SF Beer Week 2010 Beer & Cheese Event Recap

I am getting around to catching up with all my SF Beer Week posts. Bear with me. I am unexpected going through some family issues and finding time to write is… a challenge. That being said, let’s finish recapping this event.

This is the second year I’ve helped to put on the Beer & Cheese Event at Firehouse Brewery in Sunnyvale and the second time we’ve partnered up with Steve Rasmussen from the Milk Pail Market in Mountain View. Admittedly an absentee owner the past several years, Rasmussen has found his cheese muse again and is working his way back into the world of fine cheese. In fact, for this event, Rasmussen came through with over 28 different cheeses. Many of the cheeses were listed and briefly described in a handout he brought along just for this event while a small handful were surprises. Even to him.

Not to be outdone, Steve Donohue came through on the beer side of things providing approximately 14 different, bottled beers in addition to the pitchers of Firehouse beers available at the event. During the set-up portion of the event, I took inventory of the beers we had and organized the room accordingly. Just like last year, we held the event in the upstairs area of the brewpub although, in a most unusual move, a private company dinner was held in the banquet room in the rear. Luckily there were no conflicts but I found it to be an odd arrangement.

We did our best to arrange the space in a logical way. Once I knew what beers we had, I divided the room accordingly. Here’s how the space broke down and the beers that were poured, as I remember them.

• Hop Side
  These beers included: Allagash Hugh Malone, Bear Republic Racer 5, Green Flash Imperial IPA, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (yes, I know it’s a barleywine but it’s a hoppy barleywine).
• Belgian Strong Ales
  On this table we poured Chimay Grand Reserve, St. Bernardus Abt. 12, and Affligem Tripel. I ended the evening at this station.
• Funky Belgian Ales
  At this station we poured Orval and an Imperial Saison De Proef Brouwerij. This was the station I initially started out on.
• Sour Ales
  I was surprised to find that Steve Donohue had a sour ale table. Surprised and happy. At this station, we poured New Belgium’s La Folie and Rodenbach Grand Cru. While both sour ales, they were distinct in their sourness.

I wish I could give you a detailed breakdown of how the cheeses were and which cheeses paired with what beer but I was busy working the event as pouring beers for guests as well as being the “volunteer coordinator”. I have that word in quotes as I don’t think I did much coordinating. More on this later.

Planning an event, especially one on this scale, can be a nerve racking event. I was running around all over the place trying to get things in order up until we “opened the doors” to the event. By then, whatever wasn’t done, wasn’t done and I wasn’t going to worry about it. Fortunately, nothing huge (noticeable) went awry and the event went off much better than I anticipated. Credit this to the volunteers we had, both scheduled and plucked from the line. Without their help, this event would’ve been a train wreck. So, thank you to everyone who volunteered and for those who ended up volunteering. Y’all saved my ass!

Despite how well the event went, there were a some issues “behind the scenes” that needed to be addressed. Much of these issues have to do with communication between invested parties, volunteers and organizers. Other issues dealt with expectations while other concerns arose from lack of proper planning. You’d think we’d have run much more smoothly this second year, and in many aspects it was, but we weren’t as organized. Needless to say, all these issues have been well documented and will be addressed well ahead of time for next year.

By most accounts, the Beer & Cheese Event at Firehouse was a success on many levels. I would, once again, like to thank all the volunteers who made this event possible. I can’t thank you all enough, really. I thank everyone who came out to support the South Bay brew scene by attending this event. While I’ve said this many times before, I’ll say it again: the local craft beer scene is only as good as the people supporting it. If you enjoyed this event, let us know. Visit Firehouse brewery in Sunnyvale and let brewmaster Steve Donohue know; visit Milk Pail Market in Mountain View and let them know. Write an email to let me know. As crazy as it was to help plan and execute this event, I would happily go through it all over again if I knew there was interest for it.

In any case, I look forward to helping plan this event again next year! Until then, enjoy the rest of the photos below. All these shots were taken by Arie Litman. You can visit his website here.

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