8 awesome East Bay events on tap for SF Beer Week

SF Beer Week takes a beer-drinker’s-eye-view of what a week should be: two full weekends with five beer-drinking days in between. And, might as well start on a Friday, to make it an even 10 days. 

There are plenty of ways to spend those days in the East Bay, including queer wrestling, a beer pong tournament, a corn hole tournament (with corndogs!), trivia nights, karaoke, beer release parties, dog-friendly gatherings, and events celebrating micheladas, stouts, lagers, ciders and seltzers, along with lots of live music and plenty of fine food.

Things get underway in the East Bay on Feb. 21 at 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro, with Brews & Bites @ Nite Fest, a special event supporting the Bay Area Brewers Guild, a nonprofit trade association that represents independent craft breweries throughout the region. The event will feature unlimited tastings from 15+ Bay Area breweries. A nice way to quickly sample beers from the region. 

The 10-day week will culminate on March 2 at Jupiter in Berkeley with SF Beer Week’s answer to March Madness. East Bay All-Stars 2025 will pit 16 breweries against one another to see who reigns supreme in East Bay beer. Get your bracket ready. There’s sure to be more than one upset.

Here’s a selection of other beer-fueled events happening in the East Bay throughout SF Beer Week (including one Nosh is participating in) ordered from earliest to latest. As the Fab Four may have put it: “I ain’t got nothin’ but love, beer, ten days a week.”

United Sours of America

Monk’s Kettle, 5484 College Ave, Oakland, Sat., Feb. 22, 11:30 a.m.

Bay Area beer drinkers have been pledging allegiance to sour beers since they first hit the scene more than a decade ago. And, the legendary Monk’s Kettle is a big reason why. This event, now in its 11th year, and the first since Monk’s Kettle moved to Oakland, will feature sour beers from across the U.S., including ales from local breweries like Ghost Town and the exclusively sour beer brewery from Berkeley, the Rare Barrel, now run by Cellarmaker Brewing Company.

21st Amendment Taproom in San Leandro will host a cornhole tournament for SF Beer Week. Credit: 21st Amendment

Cornhole Classic

21st Amendment Taproom, 2010 Williams St., San Leandro, Sat., Feb. 22, 12 p.m.

The popularity of cornhole, no doubt, is due to the fact that it’s one of the only sports you can play while still holding a beer. You’ll be wishing for a third hand at this event to hold one of the specialty corn dogs that the chefs at 21st Amendment will be serving up. The Cornhole Classic is a bracket-style tournament featuring teams of two competing for prizes and bragging rights. Sign-ups begin at noon, play begins at 1:15 p.m.

Cookies & Craft Beer Pairing

Epidemic Ales, 150 Mason Circle, Concord, CA, Sun., Feb. 23, 12 p.m.

While the marketing team at Girl Scouts of the USA seems hell-bent on ruining Girl Scout Cookies (Tagalongs are called what now???), the cookies taste the same as ever. And how fortunate that Girl Scout Cookie season aligns perfectly with SF Beer Week. Epidemic Ales in Concord is making the most of this synchronicity with a cookie and craft beer pairing event. Two of the four pairings will be a farewell to cookie flavors that are being discontinued after this year — Toast Yays and S’mores — while the other pairings feature cookie classics, Thin Mints and the cookies-formerly-known-as-Samoas. No word on whether boxes of cookies will be for sale, but if you take BART home, chances are you’ll run into an enterprising young Girl Scout and her table full of cookies at the station. 

Richmond’s East Brother will celebrate its eighth anniversary during SF Beer Week. Credit: East Brother Beer Co.

East Brother’s 8th Anniversary Party

East Brother, 1001 Canal Blvd., Richmond, Sun., Feb. 23, 12 p.m.

The award-winning brewery from the “City of Pride and Purpose” will be celebrating its 8th anniversary with an “8-bit Throwback Bash,” a family-friendly, video game-themed party featuring live music, food trucks, and pours from East Brother’s six core beers, plus seasonal beers and a special release made just for the occasion. Come dressed as your favorite video game character (8-bit or otherwise) to add to the fun.

Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter Adoption Drive

Alameda Brewing, 1716 Park St, Alameda, Tues., Feb. 25, 2 p.m.

Beer and puppies, what could be better? Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter will bring pets to Alameda Brewing, preying on helpless beer drinkers with an adoption drive. The truly dog crazy can sample the brewery’s latest concoction, a Mexican lager dubbed Dia De Los Perros, a collaboration with Four Legs Brewing. Careful with this event, you may wake up the next day with both a hangover and a new fur baby. Hair of the dog, indeed. 

SF Drunken History

The Rake, 651A West Tower Avenue, Alameda, Tues., Feb. 25, 6 p.m.

More than gold, even, San Francisco’s history is tangled up in beer. From Anchor to Acme and all the many hundreds of breweries that came after them, this is one beer-soaked region. Celebrate the history of Bay Area beer, and those who make it, “from the rowdy days of the Barbary Coast to the craft beer revolution of today” at this storytelling event which will also feature brews made from a host of historic brewing styles. It’s all going down at The Rake, a pub located inside Admiral Maltings, which itself is a throwback of sorts. Founded by Bay Area beer veterans Ron Silberstein of ThirstyBear Brewing Company and Dave McLean of Magnolia Brewing Company, the company is the first floor malting facility in the state since Prohibition.

Breadmaking Class w. Grainbakers

Drake’s Barrel House, 1933 Davis Street, Bldg 177, San Leandro, Thurs., Feb. 27, 6 p.m.

Last year, Grainbakers, a mobile bread-making school, traveled some 40,000 miles across the country, teaching bread-making classes inside breweries using grains leftover from the brewing process. Come learn all about these “spent grains,” which are rich in proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals, and make your own bread dough with a variety of flavorings including ube, cinnamon-raisin, rosemary-sea salt, and more. All while sipping Drake’s fine collection of craft beers, of course. The class costs $60 per participant, and reservations are required in advance. \

On March 1, Temescal Brewing have a variety of local beers on tap in addition to its own, and Nosh has curated a lineup of pop-up food vendors. Credit: Tovin Lapan

Temescal Brewing x East Bay Nosh

Temescal Brewing 4115 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, Saturday, March 1; 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., RSVP here 

Temescal Brewing is closing out its Beer Week calendar by hooking up a bunch of guest taps from local breweries and hosting a handful of food pop-ups chosen by Nosh. Try the Hawaii-inspired Pan-Asian cuisine of All Pau, bite into a beefy-stacked-to-the-max burger from Pound4Pound, and dig into a birria grilled cheese from Dip ‘N Dive while enjoying brews from Temescal, Armistice, Ghost Town, Brix, Olfactory, and Tenma Beer Project. There will also be a DJ spinning tunes. And, don’t forget to say come say hi at the Nosh table.