Sacramento’s two largest brewfests coincide with the coming and going of summer. The West Coast Brew Fest always seems to be on that first 100 degree weekend of the year, and the California Brewers Festival is always on the freshly moistened ground of the first rains of the coming Autumn.
This Saturday is the 15th annual California Brewers Festival hosted by the Point West Rotary Club. It is held every September to coincide with the beginning of school, as the beneficiaries of your $30 donation is Operation School Bell, a project of the Assistance League of Sacramento. Children in 34 schools throughout the Sacramento area will have new clothes for school thanks to this program and Sunday’s 4,000 swollen livers.
60 breweries participate this year, with awards given in 13 categories. This year, two of the three top beers are from local brewers. Best of Show is Sudwerk Helles, a perfect American version of a Munich style lager. Honorable mention goes to Firestone Pale 31, a crisp pale ale that is easier on the palate than our region’s leading pale ale from Sierra Nevada. Third place goes to SacBrew’s India Pale Ale, a bold West Coast IPA that blends 5 different hops. In case you are not satisfied with those three, there are 150 other options for your sampling pleasure.
Advance tickets are $25, $30 at the gate. Doors open at Discovery Park at 12:30, first pour at 1pm, last pour at 4:45. A ticket buys you 10 tasting tokens, with extra tokens for $1. Music by Utz! and the Shuttlecocks and Velvet Tongue. See you there!
The Sac Rag 