faux floors which revealed original hardwood, covering the walls with cedar wood and topping the bar with a wood slab that's lined with stools. A 12-seat high top table and a lounge area is in the works.
Hours are from 1 to 8 p.m. daily at 1110 Magnolia Ave. in Larkspur although may slightly adjust. The website internoswinebar. com is under construction.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@ gmail.com with news and recommendations and follow on Instagram @ therealdealmarin for more on local food and updates on the launch of The Real Deal Marin restaurant search guide.