SF Beer Week 2026

SF Beer Week 2026

Sayre Pietrowski is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell, to introduce SF Beer Week, coming soon this February 20 through March 1, 2026. Sayre was on the show last August when he had recently been named Executive Director of the Bay Area Brewers Guild.

This is Sayre’s first time for SF Beer Week as the Executive Director. He explains that the guild was born from an alliance of local beer organizations that got together and promoted a beer festival. Then they learned that other cities had beer weeks. So they decided to bring it to San Francisco, with the support of great brewers like Pliny the Younger and Anchor Brewing. In 2008 or 09 the whole guild was a small enough number to fit on one evening’s menu.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

IPA 2000

Nick Mamere the brewmaster at Bartlett Hall was 9 years old when the first SF Beer Week took place. On January 29, he is hosting a 7-barrel batch of what IPA tasted like in the year 2000. It’s called IPA 2000. Then, in Oakland, they will make a brew called IPA 2025 with the same brewer, at Brix Factory Brewing and brewer John Gillooly. They have plans for a whole series, IPA 2010, 2015 and 2020, then one called 2030 to guess about the flavors to come. Sayre compares these retro brews to a cover song. On January 22, the North Bay Guild will be brewing IPA 2020 at Old Caz.

Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.

Herlinda remembers that two years ago, SF Beer Week had an astronaut theme and she thought people were dressing up. She and her college friend dressed in red Star Trek Uhuru dresses. It turned out that they were the only people in costume but it ended up being a fun time.

SF Beer Week and more

Sayre tells us the same thing he tells him members, that they would like to create an atmosphere about SF Beer Week similar to the excitement that surrounds the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau. This means an event where people know there will be an abundance of great beers along with fun experiences. He remembers 2017 and 2018 before the pandemic when it was like that and they want to build back up to that level of excitement and participation.

In terms of volume, beer is a larger market than wine. Sayre notices that wine has a lot more information around it that people like to study. His job now is to try to build up that kind of culture of appreciation around beer. The more there is for people to know about beer, the more they can share information and enjoyment with others. Herlinda mentions that sometimes, non-profit organizations hire leaders with management skills but who come from outside their industry. She appreciates the fact that Sayre is already a local beer insider, in his new role with the Guild.