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The 15th Annual KQED Beer Festival

As I stand in the foyer of the San Francisco Conference Centre, empty tasting glass in hand, I am bewildered by the choices before me. Over one hundred craft breweries from California, the Pacific Northwest, Europe and Asia, over thirty food booths with offerings from apples to veggie burgers, two bands, a comedy stage, a silent auction, a climbing wall and a speed pitching machine. And, worse still, the whole shindig lasts only three measly hours. No two ways about it: I'd just have to plunge in and start drinking.

Welcome to the fifteenth annual KQED Beer and Food Festival, one of the granddaddies of the beerfest circuit and certainly one of the best. The only problem is time; at a mere three hours, KQED has to be one of the briefest fests going. So much to do, so little time!

The secret, I overhear in my first (short) beer lineup, is pacing. "You've got five aisles of booths," said the tall man behind me, "and three hours. That means you've got 36 minutes per aisle."

"Clearly a KQED veteran," I think, struggling to do the division in my head. Taking his advice to heart, I forge ahead.

Hour One: The crowd is growing, the bands sound great, and the climbing wall and speed pitching machine are crawling with aspiring athletes. I taste California beers, with delightful results. The fruit beer explosion continues, with berries, apricots and peaches popping up all over. Notables included Blackberry Wheat Ale from Coast Range Brewing Company, Apricot Wheat Ale from St. Stan's Brewing Company, and Boysenberry Hefe Weizen from Slo Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo.

I find relief from all that fruit in Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and IPA: as ever, full-bodied and well-hopped. I nibble on delicious smoked salmon and smoked trout spreads from Ta-La-Go-Gi ("white oak smoke") in San Francisco and dip fresh tortilla chips into fire-roasted avocado, cucumber and mango salsas from Native Kajili Foods. Life is good.

Hour Two: I venture afield to taste international beers, favouring countries I've never visited. Saku Pilsener and Porter from Estonia hail from a brewery that's been in operation since 1820 and was only recently privatized. The pilsener is a straw-coloured, bitter beauty; the porter a pale imitation of the real thing. Guatemalan beers from Cabro, Famosa, Monte Carlo and Moza are limp and light, stereotypical southern hemisphere brews. Fraoch Heather Ale from Scotland has an aroma like good gewurtztraminer and a delicate, flowery taste. Abbot Ale from Wales has a beautifully creamy head, gorgeous copper colour and a wonderfully long finish. The crowd noise is getting louder, the bands are sweating, and the speed pitchers are throwing screwballs.

Hour Three: The guy who talked about pacing never mentioned the indigestion factor. I have tasted a dozen different foods and twice that many beers, and have been strolling steadily for two hours. During the last hour of the fest my tasting rate drops dramatically, and I'm not alone. The audiences for the bands are swelling, people gather to talk in groups, and I bet I could rent chairs at 10 bucks for five minutes.

Regrouping, I head for beers of the Pacific Northwest, and enjoy some fresh-tasting Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Oregon and Pike Pale Ale from Pike Brewing Company in Seattle. Great summer beers include the Raspberry Wheat Ale from Oregon Originals and Summer Wheat from F.X. Matt Brewing in New York. As the fest comes to an end, I decide to have dessert: dark, dense and delicious Rubicon Chocolate Cake from Rubicon Programs, made by job training program participants working alongside professional staff -- a tasty combination!

As the festival closes, thousands of beer aficionados emerge from the conference centre, blinking in the bright sun and madly waving their arms for cabs. I still wish the festival lasted longer, but it's been a great trip to the candy store!

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