When it comes to festive occasions like birthdays, showers, anniversaries or other life events, the first beverage that comes to mind for many celebrations is champagne or sparkling wine. It’s fizzy, festive and fun, and available in a wide variety of price ranges to match the significance of the milestone.
Another great option is to enjoy a local craft beer – the diversity of flavor profiles is remarkable and much broader than what sparkling wines can bring to the party. From clean refreshing lagers to fruity flavorful IPAs, rich and decadent stouts and beers infused with fruit, coffee, spices or other unexpected ingredients, there are beers for every palate.
Depending on how knowledgeable your guests are about craft beer or how adventurous their palates are, you can serve a variety of different beers, which may elicit interesting conversations about which flavors and aromas people enjoy (or don’t enjoy!). To take it a step further, you can even arrange a tasting of a few different brews, either similar products from different breweries (like a few different pilsners) so people can pick a favorite, or a variety of styles side-by-side to help them figure out what they like best (for example, a light beer, an amber ale, a chocolatey porter and a raspberry sour ale).
Some beer drinkers aren’t very adventurous and prefer the mass-market American lagers you see advertised during the Super Bowl. You can still introduce them to locally brewed, more flavorful alternatives that maintain the light alcohol, low bitterness and subtle flavors they crave, but with a little more richness due to the craftsmanship of beer brewed in small batches.
Local light lagers include El Sully Mexican Lager from San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery, Berkeley’s Trumer Pils or New Bohemia Brewing Co.’s Pilsner Soquel from Santa Cruz.
Less widely distributed but perfect for this category is Extra Crispy Lager from Redwood City’s Ghostwood Beer Co. Light-bodied and low alcohol, with a subtle grainy sweetness and a touch of herbal hops for balance, this generously carbonated brew is perfect for your friends who don’t want any of that fancy craft beer.
Hazy celebrations
For several years, Hazy IPAs have enjoyed incredible popularity. With big tropical fruit flavors and aromas and less bitterness than traditional West Coast IPAs, many drinkers ask for a Hazy when they walk into any brewery. Take the opportunity to introduce your guests to some great local examples. Many breweries are constantly experimenting and trying new recipes rather than brewing the same beer repeatedly.
A few excellent local purveyors of Hazies are Santa Cruz’s Humble Sea Brewing Co., Bare Bottle Brewing Co. (brewed in San Francisco but with additional taprooms in Santa Clara and Menlo Park) and Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing.
Finally, you can introduce your guests to something completely unexpected. One of my top brews of this summer has been Tiki FROOOOT from Narrative Fermentations in San Jose. A smoothie-style beer with fruit puree added after fermentation, Tiki FROOOOT includes orange, pineapple, coconut cream, vanilla and just the right amount of nutmeg to perfectly emulate a classic Painkiller tiki drink – you’ll feel like you’re on a tropical island from the first sip.
Belmont’s Alpha Acid Brewing Co. makes a Murder She Wroatmeal oatmeal stout with chocolate and toasted coconut. Monterey’s Alvarado Street Brewery makes the self-explanatory Biggie’s Blueberry Brunch Bonanza.
There’s no limit to the creativity of Bay Area brewers, and it’s always fun to hear your guests say, “I never knew beer could taste like that.”
Whatever you’re celebrating this fall, I hope you can find the perfect beer to add an extra dimension to your memorable experience. Cheers!
Derek Wolfgram is a Certified Beer Judge through the Beer Judge Certification Program and an officer of the Silicon Valley Sudzers homebrew club. For more information, visit sudzers.org.
