Beer Night at the Cal Academy

SF Beer Week 2012 came to a close yesterday, and I was so wrapped up with work and family stuff that I managed to avoid it almost entirely. The one event I made it to was the Beer Night at the California Academy of Sciences, on Thursday, Feb. 16th. Frankly, that event was a bit of a bust.

Basically, Beer Night at the Academy consisted of expensive beer sampling in the African Hall. They set up twelve tables--one for each of the 12 breweries participating--along the length of the hall. Each brewery had two beers on hand, and you could buy it by the sample (probably 2 oz) or the glass (12 oz). A ticket cost $2, a sample cost a ticket, and a glass cost 4 tickets. In other words, they were charging $8 for a 12 oz beer poured out of a bottle (and at most of the tables I saw, they didn't even give you the whole bottle's worth--they'd pour heavy so the beer foamed up, and when the foam hit the top of the glass, they stopped. Whatever was left in that bottle got used for samplers, or combined with other bottle-remnants to fill up another 12 oz glass). Add that $8 a beer price tag to the $12 entry fee you had to pay to get in (which, fortunately, I didn't have to pay, because I got free tickets from a friend), and you're talking about a relatively pricey event with relatively common beers (common enough, at least, to be packaged in six packs--with the exception of the brews brought by Berryessa Brewing, which came in kegs, and which ran out before I even got there).

To make matters worse, I had to work late that night, so I didn't get to the place until 8:30 pm. By that point, three of the breweries had already run out of stock entirely, and a few of the other breweries only had one beer left. Plus the lines were pretty ridiculous--often a fifteen minute wait for a single sample glass of beer.

Of the beers I managed to get a taste of, only one stood out, but it was good enough to lend some light to an otherwise disappointing evening (disappointing in regard to beers, at least--I did have a fine time hanging out with friends). Moylan's Dragoon Dry Irish Stout was wonderful--rich and roasty, with a hint of lactic tang in the style of the original Guinness Export (which is one of my favorite beers ever). They also brought bottles of their Kilt Lifter Scottish Style Ale, which made for a good pair of beers to showcase the diversity of their lineup--though the Kilt Lifter didn't match my particular beer preferences.