Beer & Cheese Pairing with Drakes: SF Beer Week, Here we Come!

On February 6th, the fun and fury that is SFBeer Week launches, and on Febuary 14th, Drake's Brewery and I team up for beer and cheese pairing. The Drake's team and I recently teamed up to do a very, very serious sensory perception tasting and evaluation of the possible beers and cheese we would join together to ensure that the tasting would be best possible examples of the duo together,. Photographic evidence follows. What is SF Beer Week, you ask? Well, SF Beer Week is a time when breweries shower the San Francisco Bay Area with massive amounts of beer (we're talking storms, not a light drizzle). It's a time when people are thankful for public transit and designated drivers are celebrated in high form. This is the second year I'm teaming up with Drake's Barrel House, and I'm honored to be pairing with one of the best craft breweries in California.

As you can see from the photos above which reflect the state of the table prior to us even sitting down to taste, Drake's and I were very thorough. We tasted about ten different cheeses with twelve different Drake's brews (that's at least 120 different blasts of flavor). We consulted with each other. We tasted again. We talked some more. We ate from a third to three-quarters of a pound of cheese each. We made pairing grids. We did all this t o find the perfect pairings for you (and maybe for us too).

The tasting will feature all domestic cheese (mainly Cali) paired to Drake's beer (mainly seasonal, special releases)- six cheeses, five beers. Anderson Valley's PennyRoyal makes an appearance, as does Silver Mountain Cheddar, 2015 Drake's Hopocalypse, and Scarlet O'Bretta Flanders-style red sour ale. These aren't cheeses or beers you always see around and some of the cheeses and beers served are only released seasonally.

A cool bonus to the tasting besides that you get to eat delicious cheese and beer? It's on Valentine's Day afternoon, meaning, it's a great way to start out the celebrations with your beer-loving honey, or, to create your own perfect pairing, cheese and beer style.

So, stop by if you'd like to join me in general beer and cheese revelry. I'd love to see you there. Tickets available here.

Feb 14th, 2 pm, Drake's Barrel House, San Leandro. And yes, there is a shuttle available from BART!