Photo courtesy Kilowatt Brewing
Nomad Donuts were paired with Kilowatt Brewing’s beer during San Diego Beer Week 2018.
As November approaches, breweries, beer bars and craft aficionados across the county begin to buzz with talk of all the special events planned for San Diego Beer Week.
“It’s a week to celebrate the brewing community,” says Matthew Zirpolo, San Diego Brewers Guild president and Burgeon Beer Company owner. “Everything we have accomplished and all those who helped us get here.”
No matter which area of SD you live or work, there is likely a handful of events happening around you every day of Beer Week, which is November 1 to November 10. Beyond generic tap takeovers and tired keep-the-glass nights, there are fishing, arm wrestling and disc golf tournaments, a drag show, a dog show and a harbor cruise amid over 500 other beer and food pairing events. Sycuan Casino is even getting into it with a night of gambling where not only do they shuttle you out to their casino for free, but they also give you money to gamble with!
SDBW started in 2009 at the hands of a guy who bought the original sdbeerweek.com website on his cellphone over beers at Blind Lady Ale House. Andy Waer had a part-time gig pouring beers at BLAH, but working in the beer industry wasn’t his “day job.” A bigger beer nerd then than anyone I know today, Andy was San Diego’s first cicerone (a.k.a. beer sommelier).
Jeff Motch (co-owner BLAH, Tiger! Tiger!, Panama66) was in that initial discussion.
“I offered to design a logo,” Motch recalls. “And we’ve been 100% behind it ever since.”
Waer and friend Josh Sibelman (also nonindustry) took the logo and built a website to present to the Brewer’s Guild. After much hemming and hawing from mainly one local beer industry character over needing to include the Tourism Board, November was chosen, as this was said to be where tourism dropped.
“This should have been the sign to me that it was going to become something other than what we had envisioned,” Sibelman recalls. “Starting with the notion of celebrating local, artisanal businesses and seeing it get altered for the sake of money was a tough lesson.”
In cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia, Beer Weeks at that time were fairly new and organically planned by bars and restaurants. “I saw (SDBW) as a way for local breweries to partner with good restaurants and expose chefs and their patrons to food-friendly beers they might not know about,” Sibelman says.
So, 10 years later, and on the cusp of our 11th Beer Week, where are we?
“What Beer Week has become is 300 events over 10 days where 275 of them don’t move the needle and are more stress and disappointment for brewers and buyers than anything else,” claims Matt Cieslak, co-owner of Manhattan Bar (Chula Vista).
“The zeitgeist of SDBW has been diluted; the pervasive sentiment is no longer how can we celebrate the vendors that have loyally remained at our sides, or the accomplishments of one another throughout the year, but rather evolved into a self-involved singularity of how many kegs can be pushed out the door or how many warm bodies can fill the room,” says Shannon Rogers, co-owner of Burning Beard Brewing.
While the guild touts “You Deserve a Beercation!” as its theme this year, many argue it’s Beer Week in San Diego every day. Another original planner, Melody Crisp (Coronado Brewing), still feels excitement.
“Remembering our first planning meeting, and to see how it’s grown since then, has been really rewarding.”
San Diego Beer Week, Friday, November 1, to Sunday, November 10. For more information, visit sdbw.sdbeer.com.